13 Search Results for build a successful Influencer Marketing
October 13, 2015 4:12 pm
Published by Kirsty Sharman
Editors note: This article originally appeared on tech.co to help answer a question we get from marketers often on how to pitch Influencer Marketing and get buy-in from the top.
You have read all the recent Influencer Marketing case studies and are a little jealous of the return other brands are achieving. You would prefer to be the ‘cool kid’ rather than the ‘new kid’ on the block and have a great idea for an Influencer Marketing campaign. There is one thing stopping you from achieving rock star status with your branded content – approval from your boss.
You recognise Influencer Marketing is a necessary addition to your marketing budget, but how do you get buy-in from the top? It is simpler than you think. Just explain the concept of Influencer Marketing to your boss, as you would to an 8-year-old child.
1. Tell a story
As humans, we are wired to be captivated by stories and easily recall information if it is relayed to us with rich meaning and visual cues. Stories engage the emotional side of our brains and drive us to take action. If you open your pitch with a story, you will be able to grab attention, make facts stick and data more retainable and understandable.
You know your boss best and what story would be relevant to them. Perhaps share a personal story of why you booked the company lunch at a restaurant that a friend recommended on Facebook. You could relate your story back to relevant stats such as: the average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times a week in conversation with friends or family or that 68% of people feel that Facebook is the most trusted platform for product and service recommendations.
Tip: Don’t make your story long, but make it memorable.
2. Be the favourite teacher
We all had a favourite teacher at school that was an expert at explaining complex topics. Influencer Marketing is new and can appear to be overwhelming if explained poorly or if not understood correctly. It is important to provide background information, definitions, statistics etc. but don’t overcomplicate things to appear smart or knowledgeable on the topic.
Instead, keep things simple and avoid using too many technical terms that although might be relevant, make your boss feel that you need to be a rocket scientist to run a successful Influencer Marketing campaign. Don’t make them feel you are under qualified to do the job. Instead, make them feel confident that you have done enough research to take advantage of this new opportunity and are convinced of the value Influencer Marketing can add to your business and marketing plans.
Tip: When explaining complex topics, show how something works rather than resorting to just talking about a topic.
3. Gives examples of superheroes
My own childhood superheroes were the Ninja Turtles and I was absolutely convinced that nothing could ever beat their ninja moves. In the world of marketing, there are many brand superheroes that kick butt at Influencer Marketing. The internet is full of case studies and examples that you can use to showcase potential success and return on investment. Search for case studies related to your industry, business objectives or even concepts you find innovative. These case studies will provide credibility to your pitch and also give you a foundation for best practice.
Tip: Show what your competitors are doing with their own Influencer Marketing plans and explain how you will differentiate your business. If they are not using Influencer Marketing yet, this is an added opportunity to highlight.
4. Show how you can achieve a gold star
Now that you have given the background into what Influencer Marketing is and have shown the results that other brands are achieving, you need to explain why you think it is relevant for your business and how you plan on achieving your own Influencer Marketing gold star status. This is the point you need to reveal how it will add value to your business.
The most effective way to do this is to show that you have already put thought into your own Influencer Marketing plan. As an Influencer Marketing platform, we have experience in planning campaigns and have developed a 6-step model to make building a successful plan easier. In short, a solid Influencer Marketing plan will specify the target market, propose a campaign that meets the business objectives, identify relevant influencers, explain how workflow and logistics will be managed, as well as how you will track the results.
Tip: Having a plan instils more confidence that the additional investment has potential to add value. Ensure that you showcase what you foresee as being the potential return on investment for the new budget allocation. Use your Influencer Marketing plan to propose not only how you will achieve your first gold star, but also how it is sustainable to be awarded ongoing gold stars.
5. Be ready to answer “Are we there yet?”
Once you have buy-in and approval to go ahead, first give yourself a pat on the back and then be prepared to answer many eager progress questions. Trying something new and innovative is not just exciting for you, but all the stakeholders involved. You will be anxious to prove your campaign victorious and your boss will want regular updates on the status and results.
Tip: There are Influencer Marketing platforms and tools which make tracking your campaign results easy. This is important to not only showcase success, but also to justify ongoing Influencer Marketing budget. Investment in tools like, Webfluential, help you answer the question, “Are we there yet”, with confidence and provide all of the relevant data of the journey.
The tips I have shared are intended to help you put your best foot forward when explaining Influencer Marketing to your boss. Just remember that you know the audience you need to pitch to best – so tweak and personalise your content to what is most relevant to them.
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September 25, 2015 10:18 am
Published by Kirsty Sharman
This blog post was originally written by Ruan Fourie.
An effective Influencer Marketing campaign is advantageous to both to the influencer and the brand. But Influencer Marketing as we know it now is relatively new, there are no rules set in stone to guide us. It’s important to understand how the relationship between marketer and influencer can be effectively maintained to help both parties.
Webfluential greatly simplifies the Influencer Marketing process with our intuitive tech platform that connects brands and the right influencers for a campaign. We have also managed a lot of campaigns and worked with a vast variety of influencers. Influencers that we are proud of. The Webfluential Influencer Marketing platform is a great tool to help you with your own campaign.
We decided to speak to two of our influencers and ask them for some tips on working with influencers. These tips have helped our account managers so much, that we have decided to share these tips with you too.
Sarah Bailey co-founded Uk-Bloggers.co.uk in 2013 as a place for bloggers to share, discuss and help one another. Since then UK-Bloggers have become more than just an information hub for bloggers, but now PRs and SEOs are also a part of the community. Here is what Sarah had to say about working with online influencers:
Be personal
It’s always much nicer to receive an email from someone who has taken the time to look at your blog, than someone who is obviously just messaging as many people as possible. With Webfluential you can easily see all the influencers social channels and familiarise yourself with what type of content the influencer shares.
Know a bloggers worth
Blogs have long gone past the days of just being a personal online journal. Blogs have become a legitimate media channel, and just like other media channels getting your brand to the audience has a cost. Webfluential helps make sure that you are not paying more than you should be, but also makes sure that influencers get paid, and thus do a professional job.
Know local rules
Make sure you are up are up to date with local rules/laws around disclosure and make sure that your influencers are also aware of rules and guidelines around sponsored content and native advertising. This is not just for your own protection, but also to protect influencers from any penaties. Added bonus is that it’s always best to be open and honest about the brand-influencer relationship, so that the influencer’s audience does not feel like there is an attempt to mislead them.
Don’t expect us to work miracles
While many of us can write quickly, we often need more than an hours notice to pull something out of the bag. Give influencers a decent amount of time to respond, and then produce the content. Briefing influencers in a timely fashion will ensure that you get the best content for your Influencer Marketing campaign.
Build a relationship with the influencer
If you are looking to work with bloggers again, treat the relationship like you would any other professional or business relationship. Maintaining relationships with multiple influencers can be a very time consuming process. Webfluential has campaign managers that are experts at doing exactly that, with every influencer that forms part of your campaign.
Feel free to give us constructive criticism
Notice a typo, or a grammar error? Let the influencer know, we don’t mind. Also if you have any constructive criticism, send it our way. Influencers are always looking for ways to create better content. Constructive criticism is a great way to learn and improve. This will also help strengthen relationships for future Influencer Marketing campaigns the influecner could be involved in.
Brent Spilkin has spent the last 20 years becoming an authority in the digital marketing space. Brent is no stranger to online influence as he himself has used his online persona to flourish in the public arena and work with international brands in the media space. “Spillly” is not just an online influencer, he is also Brent Spilkin the Founder of the Growing Pains business consulting. Here are Brent’s tips for working with influencers:
Give influencers the creative freedom to drive your campaign goals
Conversations can’t be faked, so don’t force your influencer to use your copy or tone. Allow them to speak in their own voice only giving them guidelines on your message.
It’s not just about follower numbers
Reach is important but the number of followers an influencer has is only part of the reason you want to use them in your campaign. Check that each influencer also has a high level of engagement and that historically their engagement is positive. Webfluential’s platform can give you insight into the engagement that an influencer’s content gets.
Make influencer campaign goals clear from the start
Clearly define what you hope to achieve for your campaign with the influencer at the briefing stage. Knowing that you want general awareness, test-drives, likes or leads, greatly changes the way an influencer will interact with his followers and how the campaign messaging will come across.
Turn influencers into brand ambassadors
Reward and treat your influencers with respect and they will become loyal brand ambassadors to your business that will speak highly of you long after the campaigns they were involved with are completed.
Give influencers the opportunity to work together
Inform each influencer who the other influencers are on the same campaign. Actively engage with more than one influencer in conversations to allow more engagement around your brand and ultimately reaching the primary audience.
Start your successful Influencer Marketing campaign today
At Webfluential we work hard at creating and maintaining healthy working relationships with influencers, so that every Influencer Marketing campaign is successful. Sign up as a marketer now if you are planning on making Influencer Marketing part of your future marketing strategy.
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July 29, 2015 11:00 am
Published by Kirsty Sharman
Editor’s note: We asked the popular Twitter thought leader, Spillly, to share his thoughts on building and nurturing a mutually beneficial relationship between brands and influencers. Read more of insights and opinion below.
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Having received more than my fair share of branded disposable pens and matching lanyards over the years, I feel its my duty to inform brands and agencies to stop trying to buy my loyalty with cheap plastic gifts and branded promo-gear.
My loyalty should be curated, nurtured and rewarded.
Let’s be honest, you are looking to use me as another marketing channel and hoping that my mid level influence can help grow your brand or deliver your campaign objectives. It can, but only as long as I already believe in your purpose and buy into your marketing message and most importantly, love your product.
Influencer marketing is a very smart way of using a third parties voice to authentically portray your brand in a way that would only seems paid for and fake, if it were coming directly from the brand. Influencer marketing has been around before the dawn of social media, before the web and before traditional marketing was even dreamt up. Storekeepers would ask patrons to spread the word, and if the customer had a good experience, would do just that. Nothing has changed except the medium on which we spread the word.
I understand what you, the marketer, want to use me for and feel that I should be fairly rewarded for my part in your process. It is paid-for media and the reward should be cash.
My voice to my followers is far more powerful than any other medium you have in your vast arsenal of marketing channels. The consumer of today no longer believes your polished message and scripted values. The consumer of today wants to hear an honest message, one that is unique to the influencer but the truth no less. Consumers want someone that will answer the questions asked, with deep insight into the product and will kill for the brand if he is truly an ambassador.
Would you rather have a message being broadcast to thousands of people that don’t necessarily care or a conversation between an ambassador and a few real potential clients of the brand, who will most likely spend money with you? Influencers who believe in the brand will not only drive awareness but will drive an action that is valuable to the brand.
Involved affiliate marketing has proven to be hugely successful in industries like travel, fashion and restaurants. This is because people will trust the voice of a virtual stranger over the “your call is important to us” tone of taglines. Influencers have taken the time, often over years, to build credibility with their audience and have their own authentic voice and tone, which resonates with their own audience.
Influencer’s audiences are often incredibly niche. Understanding whom their audience is absolutely key to using an influencer to sell the right product to their niche audience. My personal online audience has evolved drastically from a comedic one to an entrepreneurial business base in the creative and tech industries. You can’t expect me to promote food brands or fashion, as my listeners know that this is not what I talk about and it won’t appear credible. I have taken years to have the right followers for my brand, my business and my messages, and if you want to gain access to this market and put my own credibility at risk, then you should pay for the privilege. If you are financially compensating someone then you also get the right to guide the conversation towards your own goals and expect certain clear deliverables to be executed by the influencer, in the influencers own unique tone and fashion. Giving the influencer the freedom to express your message in their incomparable voice will deliver the greatest results for your business.
You want your influencer to feel rewarded, acknowledged, loved, important, or any combination of those and ensure that they are partners in your communication strategy.
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