If you’ve been online any time in the past ten years, you’ve probably already witnessed the miracles of influencer marketing. If the right influencer name-drops a product at just the right moment, it can easily sell out in a matter of hours. Whether it’s a beauty guru or a mommy blogger, all influencers have the ability to sway public opinion, and more importantly purchasing habits, through simple word-of-mouth marketing. Regardless of the products or services your business provides, influencer marketing can undoubtedly help boost your image and sales.
How to Contact Influencers and Strike a Deal
Influencers typically have their contact information available on all their social media platforms, which are the bread and butter of their brand. They want businesses to reach out to them, so don’t be afraid to contact them for a sponsorship. If you don’t see their contact information listed on their profile, just reach out to them on the platform chat, preferably from your business account. However, before you make contact with them, try to finalize your budget and your influencer marketing strategy.
Do you want website visits? Purchases? Followers? You can adjust the terms of your partnership depending on your goals. For Example, if you want to grow your social media accounts, you may prefer an ongoing partnership where you consistently support the same influencer to draw their viewers to your business account. However, the most common form of sponsorship takes the form of a shoutout. In this case, you’ll pay the influencer to review or endorse a product or service on their platform. The fee you pay your influencer will also depend on the type of sponsorship you want and the level of popularity they have obtained.
A small niche influencer may want anywhere from $100 to $500, while an international influencer who has reached celebrity status may charge upwards of $10,000. Generally, most small businesses will want to stick to the $500 to $1,000 range, which gives you a great balance between a popular influencer with an engaging audience and an investment that will be easily recouped through your sales. Alternatively, you can also seek a sponsorship that incorporates an affiliate program where the influencer is paid according to the individual sales they facilitate.
How to Select the Best Influencer for Your Business
No one knows your industry better than you, except for maybe the influencer that reviews your products every chance they get. When you look up your products or services online, where do you find the best reviews? Who’s writing the blogs or filming the YouTube videos? These are the influencers you want in your corner. You probably already have a few names in mind, but do a bit of research and you’re bound to find the leading influencers in your industry. The best influencer marketing strategy to find a strong influencer in your field is to look up blogs or videos on product reviews, or an established influencer who is tangentially related to your industry.
For example, if you sell toddler car seats, you can try looking up reviews by an established mommy blogger and reach out to them. Alternatively, you can reach out to established lifestyle bloggers who have recently started families. Both of these routes have their perks and give you access to different audiences. A niche influencer may be more credible and their audience will likely be more willing to consider your products, however they may also be more critical to protect the quality of their recommendations and their audience may be smaller. A more general influencer may be less discerning and have a more diverse audience, but their audience may also be less likely to engage with your product.
Just How Powerful are Influencers?
Influencer marketing, and a strong influencer marketing strategy for that matter, can very well make or break your business. In the past, the strongest endorsement you could get for your business was word-of-mouth marketing. There is no one consumers trust more than other consumers who are putting their money where their mouth is and investing in the products they recommend. Through the parasocial relationships modern influencers cultivate, their endorsements are usually received in the same vein as word-of-mouth marketing. This means their recommendations and criticism carry a lot of weight in the industries they touch.
If you want to leverage the power of influencer marketing, consider working with a digital marketing professional who can organize a partnership built on a strong influencer marketing strategy.
