The fact that your company isn’t Adidas or Zara does not mean that you cannot benefit from influencer marketing. Social media influencers are fantastic assets for small-scale businesses also.
There are a lot of influencers available There are plenty of options for businesses of every size and budget. All you need is to know where to find them and what you should be looking for.
It’s a bit difficult to begin influencer marketing, especially if you’ve never had the opportunity to do it before. In order to assist you by providing five essential steps to run successful influencer campaigns for small-sized companies.
Step 1: Create your campaign
Before you begin looking for influencers and publishing content on social networks you must outline your strategy. The first step is to select a goal for your campaign. Small-sized businesses may have goals like visibility, awareness, the addition to new followers to social media or traffic to your website or store.
Make a timeline for the campaign and budget. It’s crucial to be honest with yourself regarding the limitations of your campaign. It’s possible that you don’t have a large budget, but if you are aware of your limitations, you’ll be able to succeed in your campaign.
Decide the location where your campaign will be run. Are you looking to connect with TikTok creators, Twitch streamers, or influencers from another social network? Select the one that lets you reach your target audience. If your offerings are designed for teens, for instance, consider TikTok because over half of Generation Z consumers are using TikTok.
Create a plan to help track your progress. You’ll never know how your progress if you don’t keep track of the information that pertains to your campaign. Make a list of your objectives and select a few important performance indicators that can aid in understanding the progress you’ve made. If, for instance, your objective is to raise awareness, you might want to track clicks and impressions.
Step 2: Locate then analyze and choose influencers
The secret to a successful influencer campaign is to find the ideal influencer! Brands looking for influencers must keep certain aspects in mind when conducting this search, including the way an influencer’s content is performed. Being a small-sized business, it is especially crucial to pay attention to the following aspects.
Location
Find local influencers. You’ll want someone who understands the local area and its culture. If you own a brick and mortar shop that will provide the influencer the chance to visit.
The influencer you select doesn’t have to have a large number of followers. For small-sized businesses with a small budget it is best to choose micro or nano influencers.
Nano influencers have a following of 1-5K, and micro influencers have between 5-50K followers. But, despite the small number of followers they have the highest engagement rates on average and have the most authentic audiences.
Audience
Alongside taking a look at the country from which the influencer is located You must also ensure that their followers are located in an area that your brand’s message is easily accessible.
Imagine that you select to follow an influencer located within the exact same town where your business is and then discover that the majority of their followers reside outside the region, where you don’t yet ship. You’ll miss the opportunity to gain new customers.
You can make use of influencer tools to obtain the information. It is also possible to request an influencer for their media kits. Check out the geographical location of their followers and look at other demographics also. This way, you can be sure their audience matches your target audience.
Engagement rate
Engagement rate measures the interaction between an influencer and their followers. A high engagement rate shows the audience trusts an influencer and is happy with their content. Your brand will benefit from that by collaborating with the influencer.
Engagement can vary in time, so it is important to study your typical engagement rate on a sample of recent content by the influencer to obtain the most current details. Additionally, the benchmarks for engagement vary depending on the social network number of followers, the follower count, and the type of content. Therefore, it is best to evaluate an influencer against only their peers based on these factors.
Follower growth
As I mentioned earlier, the influencers that you work with do not have to have thousands of followers. It’s important to ensure that they’ve got a decent engagement rate, and healthy follower growth. An influencer should see steady growth over time, even if that growth isn’t rapid.
Be on the lookout for influencers who have negative growth or growth that fluctuates between peaks and drops. This could indicate that the influencer purchased fake followers. This data can be retrieved from the influencer’s media kits or through influencer marketer software.
Step 3: Reach Out
If you come across influencers you are interested in, connect with them. As a rule of thumb, reach out to more influencers than you require. Some won’t respond to your request, while some might not be willing or able to work with you.
You can contact them through email or DM. If you’re reaching out to a lot of influencers you should consider making your outreach automated. Make an email template you can customize with custom fields for every influencer. It should contain:
- An introduction into your company’s brand (what you do as a brand, who you are, your message for your brand)
- Information about the campaign (objectives timeline, objectives, and incentives)
- What do you enjoy their profile (and the reasons you believe they’re a good match)
If you receive responses to your campaign, begin negotiating. If not, you can return a step and search for additional influencers who might be suitable for your campaign.
Step 4: Talk about incentive and content
If you’re a small-sized business the budget of your company will be lower than those of larger companies. But don’t worry. Certain influencers are willing to collaborate for your service, product or experience. Be aware that the cost that an influencer is charged depends on a number of aspects:
- Metrics for performance (follower number and engagement rate, principally)
- The type and amount of content (for instance, video is more expensive than pictures)
- Location (influencers who are located in New York City will charge more than those in Wisconsin)
This was mentioned previously however, I‘ll say it again: as a small-sized business prioritize working with micro and nano influencers. They’re the best option for getting the best results for your expenditure.
In negotiations, you should explain the points you would like the influencer to highlight and give them the creative autonomy in their content. The influencer is aware of their audience and the best way to convey your message.
Be friendly in discussions. If you begin with a positive attitude it is possible to develop a long-term relationship that could be beneficial for future promotions or ambassadorship for brands.
Step 5: Start the Campaign
Before influencers create content for campaigns make sure that you ensure that you have Google Analytics or your tracking tool ready and set. It is important to gather all media used in your campaign and as many results as you can. The more information you can gather the more detailed the picture you’ll be able to see of the progress you’ve made.
It is likely that you will need to request influencers for internal data also. For instance, they could provide you with the Instagram Insights data about the amount of views they received on the content they posted to promote your campaign.
With this information it will be possible to assess whether you’ve accomplished your goals. Be open to change as some goals may take longer to attain and you may find a new requirement or goal that you’d never thought of previously.
Conclusion
Even in the absence of the same resources as international brands, your small-sized business will still be able to benefit from influencer marketing. Keep your eyes on the goal. Make sure they are present throughout the campaign. If a collaboration is successful, continue your relationships with the influencer to ensure that you are able to run the same campaign at a crucial time in the near future.
