The 11-Step Agency Guide on How To Do Influencer Marketing
Like it or not, influencers are like the rock stars of the modern era.
They determine trends, serve as role models, promote brands, and, well, influence people — sometimes hundreds of millions of people at once.
It’s no wonder that companies like Glossier and MVMT have been able to build their brand from the ground up using influencers, while many other companies who wouldn’t have given social media the time of day 10 years ago are now wondering what this whole TikTok thing is about.
This trend doesn’t show any signs of stopping. Influencer marketing has steadily been increasing since 2016, and is projected to continue into the next decade.
So the question on everyone’s mind is: “Do I need to work with influencers to build my clients’ brands? If I so, how do I do influencer marketing?”
While influencer marketing may not be the highest priority in your marketing strategy (if you don’t have your sales funnel polished yet, forget about it), it can be a huge help in marketing plans that are more well-developed.
So if you’re thinking about using influencers to build brand awareness, increase website traffic, and secure more sales for your clients, get ready, because we’re going to cover:
- The 3 biggest benefits of incorporating influencers into your clients’ marketing plans.
- 3 things you should do to find influencers that will best serve your brand’s goals.
- The 5-step process to working with influencers so that you both get the most out of your partnership.
Let’s dive in.
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Why Would I Need To Do Influencer Marketing?
Many are skeptical of the power of influencers — and rightfully so.
Aren’t influencers only important to young people? Why would you pay a random person on social media to promote your product when you could use a celebrity or a more proven marketing strategy?
As for the age concern, there is some truth to this — but not as much as you may think.
While 66% of consumers aged 18 to 29 trust recommendations shared on social media from friends, family, and influencers, older generations aren’t that far behind.
61% of consumers aged 30 to 44 trust social media recommendations more than advertising that comes directly from the brand, while 60% of consumers aged 45 to 60 and 53% of consumers over 60 feel the same. (Source: Business Wire)
As for the second concern, although it may sound counterintuitive, it’s actually better for recommendations to come from “random” people — which is our first unique benefit of influencer marketing.
3 Benefits of Influencer Marketing You Can’t Get From Any Other Marketing Method
1. Authenticity
When a brand advertises directly to a consumer through their website, a paid ad, or even a blog post, there’s one major disadvantage: The consumer knows they’re being sold to.
They know that the end goal of the brand is for them to buy your product, so they come into the interaction with a natural distrust and skepticism.
But when a consumer sees an influencer promoting a product, they come in with a natural trust.
They’ve already formed a relationship with this influencer, and are already receptive to accepting suggestions, tips, and opinions the influencer offers.
This is why nano- and microinfluencers (people with 1,000 to 10,000 and 10,000 to 100,000 followers) can actually be more effective at advertising than a big influencer or celebrity with millions of followers.
The relationships smaller influencers foster with their followers is often more personal and authentic — which means their followers are more likely to trust their recommendations.
2. Precise Targeting
When you try to target an audience with PPC ads or SEO, you’re taking a chance on whether you’ll actually reach that audience.
While keywords and creating custom audiences from data can get you decently far, nothing can really guarantee your product is being shown to the right segment of 40- to 55-year-old women in Cincinnati who like green tea, make 50K a year, and do yoga on the weekends.
This is especially true when you’re not 100% sure who your target audience is. Sure, they probably like green tea, but does that guarantee a sale? What if you’re missing out on an entire demographic of black tea lovers?
Influencer marketing, on the other hand, can help you target extremely specific niches while also exposing your brand to people you may not have even known were in your niche.
This is because influencers have highly-defined, niche audiences that are cultivated organically — which means they include high-converting subaudiences you haven’t even considered and don’t include people who aren’t interested but technically fit your audience’s criteria.
3. Amplified Reach
The ultimate dream of any advertiser is to get free advertising from word of mouth, and the easiest way to make this happen is with influencer marketing.
When you partner with a high-quality influencer that is genuinely a good fit for your brand, you’re not just paying for access to their audience of followers. You’re also paying for their followers’ followers and those followers’ followers and so on.
When an influencer shares a product to their followers, it’s kind of like a friend making a recommendation. And when your friend makes a recommendation, you tend to recommend the same thing to your own friends, and they tend to recommend it to their friends.
This is why even an influencer with a small follower count can be worthwhile to partner with. The combined follower count of all their followers, or the potential word-of-mouth leads you’re getting exposed to, can easily reach millions.
How To Do Influencer Marketing: Finding Influencers
So where do you even find influencers to partner with?
It’s both easier and harder than you may think. Here are four tips to finding high-quality influencers that actually result in more sales for you or your agency’s brands.
1. Don’t Get Fooled by Shortcuts
If you Google something like “Where to find influencers,” you may be overwhelmed with the amount of influencer-finding platforms out there that promise to match you with them.
While some of these may kind of work, in general, it’s best to avoid them. They’re usually flooded by influencers who are just starting out, or worse, are phony — they have fake followers, no branding, and may just be a 16-year-old with a dream.
Influencer marketing agencies are a bit better, and may work if you just want to outsource the entire thing. These agencies, when run correctly, legitimately have connections to real influencers and can help your brand in a pinch.
However, the absolute best way to ensure you’re working with influencers who actually fit your branding and cater to your target audience is to get in the weeds and find them yourself.
Yes, this means:
- Trawling through Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube for influencers in your niche.
- Spending some time following them yourself so you can learn their content style and audience.
- Assessing whether your budget, branding, and timelines align.
- Personally emailing or DMing them with an offer to collaborate.
When you personally find influencers, not only are you putting in the effort to find the absolute perfect matches, you’re also working on an organic level they appreciate.
This leads to more genuine and heartfelt work on their end to promote your brand.
2. Consider the Platform
Not all platforms are made equal, and the social platform(s) you’ll advertise on will vary depending on your industry, niche, target audience, advertising goals, and even content format.
A B2C business targeting Gen Z will probably get the best results on TikTok, while a B2B business targeting backend software developers may do best somewhere like LinkedIn.
And let’s not forget that platforms are constantly evolving — TikTok, for example, was almost unheard of a few years ago but has rapidly increased in popularity for marketers and users alike.
It has blossomed into a platform not just for teenagers dancing but for adults sharing their hobbies, lives, and even professional tips.
YouTube, on the other hand, has stabilized in relevance and has expanded from a place for home videos, Justin Bieber, and music parodies 10 years ago to a global one-stop shop for practically every kind of informational video in the world.
(Source: eMarketer )
So when you’re picking your influencers, be conscious of where your audience is actually hanging out and whether your product or service works for a certain platform’s format and target audience.
For a more comprehensive breakdown on how popular social media platforms compare, check out this blog post.
3. Review the 5 Influencer Must-Haves
Anyone with a social media presence could technically define themselves as an influencer, and just because someone’s a professional influencer doesn’t mean they necessarily know how to do a brand deal or would work for your brand.
That’s why it’s so important to take the time to identify the 5 must-have traits of a credible influencer that’s right for your brand.
When you’re combing through influencers, look out for:
1. Audience
Are they targeting the same people your brand is targeting? Don’t just glance at their content for a few seconds, really take a deep dive.
Check the accounts of their followers to see if they’re in alignment with your ideal audience. Check the comments for ideological or opinion-based evidence their followers may respond well to your brand.
2. Reach
How many followers does the influencer have? Don’t just think in terms of “the bigger the better” — a small number could signify a small but extremely dedicated audience, while a big number could signify a jaded, uncaring audience.
You should also take your budget into consideration. Big influencers cost more in proportion to their follower count.
A good follower count for a microinfluencer starts at around 10,000. Any less and you risk wasting an opportunity — unless you’re working with someone who’s speaking to a very specific audience you want to reach.
A good sweet spot to aim for for a general campaign with a moderate budget is around 50,000 to 100,000 followers.
3. Engagement
Follower counts can be deceptive. An influencer with a high number of followers may be a has-been with numbers bloated from dead accounts who don’t actually engage with their content anymore. Some influencers even pad their numbers by purchasing followers.
To truly assess the value of an influencer’s reach, you need to consider engagement. Look at how many likes, comments, or replies their posts get and compare them to their follower count. Does the ratio seem impressive or reasonable? Or does it seem suspiciously low?
You should also look at the type of engagement they’re getting. An account filled with passive aggressive or negative comments indicates a jaded follower-base. You want to work with influencers who have trusting, positive relationships with their followers.
4. Branding
While it’s important that an influencer has followers who are aligned with your target audience, how they go about building those follower relationships can be just as relevant.
Are you looking for someone who is more in-your-face and salesy or someone who is more casual and authentic? Do their posts seem genuine and personable or overly crafted and promotional? Do they have a unique “voice” that sets them apart from other influencers?
The way an influencer markets themselves can be just as important as how their audience perceives them. You want to work with someone who understands how to best promote your brand in a way that feels authentic and real.
5. Experience and Work Ethic
Finally, even the best influencers can be shot down by the Achilles’ heel of being a pain to work with.
Influencers aren’t generally trained in marketing, business, or the professional world — they’re entertainers, so whether they’ll actually know how to work with you professionally is unknown.
The best way to avoid divas, miscommunications, and unfulfilled expectations is to find influencers who have a track record of working with brands. Bonus points if they’ve worked with brands similar to yours.
How To Do Influencer Marketing: Working With Influencers
Let’s say you’re sure you want to do influencer marketing, and you’ve got your eyes on a few that might be good for you or your clients’ brand. Now what do you do?
In order to forge a successful, mutually beneficial partnership with influencers, follow these 5 steps.
1. Create a List of Potential Influencers To Work With
Not every influencer you reach out to is going to align with your timeline, budget, or expectations.
That’s why it’s important to avoid putting your eggs in one basket and instead create a list of potential influencers that would work.
Try to draft up a list of 10 to 20 influencers you may want to work with. To help you keep track of who’s who, include some notes on their:
- Follower count
- Niche
- Core branding elements
- Track record of working with other brands
- Engagement numbers (if possible)
Why you think they’re a good fit
2. Reach Out to Each Influencer One by One
After you’ve drafted your list, go through it and reach out to each influencer one by one. Some may have a business email or management company they prefer to be contacted through, while others may take offers through direct messages.
Ensure you’ve figured out the correct communication route, and send them a message to ask if they’re interested in collaborating. In the message, you should include:
- Some background information about your brand and product.
- Why you think they’d be a good fit for your brand. Include a few details that show you’ve been paying attention to the type of content they’ve been making.
- An overview of your offer — you don’t have to include exact numbers or details, but give them an idea of what’s in store for them if they accept.
3. Have a Good Idea
If you reach out to an influencer and ask for a generic sponsored post, you’ll get a generic sponsored post. While this may be a good strategy for some brands, keep in mind that there’s many more possibilities than just having an influencer pose with your product.
Some examples of creative, common brand deals include:
- A Request for an Honest Testimonial or Review: This can be a good strategy if you want to cultivate authenticity with your brand. On the other hand, this may invite a bad review — but usually, if an influencer doesn’t like your product, they simply won’t post about it.
- Custom Content: Coming to an influencer with a content idea for your sponsored post can go a long way in making the post satisfying for your brand, the influencer, and their audience. Check out what the influencer normally makes, and suggest some ideas based on that. For example, an influencer who creates DIY tip videos could integrate a shout-out to your product in one of their tips.
- A Q&A Session or a Collaborative Post: This method works well for more technical or professional brands who have an established social media presence of their own. Collaborating with an influencer to create a Q&A with someone like your CEO can drum up attention and credibility for your business. You can also engineer this the other way around, with your brand hosting an interview with the influencer as a subject-matter expert.
- Affiliate Agreements: Affiliate marketing is a great way for everyone to win. You get more sales, the influencer gets a cut proportional to their effort, and their followers get a discount on your products or services.
4. Have Price Negotiations Prepared in Advance
In the influencer world, prices can vary wildly — a single post can be anywhere from free (in exchange for swag or free product) to several million dollars, depending on an influencer’s reach, platform, popularity, and personal ideas of how much their work is worth.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s complete chaos. The general unspoken formula for influencer pricing goes like this:
$100 per 10,000 followers + extra fees for type of post and number of posts + additional factors
While that may still be vague, it can at least give you a ballpark of what to expect so you don’t waste your time on influencers that don’t fit your budget.
Ultimately, price is a delicate negotiation. Go into an offer with an idea of the minimum and maximum you’d like to pay and see what the influencer’s idea of their own rates are. If it doesn’t seem like a compromise is possible, move on to someone else.
5. Have a Long-Term Plan
As with any marketing initiative, it’s important to have a plan in place for your influencer marketing campaign.
Work with your team to brainstorm how you can create long-term value and ROI through this campaign, whether that means incorporating the influencer in future promotions or developing a genuine relationship that can lead to more connections further down the road.
Conclusion
Download the "The 11-Step Agency Guide on How To Do Influencer Marketing" so you won’t forget to take action on it later. Click here to download it now.
Influencer marketing may not be the first thing you think of when optimizing your marketing strategy, but, when done right, it can be massively successful in boosting your brand awareness, credibility, and sales.
By learning how to do influencer marketing correctly using these tips, you can secure long-term relationships with influencers who truly understand and elevate your clients’ brands.
Now tell me: Have you ever used influencer marketing? What were the process and results like?
Let me know in the comments below.
Keep Growin’, stay focused.
