How to develop an influencer marketing brand growth strategy

Influence marketing has taken a special place among the promotion trends of recent years. The ROI of this tool is dozens of times higher than that of traditional types of advertising. Its essence lies in the contact of the brand with the target audience through influential opinion leaders influencers. They easily convey the necessary information to the masses due to their authority and a high degree of subscribers trust. Today we’ll tell you how to find such bloggers and get all the possible benefits of influence marketing for your online store.

What is influence marketing?

Influence Marketing is influence marketing as O learned from CXL institute, which is the process of companies interacting with opinion leaders in various fields in order to promote products or services . A powerful image tool that works for reach and engagement is included in the advertising strategies of many global brands. It exerts influence through the personal recommendation of an influencer with public authority.

The high efficiency of the method is due to its numerous advantages:

1. Nativeness. Advertising harmoniously fits into the profile content, thanks to which it does not catch the eye and does not cause a violent negative reaction.
2. Targeting. A successful choice of an influencer guarantees the delivery of information, direct contact with the audience, close or exactly corresponding to the brand.
3. Attraction of live traffic . From social media accounts in which advertising content is published, targeted leads go to the site interested potential customers, almost ready to purchase.
4. Fast and informative feedback from the audience. Cooperating with an opinion leader, you can easily get useful data about the target audience — general reaction, specific reviews about a product or service.
5. Duration of existence. Advertising messages can be in your account for a long time, constantly attracting more and more new customers.

Influence marketing is equally effective for business projects of any format from small online stores to large market players working with a wide geography. But it is important to choose the right concept and placement format. In this case, it is worth focusing on the specifics of the proposal, the specific goals of the advertising campaign.

How and where to look for opinion leaders?

The main condition for influence marketing to be effective is to find the right partner. Before starting your search, you need to define a clear campaign goal. If this is an increase in reach, it is worth considering popular promoted accounts with an active audience. To optimize financial performance, local opinion leaders, niche blogs that are in close contact with the audience are more suitable. Reputational goals are more quickly achieved with the help of celebrities.

The site for advertising is chosen taking into account the preferences of the target audience. It is necessary to focus on the client’s portrait, to understand in which social networks he is present, what he is looking for.

The format for presenting advertising information is adjusted to the type of product. For example, the best choice for advertising fashionable clothes is photo content, which is most effective goes to Instagram . Home appliance reviews and unboxes are relevant on Youtube. Text content is more typical for Facebook

Having decided on the goals, the placement site and the requirements for the influencer, you can proceed to direct searches. Let’s consider different ways.

Manual search

The easiest option is to find the accounts of interest on your own and negotiate cooperation directly.

The following methods will help:

• search by hashtags and business-related keywords;
• monitoring of specialized blogs and media;
• viewing the list of speakers of thematic conferences and other industry events

On Instagram, searches are conducted using specific hashtags. You can also use the Instagram profile analytics service. To search for video bloggers, you should use the combination “key query + Youtube”. There is an opinion leader for any specific product.

Directories and databases

Databases make it easier to find the required accounts through customized filters. On such sites, the names of resources and contacts of various opinion leaders are posted. Users are prompted to set priority search parameters

Partnership programs

Another option is to create an affiliate program, thanks to which influencers will find the company themselves. Under the terms of the program, the blogger becomes a brand ambassador and in exchange for advertising posts receives free products or exclusive offers (percentage of sales, personal coupons, gifts).

The most convenient solution for finding and selecting opinion leaders is specialized platforms. On them, online stores post messages about the launch of advertising campaigns, and influencers can respond to the offers they like.

The platforms function as a closed mini-social network, provide a convenient management system, insure transactions and help at every stage. Access is only given to companies and accounts that have passed the appropriate verification

After agreeing on the partnership with the chosen influencer, you need to discuss the details and decide on the format of work. This can be a short-term collaboration in the framework of the announcement of new products or a whole series of advertising posts. Develop instructions that detail the essence, general picture, and nuances of the campaign.

The second option is seeding branded content in an account, when an influencer repost information about a brand and asks subscribers to support it. Another way is to post a sponsored post or video. The company provides with a product, he makes a review with his participation and puts it on the profile.

The type and format of the published content is selected depending on the goals of the campaign and the specifics of the business. It is advisable to make several publications, since one post or video will not bring a large number of buyers.

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective digital promotion channels and is a great way to improve brand awareness and rise to the top positions in your niche

Influencers gather a large audience around them, are able to influence the views, actions and decisions of subscribers. By creating a stable positive image of a company or product in the consumer’s mind, they contribute to increased sales.