People are tired of traditional advertising. They skip through commercials and ignore banner ads. They’re skeptical of marketing claims. In the age social media, people want to hear from other people, preferably people they trust. They listen to friends, family, and coworkers. They read reviews and the watch influencers.
They also follow influencers – trendsetters, celebrities, YouTube stars, critics, bloggers, experts, analysts – major players who have gathered large and active followings on social media channels. Influencers hold sway over people’s opinions, but they don’t intrude into their world. They don’t scream for attention. People want to hear what they have to say. That’s why they friend them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter or subscribe to their channel on YouTube.
So how do you master the art of influencer marketing? First, you have to find the right people. Here’s how.
Are You a Good Match?
For most of the 20th century, mass marketing was the name of the game. Most people watched the same shows, bought the same products, and had similar tastes. Times have changed. We’ve become a culture of subcultures. Today, everything boils down to niches and micro-niches.
Marketing is no longer about reaching the most people. It’s about reaching the right people. That means connecting with influencers who are already talking about your products, or at least topics related to your brand; in other words, people who already speak to your target audience. The more related the theme, the more leads and conversions you can expect.
If you run a restaurant that serves plant-based, gluten-free food, for example, then it makes more sense to connect with Ella Mills of Deliciously Ella, who promotes a healthy eating diet, than Holly Erickson and Natalie Mortimer of The Modern Proper, who specialize in the full range of homecooked food. Both are awesome. Both have big followings. But in the world of influencer marketing, relevancy is essential.
Tip: Beyond simple Google searches, you can use Buzzsumo to find out who’s talking about your niche or what someone has said in the past. Its influencer search tool makes finding the right people particularly easy.
If you’re new to influencers in marketing, you want to start with people who are already familiar with your products or services. It takes less time to get an existing customer on board than to convince a stranger to try your product in the hopes they’ll promote it.
If a blogger or YouTube star has said something nice in the past, they’ll be more likely to plug your brand in the future (and do it with credibility). On the flipside, if you notice that someone has made disparaging remarks, it might be time to move on to a friendlier channel for your brand.
Tip: Look through your followers for people who have a sizeable following of their own. Who knows? You may already have snagged some micro-influencers (people who have between 1,000 and 10,000 followers). Then try TalkWalker, which lets you track what people have said about a specific topic or brand and sends you alerts whenever someone mentions you.
Do Your Influencers Engage with their Audience?
Obviously, the larger the following, the more extensive the reach. The real question is, how engaged is an influencer’s audience? Engagement is often a better indicator than simple follower numbers when it comes to overall impact.
A fashionista may have 30 million Twitter followers, but if her audience rarely retweets, comments, or likes her posts, her real-world influence may be limited. Better to pair up with a micro-influencer that has 1,500 active followers in your target demographic than a big-name celebrity that has a broad yet lackluster audience of 1.5 million.
Tip: Between fake accounts and inactive users, there’s a lot of “padding” going on in the world of social media. TwitterAudit can help you find out how many followers are real and how many are fake. Scrunch also gives you insights into social media engagement numbers across all the popular platforms.
It goes without saying: influencers should be able to influence people’s opinions, if not their purchasing decisions. One way to measure impact is to look at someone’s influence score, an indicator developed by the social media marketing firm Klout that ranks people by how much power they have on popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Just be careful. Those ratings only tell you so much. For one, they only measure online interactions. How often does someone post? How many comments do they get? A major industry player – say a famous scientist or CEO – may not spend as much time on social media, yet one friendly shout out from them may carry more weight than a series of posts by an up-and-coming social media star. It all depends on your niche and how your audience gets their information.
Tip: A more research-intensive way to gauge potential impact is to follow influencers and watch their interactions. Do people trust them? Do others seem to take their advice or blow it off? Do they respond to comments or ignore their followers?
Does Your Influencer Have a Good Reputation?
How do people perceive influencers? Is she authoritative in her field or considered to be a lightweight? Is he trendy, passé or enduringly popular? Are they controversial? An influencer may be a perfect fit for your brand; she may have millions of followers, but if she comes with a lot of baggage, a connection may do more harm than good.
Like it or not, we live in a hyper-critical world. People judge your brand not only on what you say and do, but also by what your advocates and connections say and do. Take the time to research an influencer. Dig deep into their history so you can get a feel for the type of content they produce. Be certain you want your brand to be associated with them before reaching out.
Tip: Many influencers prefer to maintain creative control. They may integrate your product into their content in their own way, without asking your permission. Ask them in advance how they will handle the process. Also, influencers tend to inject their own personality into their work. A foodie may also talk about faith or atheism, politics or social issues. You don’t have to agree with everything they say, but you (and your customer base) should be comfortable with their take on the world if you’re going to rely on their recommendation.
Influencers Are Powerfull
In an age when everyone is shouting to grab attention, social media influencer marketing is a powerful way to spread your message. How powerful? At National Positions, we helped a major children’s clothing retailer grow their online influence by 300% by reaching out to major social media influencers and building creative ways to incorporate their brand.
Want to find out how we can help you leverage the power of influencers to grow your social media following? Contact us to learn more about our influencer marketing programs.
