“Content is King but engagement is Queen, and the lady rules the house!”

-These words by marketing expert Mari Smith are something that every digital marketer should live by.

To influence the masses with your brand, you shouldn’t merely create content for the digital platform, but also know how to engage your targeted consumers. And, in today’s social media-driven world, what can be a better way to engage your audience than with influencer marketing campaigns?

“Marketing is fire, while social media is the fuel for it.”

In this analogy, an influencer is a proverbial matchstick to get the fuel burning. Through influencer marketing, you need to find someone who has a strong influence on your brand’s target audience and form a partnership with that person to put out your brand voice to the masses.

However, finding an influencer for marketing your brand is merely the first step to creating a successful influencer campaign. But to make it work, you should have the right strategy in place!

Give the following points a read and chalk out a plan to ensure that your influencer marketing campaigns take off!

i. Set specific goals for your campaign

According to the latest data from L2 Inc., about 50% to 90% brand from every industry use influencer marketing strategy on Instagram to establish their brand’s presence in the market.

Surprised?

Well, what is even more surprising is that many famous brands are also taking up this strategy to put their products out to the public. One of these influencer marketing examples is the story of Damon and Jo, who started the travel show “Shut Up and Go” on YouTube to chronicle their travel around the world. Soon after, their show became popular and started generating views. Following this, famous brands like Toyota, MTV and Greyhound partnered with them to promote their brands.

And voila! Successful influencer marketing campaigns took the much-needed baby steps!

But, what if Toyota had partnered with a beauty blogger to market its brand? It would not have ended up too well, right?

That is why you should determine your goals for the campaign first. Choose your audience, make a list of influencers that can help you reach out to them, and most importantly, set a budget!

You can then proceed with your campaign.

ii. Set specific goals for your campaign

“If you have to tell people that you’re an “influencer” on your social media profiles, then you are probably not.”

Reality check!

Well, yeah! This quote by influencer Rebecca Aguilar is the first thing you should keep in mind while choosing the person to partner with.

When you involve influencers to promote your business, they become the face of your brand. They indirectly work to build a bridge of trust between your organisation and customers. That is why it is crucial to put ample research into them before choosing someone to represent your brand.

Choose someone with credibility, followers and good ethics to become the voice for your brand!

iii. Let your influencers’ creative juices flow!

Influencers, with a considerable number of followers, will know how to reach your customers and ways to earn their trust. Influencer marketing is curated in a way to grant exposure to both the influencer and the brand. You should, thus, allow them the creative freedom to design their content.

So, collaborate with them but allow them their space to elevate the material.

iv. Zero in on the social media platforms you want to use

Say, for example, you need to market your food delivery service. Then, LinkedIn is definitely not the platform you will choose for your service, right?

You should look into how a particular social media platform can help to market your services. Look into Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and any other platforms, and list how they can help you to reach out to your target audience.

Seek out the influencers on those platforms and collaborate with them to make your influencer marketing campaigns shine!

v. Follow the seven Cs of communication!

“Engage rather than sell … Work as a co-creator, not a marketer.”

Based on this quote by market researcher Tom H. C. Anderson, communication is the key to create a great influencer campaign.

Following are the seven Cs of communication to help you understand the best way to approach your influencer campaign:

• Credibility
• Consistency
• Courtesy
• Clarity  
• Creativity
• Context
• Content

Look into each of them and make your campaign take off!

Thus, in the denouement, influencer marketing campaigns work best if you communicate effectively with the personality you partnered with. This unique collaboration is the best way to ensure that your brand reaches out to your targeted audience in every corner of the world.

So, what are you waiting for? Get set to devise a great marketing plan through influencers and make your brand accessible to the most number of people, today!