A social media influencer could be what your company needs to grow. Over the last ten years, businesses worldwide have discovered the power these entrepreneurs hold and how it can help their companies. But not everything is a bed of roses. There are some things that you need to take into account when working with social media influencers.
In this article, you will learn eight tips to help you optimize your deals with influencers and maximize your reach when using these channels to promote your products and services. It is vital to mention that it is not a full-time task, but it could take a big part of your time to apply all of the elements described below. If you need help with menial tasks or time management, click here.
8 Tips to Work with a Social Media Influencer
1. Be Clear about your Goals
Your goal is the first thing you need to have in mind when working with a social media influencer. What do you want to achieve from this campaign? Do you want to create brand awareness, or are you trying to convert potential clients? That decision is solely yours.
Make a list of all the possible goals you can achieve while working with an influencer, and choose one of them. By choosing only one, you and the influencer can match efforts so the campaign can achieve what you had in mind. In addition, don't be discouraged if your first goal doesn't work out. Working with influencers is a great way to contact potential clients, but there isn't any magic involved. Do not expect outstanding results. It is better to see it from a cold point of view.
2. Select an Influencer with Similar Audiences
You will find thousands of influencers across the web catered to a specific niche. Even if they follow the same topic, for example, suppose you own a restaurant where you serve primarily American food. Then you will have to look for an influencer that matches that same type of food, but also, you will find other influencers dedicated to healthy food, Mexican food, German food, etc.
Be wise when choosing which influencer to contact. Try to check most of the content, the things they have done with other brands, and the responses to their audience's comments regarding those topics. It is not just about choosing one of these entrepreneurs. It is also about finding the right one to promote your business.
3. Have a Meeting with them First
After you choose some of the influencers you want to work with, you must have a meeting with them. Some of them are freelancers, while others work for agencies. Depending on their status, you will need to contact them for a meeting, either with them, the agency, or both. Chances are that if the social media influencer works with an agency, they already have a few plans for companies like yours. If they are freelancers, they might be open to negotiation.
When talking to them, try to be as clear as possible about what you want, how you want it, and when you want it. You also need to talk to the influencer to see if they represent the same values of your company because there is such thing as bad publicity. The clearer you are when presenting your goals and strategies, the more influencers will likely work with you.
4. Provide Creative Control
This fourth tip might be the hardest to do, not because it takes a lot of time or topples the budget, but because it is hard to let go of certain things that we hold dear, like creative control of your brand. Sure, you will still conserve your brand's image and values, but the way influencers promote it may not be what you were expecting.
There is a reason why these entrepreneurs are called influencers. They can influence people in a way that makes them part of a community. They provide audiences with a place where they can belong without being judged by others. And that is exactly why you should leave the influencer to decide how they will promote your product. Some ideas may be bizarre, but these people know how to reach their audience.
5. Run Contests through them
Contests have been part of the meta in business ever since the telephone became popular. From collecting soda caps to registering tickets online, contests are a great way to promote your brand and give back to your target audience.
Nowadays, the best way to promote contests is through influencers. They have the necessary audience to make a contest run wild. And, if you offer something your niche audience will be interested in, the chances of the contest succeeding are greater. Moreover, ask your influencer which of your products or services are best to give away in the contest.
6. Don't stick to one influencer
We know that hiring an influencer may not come on the low side of the budget, but if you have the chance, why not hire more? Sure, you can always go with a similar influencer to keep promoting your products through them, but there's a catch to that since most of the followers of the first influencer are likely to follow others with the same ideas.
Here's another tip, try expanding your view. Returning to the American restaurant example, suppose you already have one influencer promoting your restaurant. They feature certain products now and then, and you have seen some growth on your social media platforms. Then what you need to promote next would be one of your dishes, and the best one you have is a triple cheeseburger. This dish can open the doors to other types of influencers, like those who only review burgers and are not interested in anything else. You will now have two influencers by your side, one promoting your company in general and another promoting a particular of your business.
7. Be on the same Platforms as the influencer
This tip is kind of obvious, but some companies tend to forget its importance. If you work with a social media influencer, you need to be on the same social media platforms as them. All of them. If the influencer is active on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, you need to be active and create content for these platforms as well.
This presence will make the influencer's job simpler and yours too! They can link directly to your social media pages with a simple "@" and will not have to promote your entire website whenever they want to share something with the audience. Be smart about what you post on your platforms and always plan ahead your content so both, your company and the influencer, have content that can complement each other—leading us to the next point.
8. Create a mutually Beneficial Relationship
Creating a healthy relationship between you and your social media influencers is excellent for business. Talk to them every once in a while, get to know them, and learn the different things they are doing to attract an audience so you can use similar content on your social media platforms.
Moreover, tag them in your posts and content! The better your relationship is with them, the happier they will be about sharing your brand with their audience. Therefore, more people will come to your company to satisfy their business needs.
Working with a Social Media Influencer
A social media influencer is a modern-day wizard that can help you connect with people that will be interested in your brand and would want to purchase your products. But, as in tales of lore, you must find the wizard before they can work their magic.
Research is the most important part when hiring an influencer. You need to scour hundreds of profiles before you find the right one, and having a list of the influencers who can match your brand will help in the future when you want to expand to have an influencer army. One last tip, don't offer products as payment, sure, some influencers may be okay with that, but most of them will mark you down as a scam. Imagine it is like a CRM database. You will not pay for those with a triple cheeseburger, right?