Being endlessly told that influencer marketing is the hot, new thing to be investing in right now is all well and good, but sometimes the notion of using influencers to further the reach and reputation of your brand and/or product can seem a little….vague.
When it comes down to it, what exactly can an influencer do for you? What are the action points and nitty gritty tasks that an influencer can perform that you can’t do in-house? Unsurprisingly, the answer to this depends very much on your desired outcomes, and what specifically you are hoping to achieve through an influencer marketing endeavour. Never fear – we’re here to break it down for you.
If you’re looking to sell a product…
Getting a specific product shifting from the shelves is a business objective we can surely all relate to, but sometimes said products need an extra little boost to start flying out the door. This is where influence can really help. The following are just some specific things you can ask an influencer to help with:
- Product reviewing – This is a great use of influencers within certain niches. Asking your influencer to use your product and record their experience gets the word out to their audience, and adds an extra bit of approval too. The best way to go about this is to contact the influencer(s) first and ask if they would be interested – influencers are extremely busy and do not always respond to cold sending of products for review.
- Product affiliation – This is what keeps your Kendall Jenner-s in stock of designer shades and cutting edge fashion, but you can easily employ the same techniques with micro influencers. This method simply involves getting your product seen on, with or being used by the right influencer, and puts it in front of the right audience.
- Competitions and Giveaways – This method can be conducted by you, your influencer, or a combination of the two. Essentially it involves offering the product you are promoting as a prize of some form in a competition, or giving it away to a select few. With your influencer adding weight to the cause and putting the competition/giveaway in front of the right people, you’ll find engagement with the product and buzz around it increases exponentially.
If you want to build your brand rep and links…
Influencers are great at getting your brand in front of a wider audience, especially a wider audience that will be receptive to it. Therefore, if you’re looking to give your brand reputation a bit of a boost and put it in front of the right people, influencers are useful in the following ways:
- Sponsored content – Commissioning influencers to create content on your behalf and (in the case of blog posts) link back to your domains is a rewarding and straightforward way to build brand reputation as well as link profile.
- Guest blogging – This is a great method for aligning your brand with the right influencer, and bringing their audience to your site.
- Social/blog takeovers – Allowing your influencer(s) full control over your social channels and/or blog may seem a little daunting, but it can do wonders for attracting the right audience to you, and giving your brand rep a powerful boost.
If you want to increase the exposure of an event or cause…
The promotion of an event or cause can really benefit from the involvement of an influencer. Not only does an influencer have the right channels of communication to get the word out among further audiences, their affiliation with an event or cause will immediately raise its profile. Think:
- Event publicity – Asking one or more influencers to publicise your event is a simple but effective way to get it in front of engaged audiences.
- Event attendance – Inviting an influencer to attend your event or cause, particularly if there happens to be a free bar, will immediately increase its exposure, as the influencer will share their experience with their followers.
Final thoughts…
Influencers are useful to brands for pretty much one reason – they can reach audiences that brands alone cannot. Although there are myriad ways in which influencers and brands can work together to reach said audiences, the question you need to answer to work out how best to do so doesn’t change: who are they listening to?