When it comes to spreading the word about your brand, social media following isn’t everything. Now it’s time to take things to the next level. Combining your social media and influencer marketing efforts can have a worthwhile impact. That’s because influencer marketing is currently a $21.1 billion industry. But how can you align these two powerful strategies together? Read on to find out how.
Define Your Target Audience and Goals
To effectively integrate influencer marketing and social media, you must first define your target audience and goals.
Determine your audience
Identify the demographic of your ideal customer, including age, location, interests, and lifestyle. Conduct market research to learn how they engage with social media and influencers. Focus your efforts on the platforms and influencers that reach your target audience.
Establish clear goals
Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or increase sales? Set concrete goals to measure the impact of your influencer marketing and social media campaigns. For example, aim for a 10% increase in website traffic or 5% rise in sales over the next quarter.
Choose the right influencers
Find influencers with active social followings that match your target audience. Review their content and engagement to ensure a good fit with your brand. Contact influencers and offer free products or experiences in exchange for honest reviews and social posts. Make sure any influencer partnership aligns with your brand values and goals.
Share on social media
Promote any influencer collaborations, reviews, or features on your social media channels. Like and comment on influencer posts about your brand. This boosts awareness and social proof, showing followers that others value and recommend your products or services.
Choose the Right Social Media Platforms and Influencers
To maximize the impact of your influencer marketing campaign on social media, you must choose platforms and influencers that align with your brand and target audience.
Select Relevant Social Networks
Focus on the 2-3 social media platforms where your target audience is most active and engaged. For example, if you're trying to reach a younger audience, prioritize Instagram and YouTube. But if your audience is more corporate, LinkedIn may be a better fit. Study your audience's habits and preferences to determine where they spend the most time.
Find Influencers Who Match Your Brand
Seek out influencers whose content, values and follower demographics complement your brand. For instance, an eco-friendly brand should partner with influencers focused on sustainability and social impact. Evaluate potential influencers based on their follower count, engagement, content quality and brand fit. Reach out to influencers who would credibly promote your product to their audience.
Build Long-Term Relationships
Don't treat influencers as a one-and-done marketing tactic. Develop ongoing relationships with key influencers who can become brand advocates. Send them new products to review, invite them to events and keep the lines of communication open. Loyal influencers will continue to spread brand awareness to new potential customers over time through authentic recommendations and word-of-mouth marketing.
Develop Content in Line with Your Brand
Work with your influencer to create authentic content that resonates with their followers and promotes your brand.
Coordinate Content Themes
Discuss potential content themes, formats, and topics with your influencer that fit within their niche and also spotlight your product or service. For example, if you sell makeup and work with a beauty influencer, create tutorials, reviews, or “get ready with me” videos featuring your products. Ensure any content follows the influencer’s style and tone to appear natural to their followers.
Provide Product Samples and Information
Supply your influencer with samples of your product as well as any details about its features and benefits. The more familiar they are with what you offer, the more effectively they can promote it to their audience. Briefly educate them on key selling points they can highlight to their followers.
Suggest Captioning and Hashtags
Recommend caption copy, hashtags, and any other text the influencer can use when posting about your brand. While they should maintain their authentic voice, the wording should be optimized to drive engagement. Provide a list of relevant hashtags their followers frequently use. The influencer can then pick and choose from these suggestions to accompany their posts.
Cross-Promote Content
Cross-promote the influencer’s posts on your own social media channels. Not only does this increase views and engagement, but it also shows your support for the influencer. Ask your influencer to share any of your posts relating to the campaign on their profiles as well. This cross-promotion exposes each audience to the other brand and strengthens the partnership.
Final Thoughts
As you have seen, combining influencer marketing and social media marketing can be a winning strategy. That’s why over 80% of marketers have a dedicated budget for influencer marketing. However, the key is integrating these marketing methods in an authentic, strategic way. Don't just throw money at influencers and hope for the best or blast out social media messages without purpose. Do your research, find the right influencers, and craft social media content and campaigns that provide value to followers. Build real relationships, not transactions.
Call-to-Action
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