You may remember our past blog post about influencer marketing and how brands are using Instagram and YouTube influencers to connect with their audiences. This is the second part of that post where we explore strategies and next steps you can follow to find an influencer to represent your brand. We recommend reading part one to get acquainted with terms and all the background information. Let’s delve into the age of influencers…again!
Start By Researching Your Followers
According to Digital Marketing Institute, 74% of people trust social networks to guide purchasing decisions and 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice! Research your audience by seeing what influencers they follow and what hashtags they use often. What is their lifestyle? Does your brand appeal to a certain demographic? Your next micro influencer partnership could be inspired by your existing followers. Be on the lookout for influencers with at least 1,000 followers, an engaged audience, and posts that are relevant to your niche market.
Set Social Media Marketing/Influencer Goals
Before finding the perfect influencer for your brand, you need to know what kind of person would engage and impact your audience. It can be helpful to create a “wish list” of characteristics your ideal influencer would possess. Take into account their personality, the genres they post about, what topics they cover in their blogs/videos, and their reach. If your customers are more visually driven, they may follow influencers not only on Instagram but Pinterest as well. If you would like to grow a certain audience, make it your goal to find an influencer whose content will create immediate engagement.
Use Hashtags on Instagram to Find Influencers/Bloggers
This does not have to be a manual process! You can set Google alerts for keywords pertaining to your brand. Social mention is another tool that allows you to type in your company’s name to discover mentions on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and more. Instagram’s hashtag search is always a good choice for finding niche specific influencers. It may also be beneficial to reach out to bloggers that already write articles about your industry. They can promote your brand on their blog or guest post on yours!
Identify Who Is Open to Partnership and Connect!
Because affiliate marketing is on just about every influencer’s mind, contacting them can be as simple as looking in the about or bio section to see if they list an email for business/partnership inquiries. If the blogger/influencer has a website, that may also be a clue into what brands they promote and if they would be open to working with you.
The rest is down to seeing how you can work creatively with your new partner to set up giveaways, discount codes and content that is organic to their lifestyle. You will see growth and a difference in your followers!
Thanks to the following blogs for their inspiration:
The Definitive Guide to Influencer Targeting
6 Ways to Connect Your Startup with Micro Influencers on Instagram
Micro-Influencers: The Marketing Force of the Future?
Author, Laura V. Boston
The C3 Group