Oberlo Influencer Marketing Final Draft

  • Uploaded by: wahidwam
  • 0
  • 0
  • January 2021
  • PDF

This document was uploaded by user and they confirmed that they have the permission to share it. If you are author or own the copyright of this book, please report to us by using this DMCA report form. Report DMCA


Overview

Download & View Oberlo Influencer Marketing Final Draft as PDF for free.

More details

  • Words: 22,790
  • Pages: 190
Loading documents preview...
Table of Contents 1. What Is Influencer Marketing? Influencer Marketing: A Definition Why Influencer Marketing Is Effective Influencer Marketing Trends and Considerations Legal and Ethical Issues How to Follow Influencer Marketing Laws

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns 1. Sponsored Content 2. Reviews 3. Competitions and Giveaways 4. Product and Content Collaborations 5. Long-Term Brand Ambassadors 6. ‘Takeovers’ on Your Platforms

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers What Is a Micro-Influencer? Key Types of Micro-Influencers Benefits of Working with Micro-Influencers How to Choose the Right Micro-Influencers

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry Use Your Brand Identity to Power Your Search Finding Influencers via Google Search Keyword and Hashtag Research Beauty Fashion Travel Fitness Food

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy Choose a Compensation Model Set Specific Goals and KPIs Before Launch Make Everything as Trackable as Possible Avoid Getting Tricked by Fake Influencers

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach Start Building a Relationship ASAP Influencer Marketing Outreach Templates Create a Clear, Goal-Oriented Campaign Brief

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps How Does an Influencer Marketing Platform Work? Best Influencer Marketing Platforms Do I Need a Platform-Specific Influencer Marketing App? Best Influencer Marketing Apps for Instagram, Snapchat & Other Platforms

8. Working with Instagram Influencers Instagram’s Secrets to Influencer Success Most Popular Instagram Partnerships How to Find Instagram Influencers 3 Successful Instagram Influencer Marketing Examples

9. Working with YouTube Influencers The Rise of YouTube Most Popular YouTube Partnerships How to Find YouTube Influencers 3 Successful YouTube Influencer Marketing Examples

10. Working with Facebook Influencers Facebook’s New Influencer Tool: Brand Collabs Manager Most Popular Facebook Partnerships How to Find Facebook Influencers 3 Successful Facebook Influencer Marketing Examples Go Forth and Influence!

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

How many times have you bought a particular product or service because someone you know recommended it to you? Or did some online research to narrow down your choices? Or read product reviews and write-ups to make sure your top choice is a good one? And my favorite: when you end up buying something you don’t even really need, just because someone you trust said it’s worth it. While you kick yourself over your monthly credit card statement, remember that you’re not alone. Research compiled by HubSpot showed that 90% of people surveyed believe brand recommendations from their friends, while 70% believe general consumer opinions. These stats illustrate a trend that many people flat-out trust strangers more than advertisements.

That’s because social influence is one of the most powerful motivators there are. As society-based, communal creatures, it speaks to the heart of who we are, and how we grow and build our world. (I’ll stop myself from going into a poetic and philosophical spiel.)

6

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

Our social tendencies, combined with other factors like savvier consumerism and the growing role of social media in daily life, make it easy to see why some have dubbed influencer marketing as ‘the next big thing.’ And there many others who argue that it’s already at full-steam.

A 2018 survey by the Association of National Advertisers shows that 75% of respondents already use influencer marketing, and 43% are planning to spend more on it next year. At the core of the phenomenon is the power of relationships: how effectively an influencer’s channel can perform when they’ve built real relationships with their audience, as well as how effective a brand’s campaign can be when it builds real relationships with its influencers. Take it from Ted Rubin, leading social marketing strategist and the man behind the term #RonR – return on relationship:

7

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

8

“Influencer marketing, when used to its best effect, is about building a network of business relationships that will yield results over time. You’ll get as much out of the program as you put into it. This is a radical departure from the current media and ecommerce environment as consumers seek information when and where they want it vs. Ted Rubin

proceeding along a predictable purchase path.

Social Marketing

Mobile is accelerating this behavior, leaving many

Strategist

retailers, brands and publishers perplexed about how to capitalize. So the key is harnessing the power of social influence in a compelling way that connects authentic storytelling with brand and product interaction. Welcome to the age of influence, where anyone can build an audience, advocate brands, build relationships, effect change, and make a difference.”

In this chapter, we’ll discuss:

dzdz A brief influencer marketing definition dzdz Why it’s so effective in today’s consumer landscape dzdz Influencer marketing trends and considerations to keep in mind dzdz Some key legal and ethical issues for brands and digital influencers dzdz How to make sure you’re following laws and regulations

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer Marketing: A Definition To understand the definition of influencer marketing, it’s essential to answer the question, “what is a social media influencer?” Simply put, a social media influencer is an individual with an online presence on various social media channels (like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) who can use this presence to influence the behaviors and opinions of their audiences. In influencer marketing, brands hire – or otherwise partner with – these digital influencers to promote the brand in some way to the influencer’s audience. From sponsored posts to content co-creation to brand ambassadors, the influencer marketing ecosystem takes many forms.

But in the end, you can think of it as using influential people as a marketing channel. And while top celebrities might be the first ones to come to mind, research shows that your influencer marketing impact can be much higher when you focus on working with people whose audiences align very closely with your brand... even if that means they have only 5,000 followers!

We’ll discuss the concept of smaller, more relevant audiences in Chapter 3 when we get into working with micro-influencers.

9

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

10

Why Influencer Marketing Is Effective Leveraging the power of social influence for marketing is nothing new. In fact, the first celebrity endorsement is dated back to a pottery and chinaware brand in the 1760s. But in the age of social media, influencer marketing brings a unique set of results that brands struggle to get on their own. One study from Business Insider Intelligence shows that across industry verticals, the average engagement rate from digital influencer campaigns is 5.7%. To compare, engagement rates from different brands’ Instagram accounts have been around 2–3% the past year.

That’s around double the engagement. Another survey shows that influencer marketing ROI was $7.65 for every $1 spent.

Source

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

11

So why is influencer marketing effective?

dzdz Brands can reach more relevant audiences dzdz Promoted products and services are ‘vetted’ through shared interests between influencers and their followers dzdz It builds a stronger feeling of authenticity among consumers dzdz Consumers feel more confident knowing the influencer stands behind the brand dzdz It caters to consumers’ increasing need to craft their own online and shopping experiences dzdz It fits seamlessly with growing social media culture dzdz Consumers willingly follow influencers, as opposed to ‘unwelcome’ ads’

Because of its mass success in the past few years, social media influencer marketing is growing faster than ever. Let’s take a look at what this means for brands and influencers, including considerations and trends that we can expect to see in the coming years. “Many of Oberlo’s most successful merchants turn to influencer marketing to promote their products when they are just starting out. It’s generally cheaper than advertising, and helps you test both your intended audience and your product ideas at the same time. An added benefit of using influencer marketing is that you can use the photos they take of your products on

Venetia Anderson

your website and in future advertisements ( just make

Oberlo

sure you get permission to do this from them first).”

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

12

Influencer Marketing Trends and Considerations As we approach 2019 and beyond, it’s clear that social media influencer marketing isn’t going anywhere. In fact, if you take a look at Google Trends, you’ll see that Google searches for the term ‘influencer marketing’ started skyrocketing around 2014.

And if you’ve ever tracked business performance using a chart, you know that the general up-and-right direction of this arrow is good news.

So what’s in store for the industry, and the savvy brands and digital influencers who take advantage of its growing stronghold?

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

13

Here are some key trends and things to consider as you learn how to build an influencer marketing strategy.

▸ Influencer marketing will ‘take off’ and be included in the typical marketing mix. Even small brands are recognizing the value, which will translate into influencer marketing as one of the basics – like content marketing and paid ads.

▸ Because it will be so common, so too will influencer marketing platforms and apps that help to consolidate, manage, and track a brand’s efforts, as well as maintain relationships with different influencers.

▸ Brands will place a bigger priority on securing long-term social media influencer partnerships and brand ambassadors. As opposed to oneoff campaigns and sponsorships, more companies are seeing the value in relationships that keep their offerings front-and-center while building consumer trust in the long run.

▸ Fortune 500 companies will give influencer marketing opportunities a much bigger chunk of their marketing budgets. You could say that larger companies have been ‘pioneering’ the space. They’ve seen results, and they’re ready to invest more.

▸ More influencers will begin to recognize their power and use it to build their own consumer brands – like YouTube star Emma Chamberlain. She released a private label clothing line after gaining nearly 5 million subscribers within a year of her debut video.

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

A Closer Look at Emma Chamberlain’s Influence I’d like to examine what I’ll call The Curious Case of Emma Chamberlain. What’s completely mind-blowing about this 17-year-old’s clothing line High Key by Emma is that some of her items sold out in under 30 minutes... even though the items were blurred out in the product photos and the item descriptions were scrambled!

Source

14

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

15

Another interesting aspect is that her line is sold exclusively on the Dote app, which calls itself ‘The Mobile Mall’ and is geared toward Gen Z shoppers. This exclusivity adds an extra element of appeal, and the fact that nearly everything is labeled ‘limited stock’ creates a sense of urgency. When you think about it, she’s gained so much adoration, esteem, and loyalty from her fans that they’re willing to shell out money based on blind trust that they’ll like whatever she’s promoting.

This might not seem important to anyone whose main business audience isn’t Gen Z consumers. But remember: these consumers are our next generation – and they’re massively changing the way we buy today. Some food for thought.

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

16

Legal and Ethical Issues As with any promotion, brands should be aware of the legal and ethical issues that might come up. In the realm of influencer marketing, these main issues relate to transparency – making sure consumers know that all of your efforts are the result of a marketing partnership. When you think about the power of social influence, it’s easy to see how it can be unfair and misleading when consumers don’t know that a certain post or page is there because the influencer got money or free stuff. That’s why the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) created Endorsement Guides that lay out key guidelines and examples for companies to use. In April 2017, the FTC sent 90 letters to influencers and marketers to educate them on these influencer marketing rules.

Source

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

In these letters, the FTC wrote:

“The FTC’s Endorsement Guides state that if there is a ‘material connection’ between an endorser and the marketer of a product – in other words, a connection that might affect the weight or credibility that consumers give the endorsement – that connection should be clearly and conspicuously disclosed, unless the connection is already clear from the context of the communication containing the endorsement. Material connections could consist of a business or family relationship, monetary payment, or the provision of free products to the endorser.”

More simply, you must clearly and openly disclaim when a personal relationship with the business influences your promotion, or if they gave you money or free products. Then in September 2017, the FTC sent warning letters to 21 of those original 90 individuals and groups whose disclosures just weren’t cutting it. Among the 21 recipients included celebs Lindsay Lohan, Naomi Campbell, and Sofia Vergara. If the FTC gets to the point of sending a final order, those found guilty can face a civil penalty of up to $40,654. The FTC has made it clear that it’s willing to crack down on those who violate influencer marketing regulations.

17

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

18

How to Follow Influencer Marketing Laws So how can you make sure you don’t run into any influencer marketing legal issues?

The tricky thing is: there are currently no hard-and-fast rules to follow. The whole process operates on a common-sense approach that requires every piece of promotional content to very clearly state it. On an Instagram post, for example, this can often be seen with hashtags like #ad, #paid, or #sponsored in the post’s body. You can ask your influencers to use these. (While some have tried to get away with hashtags like #sp, #partner, #ambassador, or #thanks[brand name], the FTC has stated that these aren’t clear enough… so don’t try it!)

Source

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

If the platform they’re using has disclosure options, consider using those too. For example, Instagram recently created a feature to disclose paid partnerships at the top of a post. This feature is expected to be mandatory in the future. Viral filmmaker Zach King used both techniques for his Universal Pictures partnership:

19

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

As you’re starting out, here are some general rules to follow:

1. Ultimately, each brand is responsible for what its influencers say. So let your influencers know the rules, and monitor their posts to make sure they’re adequately disclosing your relationship – even if it’s just a shoutout after a freebie you sent them. 2. In the words of the FTC, use language that’s ‘clear and conspicuous.’ One of the easiest ways to do this is the #ad or #sponsored hashtags I mentioned above. 3. Keep it at the top of the post. Users shouldn’t have to click the ‘Read more’ button or scroll down to see your disclosure. 4. Even if it seems obvious, don’t assume that audiences will know that a post has a ‘material connection’ – play it safe and disclose anyway. 5. On image-only platforms like Snapchat, superimpose your disclosures over the photo.

20

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

Source

21

1. What Is Influencer Marketing?

To learn more about the FTC’s ‘truth-in-advertisements’ guidelines, check out their helpful database here. And take a look at this great infographic that’s broken down by channel and type of post.

▸ Now, you’ve got a primer to help answer the question, ‘what is influencer marketing?’ Next, let’s take a look at some of the most common ways that brands and digital influencers collaborate.

22

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

24

If you use social media, I’d put money on the idea that you’ve seen influencer marketing in action at some point, in some form. The main influencer marketing examples that come to mind involve the classic (and occasionally cheesy) Instagram photo of an influencer posing with the promoted product.

But don’t let that fool you – the playing field is diverse and impressively creative. Which is part of what makes influencer marketing campaigns so fun. Brands and influencers can work together to come up with fresh ideas that keep their audiences engaged and excited to give those brands a try. No matter which types of influencer marketing campaigns you settle on, keep in mind that your compensation agreement can follow different models. For example, you can give the influencer your product or service for free, pay them a flat rate for each post, or create a model that pays (or otherwise rewards) them for meeting certain goals. If you go the affiliate marketing route, you can pay the influencer commission as a percentage of the sales they bring in.

Stay tuned for Chapter 5, where we’ll outline compensation models as part of your influencer strategy.

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

25

For now, I’ll focus on common types of influencer marketing campaigns in terms of their content. And of course, we’ll look at some real-life examples from brands that do it right. In this chapter, we’ll cover six types of influencer marketing campaigns:

1. Sponsored content 2. Reviews 3. Competitions and giveaways 4. Product and content collaborations 5. Long-term ambassadors 6. ‘Takeovers’ on your platforms

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

26

1. Sponsored Content Let’s start with the basics. Sponsored content influencer marketing campaigns fall more in line with the simple, ‘classic’ description I mentioned earlier. It typically plays out with brands reaching out to influencers to ask if they’re willing to promote one of their products or services – or vice versa... some influencers do outreach too!

Depending on the influencer’s channel(s) you’ve agreed on, the final product is usually a photo, video, or blog post featuring your offering. These campaigns usually start with the brand sending the influencer a campaign brief that outlines certain guidelines, instructions, and requirements. But it’s important to remember that you must give your influencers some creative freedom. It’s their audience, after all – they know the best ways to engage them. And their followers will definitely smell something fishy if a post is out of line with the influencer’s personality, style, and voice.

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

Here’s a classy Instagram influencer marketing example from Carl Thompson, founder of men’s clothing brand Hawkins and Shepherd.

27

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

And a video example from Calvin Young, a Deaf traveller who entertains and inspires through his blog Seek the World. He partnered with travel and ticket booking company Busbud to promote its services on Facebook.

28

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

2. Reviews One of the most common influencer marketing examples of reviews involves a brand offering their product or service to the influencer for free, and the influencer posting a review in exchange. If you’ve seen any ‘unboxing’ videos, this may have been the driving force. The premise of these videos is that the influencer has never seen or used the product before, and they’re unboxing and testing it out for the first time on camera. (Keep in mind, though, that some web personalities have built their name on reviewing products, like tech products. In these cases, they may be getting these items through other ways than an influencer marketing partnership.) In his YouTube video, Jacques Slade unboxes and reviews a media kit sent to him by Jordan Brand.

29

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

30

Similarly to the sponsored post, this type of partnership can operate based on a set of broad and flexible guidelines sent by the brand.

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

31

But as you might guess, this can go wrong or run into ethical issues pretty quickly. Especially if the brand requires the influencer to only say positive things… or if the influencer isn’t afraid to tell the world that they flat-out hate your product. Like this delightful example from Benjamin Burnley of the popular rock band Breaking Benjamin, who was approached by EA Games to give a positive review of their Star Wars Battlefront game:

The moral of the story is: be careful what you wish for.

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

32

3. Competitions and Giveaways Everyone loves a giveaway. These tactics can be a win-win-win for your brand, your influencers, and their fans. This is especially true when the process is simple for audiences to enter and win.

Typically, brands offer a free product or service for the influencer to give away to their followers. Competitions and giveaways can include:



Engaging with the influencer’s post itself, such as: dzdz ‘Liking’ the post dzdz Commenting on it with a certain phrase, hashtag, or photo dzdz Tagging up to 3 friends in the comments



Engaging with the brand outside of the post, like: dzdz ‘Liking’ or following the brand on their social media channel(s) dzdz Going to the brand’s website to sign up via a form or mailing list dzdz Submitting photos, stories, or other types of ‘entries’ to be judged by the brand

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

33

In this example, model and fitness influencer Angi Fletcher gave away a Natural Life gift box to users who followed the brand’s Instagram and tagged one person in her post’s comments.

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

34

4. Product and Content Collaborations Instead of the one-off types of campaign, some brands have worked closely with influencers to co-create products or content. This is often seen in the beauty and fashion industries, where influencers create their own line of clothing, accessories, or beauty products under the brand. For example, beauty influencer Jaclyn Hill created an eyeshadow palette in collaboration with the international makeup brand Morphe.

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

35

Of course, this is a very involved strategy if you’re manufacturing the products yourself, and it’s more common among brands that have already built a name for themselves in their industry. If your company encounters these kinds of issues, you might opt for content collaboration for the time being. Like how plant-based food blogger Kimberly Espinel partnered with muesli brand Dee Muesli to come up with original recipes using their product.

Influencer marketing examples like this can go a long way, especially when your influencers can showcase your brand in action while giving them a clear and direct call-to-action (CTA). In this case, the CTA was something along the lines of “You there! Buy this muesli so you can make these awesome muffins.”

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

5. Long-Term Brand Ambassadors As the name suggests, a long-term ambassador is an influencer who partners with your brand for an extended period. You could think of them as a ‘face’ of your brand, sort of how celebrity spokespeople work in traditional advertising campaigns.

As opposed to other tactics that might be one-off or a few posts, a brand ambassador might promote your brand for several months to a year or longer. This type of influencer marketing campaign can bring great results because:

dzdz Repetition keeps your brand at the top-of-mind for the ambassador’s audience dzdz More frequent promotion gives more opportunities to show the versatility of your company’s offerings dzdz A stronger relationship with the influencer means more trust, credibility, and authenticity in the eyes of their audience dzdz There’s a lower churn rate in your marketing strategy, which generally equates to less uncertainty and more convenience

36

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

37

Here, fitness personality Matt Upston posts a tweet celebrating three years of being an ambassador for sport nutrition company Science in Sport. (Two-for-one special: it’s a brand ambassador hosting a giveaway!)

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns

6. ‘Takeovers’ on Your Platforms While the first five tactics involve your brand showing up on an influencer’s platform(s), this one involves the influencer showing up on yours.

In a takeover, the brand gives the influencer access to its social media channels of choice for a set period of time. Usually, the period lasts about a day, but some go as long as a week for special occasions or events. Influencers can create fun behind-the-scenes or ‘day-in-the-life-of’ posts, videos, and stories to keep your audience interested and engaged. The biggest downfall of this influencer marketing campaign strategy is that you’ll typically have to give the influencer your password. For obvious reasons, you’ll need to make sure there’s a high level of trust. And a contract too.

But there’s good news if you have a Snapchat: the platform has actually created a feature that lets your account post takeover stories without giving strangers your login info! Read more about it here.

You can see it in action in the video compilation from Newcastle University’s Snapchat account, showing a series of takeover posts from Newcastle students researching glacial erosion and climate change in Svalbard, Norway.

38

2. 6 Top Types of Influencer Marketing Campaigns



Now that you’ve got a solid idea of the types of influencer marketing campaigns and examples out there, let’s talk about how to choose the right influencers to work with.



39

Spoiler alert: you should go with micro-influencers.

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

41

When it comes to choosing key figures for your marketing campaign, it makes sense on the surface to link up with high-profile people who boast huge social media followings.

A bigger audience = more exposure and sales, right? Honestly… not really. While it seems logically sound, more and more businesses are finding out that working with the right micro-influencers is often more effective and less costly across the board. Social media and lead generation expert Lilach Bullock asserts that you simply can’t get the same results working for the biggest and most popular names as you can get when you work with micro-influencers who have smaller, more targeted audiences.

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

42

“The big advantage of working with micro-influencers is that they have highly targeted audiences, which means that even if you’re reaching fewer people, the important thing is, you’re reaching the right people – the people who would be genuinely interested in your products or services and have a bigger chance of taking action based on your campaign and buying from you. The bigger an influencer gets and the more followers

Lilach Bullock

they have, the likelier it gets that a large part of their

Online Business Expert

audience is no longer targeted, but rather people who are simply following them because of who they are and their popularity. Because of this and their huge audiences, the topname influencer can no longer have the close relationship that micro-influencers have with their audience – a relationship which is very important if you want to drive more results from your campaign.”

So what is a micro-influencer, and how does it all work? In this chapter, we’ll look at:

dzdz A micro-influencer definition dzdz Different types of micro-influencers dzdz Benefits of working with micro-influencers dzdz How to choose the right ones

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

43

What Is a Micro-Influencer? You could think of micro-influencers as everyday people with a highly-engaged following on their social media channels. Their content usually revolves around a particular niche or passion – health and beauty, fitness, business, travel, and everything in between. Here are some of the core ways that micro-influencers differ from high-profile influencers:

MICRO-INFLUENCERS

HIGH-PROFILE INFLUENCERS

dzdz Most micro-influencers have

dzdz Have 100,000+ followers

audiences of 5,000 to 50,000 dzdz Are community-oriented dzdz Often seen as an authority in a particular niche

dzdz Many high-profile influencers are popular across the globe dzdz Appeal to diverse audiences for various reasons

It’s not just niche stores that use micro-influencers. Even big brands like Disney and Microsoft are turning to these individuals to boost their marketing campaigns.

Why? Because these regular folks create and share genuine content about the things they love. They have a credible voice and loyal fans who trust what they say.

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

44

Here’s an example of a micro-influencer talking about Disney and its offerings in her authentic voice:

In a world where people are tired of the Kardashians and paid advertising, microinfluencers are able to stand out with the kind of authenticity that people crave. The real value, however, comes from the fact that marketing engagements can be as high as 60% with micro-influencer marketing than with celebrity marketing.

Brands used to compete rigorously for celebrity endorsements. But today, all people want is an authentic recommendation from an individual they can trust. No BS. Just a real, transparent opinion.

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

45

Key Types of Micro-Influencers Micro-influencers engage their audiences in several ways, from explaining their gym routine, to giving makeup tutorials, to helping people replace their 9-to-5 with magical digital nomad journeys around the world.

There are oh, so many opportunities for brands. But the key to an effective micro-influencer marketing campaign is choosing the right ones to work with. Let’s start by exploring some common personalities you’ll find in the influencer world.

The Entertainer As humans, we love entertainers not only because of their personalities, but for their ability to transport us to another world. They’re often funny and outgoing characters, giving witty or controversial commentaries on pop cultures like current events, movies, or music. But not every entertainer is funny. For example, they may also be confessional, influencing audiences by sharing more vulnerable aspects of their lives.

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

The Instructor These micro-influencers use ‘edutainment’ to engage people on a more intellectual level than other kinds of micro-influencers. They’re life-hackers, subject matter experts, DIY enthusiasts, and fix-it gurus. They creatively use Instagram, YouTube, and other channels to help viewers achieve goals that they may not feel equipped to accomplish on their own.

The Adventurer Those who constantly seem on-the-move to new, fascinating, and exotic places. They’re known for sharing some of the most breathtaking photos – particularly on Instagram. Examples of such micro-influencers include backpackers, mountain climbers, skydivers, wildlife photographers, and other thrill-seekers. Whatever experiences they gather are vividly detailed and proudly displayed on their social profiles.

The Disruptor These micro-influencers have an open mind and a passion for exploring uncharted territories. They love to work with brands that further their curiosity and help take their creativity to new heights. They’re often tech gurus and enthusiasts, excited to get their hands on cool and interesting innovations.

46

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

47

Benefits of Working with Micro-Influencers As I mentioned in our intro to influencer marketing in Chapter 1, relationships are the heart of any strong influencer marketing effort. This concept is showcased when you take a closer look at the unique benefits of micro-influencer marketing and how it compares to working with bigger names. Just ask marketing influencer and owner of OPTIM-EYEZ Sam Hurley: “The primary strengths of micro-influencer marketing are rapid engagement, bottom line results (that compound over time) and much warmer, ‘human’ interactions that genuinely last. It once seemed to be the hottest trend to only hire celebs and mega influencers – now, brands are increasingly aware that audience size does not always correlate with ROI.

Sam Hurley

For this reason, it’s becoming ‘fashionable’ (and

OPTIM-EYEZ

reliable) to actually partner with micro-influencers with smaller, more engaged audiences. Audiences can truly relate to these ‘real’ people! They generally can’t adhere to the dreamy lives of celebs. This deeper connection through relatable storytelling really matters.”

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

Micro-influencers have a niche following – a ‘tribe’ that shares the same interests and passions as them. In influencer marketing, the relevance of an audience to the content creator is key, and if they aren’t closely aligned, there’s a strong chance your campaign won’t succeed. Let’s examine a case study to illustrate the value.

Case Study: Micro vs. Mega-Influencers Influencer marketing specialist Stephanie Robbins set up a campaign for a health food business. It consisted of both micro-influencers and what she calls ‘megainfluencers.’ Here’s how she classified them:

Micro-Influencer

dzdz Has more than 10,000 followers on Instagram dzdz Has more than 8,000 followers on Facebook dzdz Is well-respected in niche communities dzdz Possesses experience in both performance-based and sponsored campaigns dzdz Offers high-quality content and visuals

48

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

49

Mega-Influencer dzdz Has more than 600,000 followers on Instagram dzdz Has more than 24,000 followers on Facebook dzdz Gets over 300+ engagements on all content dzdz Possesses experience in both performance-based and sponsored campaigns dzdz Is well-respected by brands dzdz Offers high-quality content and visuals

The results? INFLUENCER TYPE

LIKES

SALES

Micro-influencer

Below 100

Above 100

Mega-influencer

1,000

5

It goes to show that just because people are watching, it doesn’t mean they’re interested. Micro-influencers are a one-two punch in building engaged and targeted audiences, while also generating their trust. And that’s not all they have to offer.

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

50

Here’s a look at some additional reasons why it makes good sense to work with a micro-influencer:

1. They’re Affordable If you’re a small business or a startup, getting micro-influencers on board for your campaign may be your best bet as they don’t charge as much as high-profile influencers for sponsored posts. How much do micro-influencers charge? An article published on Later’s blog found that micro-influencers with an audience of 80,000 charge about $300 for a single Instagram post and $500 for 2. If a brand wants them to post across all channels (Facebook, Instagram, Blog, Twitter), they’ll charge around $400. In contrast, an influencer with over 100,000 followers pitched the following rates:

Source

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

51

These numbers suggest that partnering with micro-influencers is just more cost-effective. If you work with influencers with more than 500,000 followers, you might have to spend about $1,000 for one sponsored Instagram post. For extensive blog posts and giveaways, the expense could go much higher, and might even reach as high as $2,000. And large corporations have been known to spend tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands working with big-name influencers. So if you have a limited budget to work with, you could start contacting microinfluencers who have a sufficient following and a highly-engaged audience.

2. They’re Authentic What makes people engage more with one influencer than another? It’s their personality, tone, content aesthetic, and most importantly, their ability to be personal and authentic with their audience.

Micro-influencers are known to cherish their communities, and are readily available to answer questions, interact with followers, and even attend local events. On the other hand, top influencers have a ‘celebrity’ status that often prevents them from engaging with their large audience on a personal level. (Can’t blame them… not everyone has time to reply to 500 comments a day.)

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

52

The other thing that makes micro-influencers an attractive choice for campaigns is their ability to craft and share authentic content.

Unlike the popular social media stars who simply tag a brand for a sponsored placement, most micro-influencers spend hours creating the perfect Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter post. They choose the best hashtags and descriptions while styling the elements of the photo or video just right.

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

3. They’re Easy to Build a Relationship With Maybe you’ve heard that Drake song that goes, “started from the bottom, now we’re here.” That’s sort of how micro-influencers work too. Since they don’t have millions of followers at the start, they have to grow their audience one by one, engagement by engagement.

They show their followers respect and interact with them by replying to comments, sharing promos, and hosting giveaways. For these reasons, they’re much easier to reach and contract than their betterknown counterparts.

53

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

54

Overall, they’re thought leaders on subject matters that genuinely interest them, and are often open to collaborations with brands that share their passions. Dropshipper Tim Vangsness suggests using micro influencers with between 1,00010,000 to promote your products.

“I normally found that you break even with people who have around 1,000 followers. Above 10,000 followers and you’re probably going to need to pay them to promote the product too. I find that bigger influencers are sort of a mixed bag. Some people you’ll pay a lot of money, and get nothing. Others you can get really good returns.” Tim Vangsness Dropshipper

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

55

How to Choose the Right Micro-Influencers As we dive into different social media platforms later in this ebook, we’ll discuss more in-depth strategies for finding influencers who really fit with your brand. (Browsing websites and databases, using keywords and hashtags in searches… all that fun detective stuff.) But for now, here are a few quick tips for choosing the right micro-influencers once you’ve found some good candidates:

dzdz Look closely at their posts and content. Do their image and lifestyle easily complement your brand? Could you see them rocking your product or service without any strain or inauthenticity? dzdz Look at the engagement of several posts. Apart from the number of likes and shares, what do the comments say? Are they generic, spammy, or weird? Do the same people comment on every post, or is it varied? dzdz See if they’re already doing sponsored content. This can give an idea of the ease and cost of working with them. For example, if they’ve just started, they may be less expensive (though they may also need more guidance). dzdz Be selective and don’t rush the process. It may take some time to find the perfect micro-influencers, but they’re more than worth the hassle if they understand and amplify the core of your brand.

As you get a feel for their ‘vibe,’ see if they check the following boxes. Topperforming micro-influencers typically share these traits:

3. Why You Should Choose Micro-Influencers over High-Profile Influencers

56

dzdz Credibility. Top micro-influencers are experts in their niche, and their audiences trust that they know what they’re talking about. dzdz Intrigue. Whether they’re as sweet as sugar or known for starting fires, people just can’t pass up their new posts and discussions. dzdz Ingenuity. Many micro-influencers pave their way to being influential by offering a unique perspective on the status quo. dzdz Passion. There’s no question about it: you can tell that they love what they do, which is part of why they’re so credible and intriguing, to begin with. dzdz Regularity. They post content (photos, videos, blogs, etc.) at least once a week, and have built consistent engagement from this reliability.

Micro-influencer marketing won’t improve your sales overnight, but if you look at the companies that are leveraging this new trend, you’ll realize they have powerful stories to share. And we believe them.

One study shows that micro-influencers drive 22.2 times more brand conversations per week than the average person.

▸ Now, you better understand the inner workings of micro-influencers and how they can help improve your marketing campaigns. The next step is to start the search for influencers whose content and audiences are just the right fit for what your brand has to offer.

Onward to Chapter 4!

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

58

If you ask any marketer who’s spearheaded their own influencer campaign, you’ll find that one of the most challenging and time-consuming parts is figuring out how to find influencers in your industry that really complement your brand. There are more obvious obstacles like fake influencers with purchased followers.

But moving past that, you’ll need to do your research to make sure that the influencers you choose have truly interested and engaged fans whose lifestyles fit seamlessly with your products and services. Understandably, this can be a pretty intimidating process. How do you know which keywords and hashtags to use in your searches? Where can you find industry-specific pockets of activity, like where all the beauty influencers, travel influencers, and food influencers hang out online? This chapter has got you covered. We’ll drill down into the top 5 influencer marketing industries (beauty, fashion, travel, fitness, and food), as well as give you some general Google search tips so you can streamline and master the process of learning how to find influencers in your industry.

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

In this chapter, we’ll look at:

dzdz How to use your brand identity to power your search dzdz Tips and tricks for finding influencers via Google search dzdz Tools to help with keyword and hashtag research dzdz Industry-specific hashtags and online communities for finding: ◦ Beauty influencers ◦ Fashion influencers ◦ Travel influencers ◦ Fitness influencers ◦ Food influencers

Let’s get started!

59

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

60

Use Your Brand Identity to Power Your Search First things first: find those influencers. Later in this ebook, we’ll go over tips for finding the right Instagram influencers, YouTube influencers, and Facebook influencers specifically for those channels. But before you dig into hashtag and keyword research, you should have an idea of which hashtags and keywords even fit with your brand to begin with. This may seem like common sense, but can leave many entrepreneurs feeling stumped. The best way to start is to know your brand and its mission. Ask yourself things like:

dzdz Who is my target audience? What are these people interested in and passionate about? dzdz What’s my brand’s image? What are its defining characteristics and attitudes? dzdz What’s my brand’s core value for my customers? Why do they choose me over competitors?

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

61

Come up with a list of adjectives that describe your brand and your customer base. Things like:

dzdz inspiring, empowering, motivating

dzdz bohemian, hippie

dzdz intellectual, educated

dzdz carefree, free-spirited

dzdz chic, dapper, trendy

dzdz green, sustainable, ethical

dzdz controversial, opinionated

dzdz trend-setter, leader

dzdz offbeat, eccentric, alternative

dzdz creator, designer, producer

dzdz fringe, edgy

dzdz disruptive, innovative

PRO TIP Make a physical spreadsheet or list of everything you come up with, so you can easily reference it later. A list like this might change, but will never become obsolete.

Then, you can use some of these words as keywords and hashtags when you’re searching for influencers on various channels and tools. For example, a sustainable and ethical fashion store can start by searching ‘new ethical fashion influencers’ in Google. It yields plenty of great results:

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

62

Tweak your search terms to include different types of influencers, as well as different channels you’re open to marketing on, like blogs, vlogs, Snapchat, Twitter, and the channels we’ll go into later. Once you have a whole bunch of these brand-centric keywords, you can get creative and use them for all kinds of influencer and market research via:

dzdz In-depth Google searches dzdz Keyword and hashtag searches on specific social media channels dzdz Searches using special influencer marketing platforms and apps, as we’ll describe in Chapter 7

PRO TIP Keep a detailed list with contact info, social account details, and other notes. This way, you can keep track of who you contacted and when. We made a handy spreadsheet you can download here.

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

63

Tips for Finding Influencers via Google Search One of the most important things to remember is that it will take time and search savvy to really find special influencers that mesh with your products or services. So don’t stop at the first few searches! If you’re executing your influencer strategy manually, you’ll likely spend several hours on the searching process alone. But thankfully, there are a handful of built-in Google advanced search options that can help make things easier and quicker. Here are some tips for making the most of your Google searches.

Dig Deeper and Use Google’s Suggestions It’s unlikely that you’ll find everything you need on the first page of your search results. Go past the first page to find hidden gems and micro-influencers that haven’t hit the mainstream yet. For more search ideas, check the dropdown search suggestions that Google gives as you’re typing in your search, as well as at the bottom of each search engine results page (SERP).

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

Here’s what the dropdown suggestions look like:

And here’s what the suggestions at the bottom of each search page look like:

64

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

65

Take Advantage of Search Operators Do you ever feel like your search results just aren’t what you’re looking for?

Google search operators are magical little ‘shortcuts’ that can make your searches more specific and targeted, and more likely to deliver the results you want. Here are some top operators to boost your searches: OPERATOR

PURPOSE Ensure that every result will contain

“ ”

the exact term inside the quotation marks – not just synonyms

1. OR 2. ||

()

Show results for one search term or the other (these two operators are interchangeable)

Group different terms and control the way Google performs the search

Exclude any words with a dash -

before them if you don’t want to see results related to that term Only show search results from

site:

webpages that are hosted on one specific website

EXAMPLE SEARCH “ethical fashion” bloggers

1. ethical fashion OR sustainable fashion 2. ethical fashion | sustainable fashion (ethical OR sustainable) fashion influencer

ethical fashion -instagram

ethical fashion site:instagram.com

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

And you can even use more than one in a search! Here’s an example of a search where I’m looking for articles about ethical or sustainable fashion influencers, but I don’t want any ‘slow fashion’ influencers:

Check out this article for a full list of Google search operators and commands.

66

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

67

Adjust Your Search Settings Use Google’s built-in search settings to get even better searches. My two favorites are…

Custom Date Range You don’t want to look at a list of hot fashion influencers from 2014. Especially in the crazy world of social media, things change fast. So I recommend changing your time range to less than one year ago. (Try six months or less first, then increase if you need to.) To do this, click ‘Tools’ under the right corner of the search bar. Then go to ‘Any time’ ➔ ‘Custom range…’ and select your dates.

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

68

Change Location Google automatically caters your searches to the region or country you’re in right now. If you want to see popular influencers in other places, you can manually change this so Google gives you results for those regions. To do this, go to ‘Settings’ under the right corner of the search bar. Then go to ‘Search settings.’ It will take you a settings page. Scroll to the bottom and click your region of choice, then click save.

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

Tools to Help with Keyword and Hashtag Research dzdz Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest dzdz RiteTag dzdz Hashtagify.me

Let’s take a look at each.

Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest Ubersuggest is a great tool for getting keyword ideas from your core keywords. Just pop them into the search bar, and you’ll see plenty of keyword suggestions, along with their traffic (how many people search that keyword per month).

It also shows you top websites that show up for those keywords in a Google search, so you can see what everyone’s talking about.

69

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

70

RiteTag RiteTag analyzes photos and selected text from the web and suggests related hashtags. You can sign in using your Facebook, Twitter, or Buffer account or install the Chrome extension. Just right click the image and select ‘Get Hashtag Suggestions.’ Say you’re a bakery looking to get some more visitors. RiteTag gave these suggestions for a photo of galaxy blue-and-purple swirled cupcakes:

dzdz #foodie

dzdz #buttercream

dzdz #baking

dzdz #sweet

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

It even includes platform-specific hashtags, like #cupcakelove for Instagram.

You can then search different social platforms for these hashtags to bring you closer to your ideal influencers.

71

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

72

Hashtagify.me Hashtagify.me has a free version that lets you explore hashtag variations, along with some other handy info like top influencers related to those hashtags, popularity trends, and other info. Just click on the related hashtags to look at more, and more… and more.

Now, let’s look at how to find influencers in your industry if your brand is in beauty, fashion, travel, fitness, or food. For each industry, we’ll give you a heaping list of popular hashtags, as well as some top online communities where you can learn more about your niche and scope out some possible influencers.

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

73

Beauty Influencers Top hashtags to help find beauty influencers:

General Beauty

Natural Beauty

Hair

Makeup

Skincare

#beauty

#instabeauty

#beautytips

#beautycare

#beautyaddict

#gorgeous

#beautyful

#beautyblogger

#beautyjunkie

#beautybasics

#beautybloggerlife

#beautyguru

#natural

#naturalbeautyvibes

#naturalbeautytips

#greenbeauty

#naturalista

#naturalbeautyshoutouts

#cleanbeauty

#organicbeauty

#naturalbeautyproduct

#naturalbeauty

#naturalbeautylife

#naturalbeautyproducts

#hair

#naturalcurls

#hairstyle

#haircut

#perfectcurls

#hairstyles

#hairtutorial

#curlyhair

#hairoftheday

#hairgoals

#hairofinstagram

#menshair

#makeup

#makeupaddict

#wakeupandmakeup

#makeuptutorial

#makeupblogger

#eyes

#instamakeup

#makeupoftheday

#lips

#makeupjunkie

#motd

#lashes

#skincare

#skincaretips

#skincareproducts

#intaskincare

#skincareaddict

#skincareroutine

#healthyskin

#skincarelover

#clearskin

#glowingskin

#skincarejunkie

#facial

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

74

Top online communities to help find beauty influencers:

dzdz Beauty Talks by Sephora dzdz Skin Care Addiction subreddit dzdz Makeup Addiction subreddit dzdz Tinted dzdz MakeupAlley

Fashion Influencers Top hashtags to help find fashion influencers:

#outfitoftheday

#fashion

#fashiondesign

#mensfashion

#ootd

#fashiongram

#fashiondesigner

#menfashion

#lookbook

#instafashion

#fashiondaily

#mensfashionpost

#lookoftheday

#instastyle

#fashionaddict

#mensstyle

#mylook

#fashiondiaries

#fashionlovers

#menstyle

#mylooktoday

#fashionpost

#fashiontrends

#mensstreetstyle

#todaysoutfit

#fashionblogger

#fashioninspo

#menswear

#whatiwore

#fashionista

#clothes

#mensweardaily

#wiw

#fashionable

#clothing

#menwithstreetstyle

#whatiworetoday

#fashiongirl

#clothingline

#menshoes

#streetstyle

#fashionnova

#dress

#menwithclass

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

75

Top online communities to help find fashion influencers:

dzdz Chictopia dzdz Lookbook dzdz Trendtation dzdz TrendMe dzdz URSTYLE

Travel Influencers Top hashtags to help find travel influencers:

#travels

#travelphoto

#aroundtheworld

#adventure

#travel

#travelphotography

#globetrotter

#adventures

#traveler

#travelgram

#seetheworld

#adventurer

#traveller

#mytravelgram

#visiting

#adventuretime

#travelling

#instatravel

#wanderer

#backpacker

#travellife

#ilovetravel

#worldtraveler

#backpacking

#travelblog

#igtravel

#bucketlist

#explorer

#travelblogger

#instago

#bucketlistadventures

#explorers

#traveladdict

#traveltheworld

#wandergram

#exploretheworld

#traveldiaries

#travelpics

#wanderlust

#exploremore

#travelingram

#travelbug

#wonderfulplaces

#getaway

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

76

Top online communities to help find travel influencers:

dzdz Nomad List dzdz Travellerspoint dzdz Girls LOVE Travel dzdz Thorn Tree by Lonely Planet dzdz Travel subreddit

Fitness Influencers Top hashtags to help find fitness influencers:

#fitness

#fitspo

#healthy

#girlswholift

#instafitness

#getfit

#healthyeating

#bodybuilding

#fitnessgoals

#youcandoit

#healthyfood

#yoga

#fitnessmotivation

#goalsetting

#healthylife

#crossfit

#fitnessjunkie

#trainhard

#healthylifestyle

#instarunners

#fitnesslover

#noexcuses

#healthyrecipes

#sundayrunday

#fitnessblogger

#exercisetime

#fitfood

#legday

#fitnesstips

#gymlife

#nutrition

#chestday

#fitfluential

#gym

#eatclean

#run

#fitlife

#gains

#cleaneating

#running

#fitfam

#workout

#mealprep

#runners

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

77

Top online communities to help find fitness influencers:

dzdz Fitocracy dzdz FitBit Community dzdz MyFitnessPal dzdz JEFIT dzdz BodySpace

Food Influencers Top hashtags to help find food influencers:

#food

#instafood

#vegan

#eat

#foods

#igfood

#veganfood

#eating

#foodporn

#foodtruck

#chefmode

#eats

#foodgasm

#foodart

#breakfast

#delish

#foodie

#foodoftheday

#lunch

#yum

#foodies

#foodpic

#dinner

#yummy

#foodphotography

#foodpics

#eat

#nomnom

#foodblogger

#foodgram

#dessert

#forkyeah

#foodstagram

#foodblog

#hungry

#recipe

#foodbeast

#healthyfood

#hangry

#recipes

#foodlover

#cooking

#tasty

#recipeoftheday

4. How to Find Influencers in Your Industry

Top online communities to help find food influencers:

dzdz foodgawker dzdz TasteSpotting dzdz Pinterest dzdz Chowhound dzdz FoodBuzz

▸ Okay. Your influencer marketing knowledge arsenal now contains all the steps for finding great influencers. Now, let’s turn our sights to building awesome campaigns.

78

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

80

On the surface, it might seem like influencer marketing is just about having an influencer make a post or 2 and you’re done. But brands with this mentality will feel the sting afterwards. Just like pretty much any marketing endeavor (or any life endeavor in general, when you think about it), your odds of getting good results are slim if you don’t have clear intentions and goals to guide your efforts. In addition to having those goals, you’ll need to set up a reliable system to track them. A lack of strong influencer campaign strategy is a key pitfall when it comes to influencer marketing. But here’s the kicker: it’s notoriously tough to attribute ROI back to specific influencer marketing strategies and tactics. So unfortunately, even businesses that have an excellent influencer strategy in place will still fall victim to foggy results and tracking difficulties.

That’s why you have to hit the ground running with a well-defined influencer strategy, comprehensive tracking, and careful analysis. Take it from Gil Eyal, founder and CEO of HYPR and influencer analytics expert. He believes that a brand’s approach to influencer marketing should be just as strategic and carefully-orchestrated as any other marketing effort, while still taking into account all the special considerations and changes in the industry.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

81

“There has to be a method to the madness, and brands that select influencers by skimming over their social profiles and trying to guess if they would be a good fit are leaving money on the table. For starters, every influencer has a unique audience, and you want to make sure they affect that audience within the right context. Furthermore, they’re replaceable but you need tools to help you identify Gil Eyal HYPR

which ones are most likely to succeed in reaching your audience. Influencer marketing is no longer a ‘gut feeling’ driven activation, and an influencer marketer needs to use the same fundamentals used in other marketing channels – and specifically identifying the right audience, creating the right message, and measuring performance.”

In this chapter, we’ll cover some fundamentals for how to build an influencer strategy that kills, including steps to:

dzdz Choose a compensation model dzdz Set specific goals and KPIs before launch dzdz Make everything as trackable as possible dzdz Avoid getting tricked by fake influencers

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

82

Choose a Compensation Model While your individual influencer program agreements might involve some negotiation for exact terms, it’s good to have a handle on your finances. This includes knowing how you can compensate your influencers. There are four main ways that you can ‘fund’ your influencer strategy:

1. Pay Per Post This influencer pricing strategy is a classic and simple model. You offer the influencer a set amount of money in exchange for making an agreed-upon post, whether that’s a shoutout on Instagram, a YouTube review, or a contest posted on their blog.

You can use this handy earnings calculator to see how much money an Instagram influencer might charge per post. Just type in an influencer’s username or the URL of a specific post, and it will show an estimate that you can use to set your own budget. You can see in this example that life and style blogger Andrea Pion is estimated to make about $500 to $835 per post.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

83

2. Gifting, aka Free Product or Service Here, you give the influencer your product or access to your service for free, in exchange for promotion. This is typically seen in review-style posts or shoutouts, often accompanied by photos of the brand’s products in action. Lithuanian dropshipping entrepreneur Karolis Rimkus used this influencer strategy to grow and evolve his brand’s Instagram page.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

84

“In the beginning, I did a lot of outreach. I offered micro-influencers, Instagrammers with 8,000 to 10,000 followers, a product they could use for a giveaway, or just mail them a sample in exchange for a mention. The strategy worked, and my brand and sales started to grow. When my page hit 15,000 followers, I was able to switch up my strategy. I had a powerful audience of

Karolis Rimkus

my own, so I offered up-and-coming influencers the

Dropshipping

opportunity to be profiled on my brand’s Instagram.

entrepreneur

They would buy something from my store and take a photo of themselves wearing it. Then I’d feature them on my page. It was a win-win.”

3. Pay Per Sale This is also called affiliate marketing. In this influencer pricing strategy, you pay the influencer a percentage of every sale from their efforts. This is a great incentive to get results, but you’ll need a good tracking strategy to ensure you know which sales are theirs.

Usually, this involves unique checkout codes, UTM parameters, or help from a special tool or app. We’ll get into this more later in this chapter.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

85

4. Pay Per Engagement In this influencer pricing strategy, you can pay them for each like, share, comment, mention, and/or other engagement on their content. You might also choose this model to compensate for other results, like sign-ups for a contest.

New businesses, especially ecommerce or dropshipping businesses, opt for gifting because it’s generally the most affordable and budgetfriendly option. I recommend giving this influencer campaign strategy a shot until you have a solid understanding of how your overall influencer strategy is working for your brand, then upgrade to paid partnerships.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

86

Set Specific Goals and KPIs Before Launch The more specific you can get with your goals and key performance indicators (KPIs), the easier your path to tracking them and evaluating your influencer program’s performance. According to Linquia’s The State of Influencer Marketing 2018 report, 90% of respondents measure their influencer program’s success by engagement, followed by 59% measuring clicks, 55% measuring impressions, and 54% measuring conversions.

Source

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

Let’s break down what each of these means for your influencer program:

dzdz Engagement: Likes, comments, shares, mentions, etc. – any user activity that directly interacts with the post dzdz Clicks: The number of times a link inside the post was clicked, which could lead to your website or a special landing page, for example dzdz Impressions: The number of times your brand post showed up in a user’s feed – whether or not they read or engaged with it dzdz Reach: The number of people who see your post – it’s similar to impressions, except reach counts the number of users, while impressions counts the number of times a post was displayed in a user’s feed (this means that the same user can rack up multiple impressions if the post showed up in their feed several times) dzdz Conversions: A certain user activity that you’ve set up in advance, like filling out a form or completing a purchase dzdz Product sales: This is technically a type of conversion, since you got the user to perform the activity of buying your product dzdz Audience alignment: Looking at user data to confirm that your influencer content was seen by people who really fit with your brand, thus building positive brand awareness and exposure

87

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

88

PRO TIP Avoid measuring success based purely on reach or impressions. These metrics just mean that your post showed up in someone’s feed – they don’t mean that the user engaged with it… or even read it!

Whatever you decide to focus on, it’s critical that your benchmarks align with your influencer program goals. Common influencer program goals include:

dzdz Product/service sales dzdz Sales leads, especially if the sales process is longer or your offering is expensive dzdz General brand awareness dzdz More followers on social media channels dzdz Increasing website traffic dzdz Email newsletter subscribers dzdz Customer retention and building brand loyalty dzdz Reputation management

While some of these are tangible goals, like sales, other goals like brand awareness can be practically impossible to track.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

Which brings me to the importance of setting good goals. You’ve likely heard about setting SMART business goals, which stands for:

dzdz Specific dzdz Measurable dzdz Agreed-upon dzdz Realistic dzdz Time-based

No exceptions for your influencer strategy. So instead of just saying, “I want more sales,” try saying: “I want 5 new customer sales from this month’s influencer strategy.” Instead of saying, “I want more people to see my brand,” say: “I want 200 total engagements on each influencer post.”

When you can set clear, attainable goals, you’re better equipped to measure the true value of your campaigns. You’ll also find it much easier to tweak and change certain things that aren’t working, while doubling-down on the things that do.

89

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

Make Everything as Trackable as Possible Your goals are useless if you can’t actually see if you’ve accomplished them. But the thing is, even the best influencer marketing strategy can face trouble. Linquia’s survey shows that 76% of respondents see their biggest challenge to be determining ROI for their influencer marketing program.

Source

90

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

91

So how can you avoid this pitfall in your influencer strategy process? Let’s go over a few ways to keep your campaigns trackable and accountable for your brand’s ROI.

Set Up Google Analytics Google Analytics is truly a blessing. If you don’t have it set up for your website yet, do it today!

It’s critical that you have this set up if your influencer strategy will lead any users back to your website or a special landing page (which we’ll get into shortly). Google Analytics shows great influencer program metrics, like:

dzdz Which links, pages, and websites brought users to your site. You can then tie this activity directly to an influencer’s posts on different channels. dzdz What those users did while on your site. Did they fill out any forms or make any purchases? Which pages did they visit? dzdz How long those users stayed on your site. Did they leave immediately or browse for a while? dzdz Demographic and behavior information. Info like their age, where they live, and even their interests.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

Learn all you need to know about setting up and using Google Analytics with Google’s Analytics for Beginners course.

92

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

Use UTM Parameters UTM parameters are simple tags you can add to your URLs to track certain campaign elements. The five main parameters are:

1. Source: Google, Facebook, Instagram, a newsletter, etc. 2. Medium: paid ads, email campaigns, social media campaigns, etc. 3. Name: the name of the specific campaign you’re tracking – you can label it by influencer 4. Term: for paid keywords (mainly for Google Ads, not your influencer strategy) 5. Content: to differentiate items like ad content

93

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

It may sound intimidating, but you can build these links easily with Google’s Campaign URL Builder.

94

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

95

Say you’re doing an Instagram influencer campaign with an influencer named Emily Emison (yes, I made this name up). An example of a finalized URL might be:

http://www.yoursite.com/?utm_source=instagram&utm_ medium=influencer&utm_campaign=emily-emison

They look pretty ugly, so you can easily shorten it using bit.ly. So it can look something like:

https://bit.ly/2pT9Zux

Then you can give this link to Emily Emison to include in her sponsored content. Whenever someone clicks it, it’ll be tracked in your Google Analytics account. Voilà!

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

96

Other Influencer Program Tracking Ideas Custom landing pages: Lead users to a special landing page just for your influencer program campaign. This way, you can specially tailor the messaging to better connect with users and get them to perform whatever action you’re looking for, from signing up for a demo to buying a specific item. Discount codes: If you’re an ecommerce company, create discount codes for each influencer and campaign so that you know precisely where those sales came from. Even if you’re not ecommerce, you can use these codes to have users sign up for certain things, like a free demo, premium content, or other offering. Affiliate links: If you’re using an affiliate marketing model, affiliate links will track the activity of each influencer. Special affiliate marketing platforms will typically provide you with this link and tracking capabilities. Branded hashtags: Create unique hashtags for your influencer program campaigns so you can keep track of how often they’re used. Say you want to boost brand awareness while holding a contest: you can have users make a post with the hashtag as part of their entry into the contest.

PRO TIP Once you have all this beautiful user and activity data, you can use it to follow-up on your new leads and convert them to customers. Strategies like email marketing and remarketing on social media are great for this.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

97

Avoid Getting Tricked by Fake Influencers I’m not gonna lie to you: there are a lot of hustlers and scammers out there. This comes mainly in the form of users who buy fake followers on social media. This is more of an issue than you might realize, with big brands like Unilever cracking down on influencer fraud.

The good news is that it’s fairly simple not to fall prey to them. You just have to make sure you give your research and vetting process enough time and resources. It may seem like it’s taking a lot of time – because it will – but that will prove invaluable in the end. If you’re stressing about this part of your influencer campaign strategy, but don’t have a large budget for a turnkey platform or full-service agency, it may make sense to try using ‘freemium’ tools. These are tools that offer free features to start, and you can start paying for upgraded services and more bandwidth when you’re confident it’s a good choice.

Check out Chapter 7, where we discuss some options for choosing a solid influencer marketing platform or app.

There are also some quick tools to help you make sure your best candidates don’t have fake followers, like the Instagram audit tool from HypeAuditor.

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

98

Just pop in the username of any Instagram account larger than 1,000 followers, and it gives you a report on how authentic their account is. Influencer Marketing Hub has a simplified version that gives you rating scores. Take a look at this example of beauty mega-influencer Huda Kattan’s Instagram account.

You can see that her scores aren’t particularly special (though they’re certainly not bad).

5. How to Build a Winning Influencer Strategy

99

And when you click ‘View Audience Report,’ you can find more details, including their current follower growth rate, audience insights like their age range and location, and what their audience is interested in.

If you want a more in-depth report, HypeAuditor offers the first report for free. Then you can buy reports for about $2 each, with the cost decreasing for larger bundles. Other paid tools include FakeCheck.co and Social Audit Pro. You can also try the free tool IG Audit.

Regardless of how you go about it, don’t flush your hard-earned money down the toilet with a fake influencer.

▸ There you have it! A big list of strategies and tips for developing an influencer marketing strategy that’s set up for success.

Now, let’s talk about how to conduct influencer outreach to get the attention of your favorite influencers and start building lasting relationships with them.

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

101

Even if you’ve got an awesome strategy to hit the ground running, your efforts will ultimately fall flat if you can’t get the attention of good influencers. This is especially true in today’s fast-swipe, full-inbox world of social media – where you only have a few words and a few seconds to show how credible and worthy you are.

Not only do your influencer outreach tactics determine whether or not you’ll even get a response from your ideal influencers, but they also lay the foundation for the future of your relationship. That’s why you need to have your influencer marketing outreach strategy down before you dive in. That means knowing what you’re looking for (at least in general) before you reach out, and communicating that in a personal, clear, and appealing way. If you’ve decided to let a full-service agency manage your influencer marketing efforts, they’ll handle all the influencer outreach steps for you. Huzzah! But if you’re doing some or all of it yourself, this chapter is for you. In this chapter, we’ll discuss influencer outreach strategies and tips, including:

dzdz How to start building a relationship as soon as possible dzdz Some helpful influencer marketing outreach templates dzdz How to create a clear, goal-oriented campaign brief

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

102

Start Building a Relationship ASAP As we discussed in Chapter 1’s intro to influencer marketing, strong relationships are at the heart of this marketing medium.

When you build real, authentic relationships with influencers, you’re opening the door for more mutual efforts. And when these efforts are mutual, it’s less like work and more like partnerships. Take it from Karolis Rimkus, a successful dropshipping entrepreneur who built a trusted brand with the help of influencers: “I tried a few methods. There was a method where I asked straight-up: ‘How can we work together? What’s your price and how can you help me? And how can I help you?’ That was not the best thing I’ve done. What worked for me was trying to make an authentic conversation. I would say, ‘Your content is great. I saw you went to an industry conference a week ago.

Karolis Rimkus

How was it?’ And just talk to them.

Dropshipping

When you start talking, some of them ask you to go

entrepreneur

straight to the point. Some actually talk to you as a friend, and it’s much easier to ask for something afterwards when you have a sincere conversation with them.”

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

103

As the icing on the e-cake, this authenticity spreads into your sponsored content. The influencer’s audience will see that they truly enjoy working with you, which will give your brand lasting returns. Here are some tips to start building relationships with potential influencers. You can start these today, even if you’re not quite ready to take official influencer outreach steps.

Learn More About Them Try to really ‘get to know them’ apart from vetting things like follower counts, post quality, and the quality of their social media engagement across accounts. What values can you glean from their accounts? What do they stand for and gravitate toward? Try to see the person behind the posts, as opposed to some numbers on a dashboard.

Start with Small-Scale Interactions As you do your research and find more candidates, follow them on their social media platforms. Subscribe to their blog. Periodically share and leave comments on their posts, and respond if they ask questions to start a discussion among their audience. Show respect and interest in their work, and let them know you think they’re great. If you have mutual contacts, see if you can get that contact to introduce you.

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

Influencer Marketing Outreach Templates Once you’ve warmed up your ideal candidates and laid down the key goals and guidelines of your overall program, it’s time to start your influencer outreach. Here are some quick tips for outreach, as well as some influencer outreach templates you can use for your initial messages.

REMEMBER These outreach email templates are just that – templates. So please tweak and mix-and-match them according to your own personality, communication style, and goals. Keep it authentic for lasting relationships!

104

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

Influencer Outreach Tips My #1 tip is to make each message as personalized as possible – don’t just copy and paste the same generic message to every person you reach out to.

Include their name, brand, and some things that stand out about their online presence. If you have a specific type of partnership in mind, include it in your first message. Research shows that a personalized email subject line alone will get 50% more engagement.

105

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

Here are some more influencer outreach tips:

dzdz Tell them what you have in common, whether it’s a shared interest in vegan food, a common audience that’s passionate about new tech, or a background in jewelry making. dzdz Tell them why you’d value working with them. Show them what makes them special and unique, and why you chose them over the other options. dzdz Leave the conversation open-ended so that you’re making a request instead of a demand. Suggest your ideal collaboration, but give them the opportunity to share their own ideas. dzdz Follow-up 5–7 days after sending your first influencer outreach message if you haven’t gotten a response. Chances are, they’re busy and they need you to set yourself apart from the clutter. dzdz Know when to cut your losses. Sending a couple of follow-up emails is fine, but it’s a slippery slope toward becoming a pest. If they haven’t engaged with your attempts, move on to the next opportunities. dzdz Look at it as a networking opportunity. Even if they’re not interested now, be cordial and keep the relationship warm. You never know if it could develop into something later.

106

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

107

Influencer Outreach Email Template Ideas Gifting for Review or Mention Subject line: Collaboration Opportunity with a New [your product/service type] Brand Hi [influencer’s name], I’m [your name] from [your company]. I’ve been following your [blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc.] for about a year now and I love your work! It seems to me that we both share a passion for [common ground]. Overall, I think my brand really aligns with yours, and that your audience would be a great fit for [your product]. I’d be glad to send you one for free in exchange for a [review/mention] on your [blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc.]. Please let me know if you’re interested. Thanks, [your name]

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

108

Brand Ambassador Subject line: [Influencer’s Name], would you like to be our brand ambassador? Hi [influencer’s name], I’m [your name] from [your company]. I’ve been following your [blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc.] and I’m consistently impressed with it. What sticks out to me most is your [name 2–3 positive traits]. I’m looking for brand ambassadors that really fit with my brand. I think you’d make a fantastic partner! As an ambassador, you can expect to: dzdz Receive [your products/services] for free dzdz Discuss them on your [blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc.] dzdz Get an extra commission for [sales, new leads, social media growth, etc.] dzdz Work with us for a few months to start, then extend if we both love it The terms are flexible, so I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Would you be interested in working with us? Thanks, [your name]

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

109

Product or Collection Collaboration Subject line: Let’s build something together! [Influencer’s Name] + [Your Company] Hi [influencer’s name], I’m [your name] from [your company]. We’re dreaming up a new [product/ collection type], and we’ve been hoping to partner with an expert influencer who wants to help us develop it and make it their own. I’ve been following your [blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc.] and I think you’d be the perfect fit. Here’s how the process would work: dzdz We’ll ask for your unfiltered input on designing and producing the [product/collection] dzdz It will be released as YOUR exclusive line – you can even name it [influencer’s name] if you like dzdz You’ll receive 10% of all sales! Do you have some time this week to chat about what this partnership could look like? Look forward to hearing from you, [your name]

PRO TIP If you have trouble finding email addresses of promising influencers, try free tools like Hunter.io or ContactOut.

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

110

Create a Clear, Goal-Oriented Campaign Brief Once you’ve gotten their attention and interest from your initial influencer outreach tactics, send a campaign brief that clearly states your goals, rules, and requirements for the partnership. As we mentioned in Chapter 2’s discussion on types of influencer marketing campaigns, it’s mission-critical that you give your influencer creative freedom to craft the details of their content.

Our theme of authenticity and relationships is coming back – if you control too much of the content, the influencer’s audience will know it’s staged. And that can damage your credibility faster than you might think. Another key to focus on is setting goals. Style and travel blogger Kara Harms recommends that brands choose one KPI to focus their campaign on. When she can use this approach with her own clients, she feels better positioned to help the brand succeed.

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

111

“Set one, clear KPI you want to hit in your influencer marketing campaign. If a brand partner doesn’t have a clear KPI, I always ask them to set one for me. Why? Because knowing the one goal my partner has means I can structure content in a way that will help them hit that goal. While everyone would love to make a lot of Kara Harms

conversions, new email signups, grow social media

Whimsy Soul

following, earn millions of impressions and get a lot of swipe-ups all in one campaign, that’s just not possible. Be realistic and set one KPI.”

In addition to your main KPI, your campaign brief should also include:

dzdz Key points about your product or service that you want to convey in the post(s) dzdz Your desired posting dates and requirements, for example: they must post on a specific date/time, or within 2 weeks of receiving the product dzdz The deliverables you expect, which could look like: ◦ 1 Instagram post including a photo of a product. The caption must include company @tag and campaign #hashtag – posted January 5 ◦ 1 Instagram story including a product in use, as well as verbal mention of product name – posted January 10 ◦ 1 blog post reviewing the product, including product photo and special discount code HOORAY123 – posted January 15

6. Tips for Influencer Outreach

112

dzdz General direction on what you want and don’t want – a dos and don’ts list can be handy for this dzdz Some visuals to give an example of what you’re looking for dzdz An overview of your approval process, if you choose to review their content before they’re allowed to post dzdz A reminder of FTC regulations, including a requirement that they use labels like #ad, #sponsored, or something similar dzdz Other details to include in the content, like your brand’s relevant social media handles, trackable links, and branded hashtags (which we discussed in Chapter 5’s influencer strategy) dzdz A bit of personalization – change each brief to address the influencer by name and note any details from your discussions dzdz Contact information for the person your influencer will be working with the most

In general, your campaign brief should be crystal clear in outlining how the partnership will work for both of you. This way, everyone’s on the same page, and there are fewer opportunities for missed marks and misunderstandings.

▸ All righty then! Now that you have some influencer outreach best practices and strategies, let’s look at some of the top influencer marketing platforms and apps that can help you find influencers and manage different aspects of your campaigns.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

114

An influencer marketing platform is an online tool that connects brands and agencies with different types of influencers to promote specific products or services.

Essentially, an influencer platform makes it really easy to do influencer marketing. However, for those who don’t use an influencer marketing platform, the process can be quite tedious and lengthy. In these cases, finding influencers might involve manually sifting through databases and spreadsheets, Googling obscure things like ‘food bloggers in South America with an MBA,’ and quite often, pulling your hair out in desperation as you aimlessly scroll through Instagram. (Well… hopefully not the last one.) But really, it’s a lot of work. Which is why it makes a lot of sense to spring for an influencer marketing platform if you have the ability to do so. In this chapter, we’ll cover:

dzdz How an influencer marketing platform works dzdz Some of the best influencer marketing platforms dzdz How to tell if you need a platform-specific app dzdz Some of the best apps for Instagram, Snapchat, and more

Shall we?

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

How Does an Influencer Marketing Platform Work? dzdz The brand signs up for an account on the platform. dzdz The brand searches the platform’s database to find influencers with the right audience to promote a specific product or service. dzdz The brand picks a circle of influencers and submits a proposal. dzdz The influencer sees the proposal and decides whether or not they want to work with the brand. dzdz The influencer who accepts the proposal creates promotional content for the brand. dzdz The platform supplies statistics to help the brand measure the impact of content created by the influencer.

If you’re new in the influencer marketing space, an influencer platform can help ease your entry, helping you set up solid campaigns without getting in over your head.

115

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

116

If you’re already working with influencers, you’ll appreciate how easy your life has become using a top influencer marketing platform.

NOTE If you’re a small company and you want to get as many free mentions as possible, using an influencer platform could backfire. Once you create a campaign and place an offer on the platform, you reduce your chances of getting free mentions. This is because, if you reach out to an influencer who’s already signed up for a platform where you posted, they may have seen your post already. So you face the risk of that influencer knowing there’s money on the table. For this reason, I recommend sticking with your direct approach first (if you plan that route), then switching to a platform once it slows down.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

Best Influencer Marketing Platforms dzdz Upfluence dzdz Traackr dzdz Buzzoole dzdz NeoReach

Let’s take a closer look at what these top influencer marketing platforms offer.

Upfluence

117

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

118

Upfluence is one of the leading self-service influencer marketing platforms. It allows you to search influencers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and even blogs.

Once you sign up, Upfluence gives you complete access to influencers’ personal contact details. Also, you get the ability to manage your favorite influencers into lists. Besides all that functionality, Upfluence’s content-rich database will not disappoint. Its algorithm indexes 500 million+ content items, and analyzes each one for engagement and reach. That means you can use any imaginable keyword to search for influencers, and even drill down your search to long-tail terms. In addition, you get access to helpful tools for computing an influencer’s followers per platform, most recent social media posts, and their relevance and influence scores. Set up a free, no-risk demo and see if Upfluence works for you. If you decide to sign up, you can chat with an account manager to start the purchase process.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

119

Traackr

Traackr is a social media influencer platform that connects you with influencers of all sizes around the world, helping you build lasting relationships and creating a campaign strategy that works. Its discovery function offers a variety of options to search and filter by: influencer age, social channels, locations, keyword, and more. If there’s an influencer who isn’t registered in Traackr’s database, you can manually add their username, and Traackr goes out and finds all of their social profiles.

Another unique aspect of Traackr is that it allows you to organize influencers based on how close you are with them. The feature is dubbed the ‘relationship stage.’

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

120

If it’s someone who has posted about your brand and mentioned it positively, you will put them under ‘Advocate.’ Once you’ve set up campaigns in Traackr, you can segment influencers into these, too. In general, Traackr is a good fit for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and large organizations. Access to the influencer platform is granted through multiyear or annual subscriptions. To find out if Traackr is right for your business and get pricing for your needs, schedule a call with their sales team.

Buzzoole

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

121

Buzzoole is a technology-powered influencer marketing platform that uses robust data and artificial intelligence (called GAIIA) to manage, measure, and automate investments with influencers. It’s one of the few platforms that allow brands to source and analyze data directly through an influencer’s social login. Besides that, you get an automated planning tool that enables you to pick content creators and optimize budgets against key performance indicators (KPIs). Additionally, the platform lets you approve content, manage legal licensing of visuals, decide payments, and more. Brands can then sit back and see the influence happen; content is published and social sharing gets the word out.

You can see your branded updates, along with all the related performance metrics. Real-time insights and measurements ensure you get in-depth campaign reports with full transparency. Buzzoole follows a cost-per-post (CPP) business model. Expect to pay on the basis of content created by the influencers (of course, you get to determine the maximum dollar amount you’d like to spend). Plus, you can decide if you want to gain social traction, connect with popular bloggers to increase your company’s exposure, or a balance of both.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

122

NeoReach

DISCLAIMER Jesse here. I’m the founder of NeoReach. It’s true… I’m a bit biased that NeoReach is awesome. But I’ll give it as much of an accurate and honest review as I give the others. In the end, this ebook is here to help you find the best influencer marketing program for your unique needs. I’ll survive (somehow) if NeoReach isn’t your choice.

NeoReach is another top influencer marketing platform with a database of more than 3 million experts – and it offers a significant level of detail on each of them. It allows you to effortlessly search its listings or upload and manage your own using more than 40 unique filters.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

123

You can narrow down your search based on profile performance, keywords, social channels, and audience demographics like language, gender, location, and more.

NeoReach isn’t just limited to influencer discovery, though. It also offers all the tools you need to manage your influencer relationships, contracts, notes, and historical campaign data. The NeoReach dashboard serves as a centralized hub for communications, with a messaging function that makes it easy for everyone on your team to gain insight into the entire influencer relationship. Additionally, you receive communications from NeoReach itself, courtesy of the AI that leverages your performance data along with brand affinity searches. NeoReach costs $399 a month for growing teams. Large agencies and brands can contact NeoReach directly for a quote. But before you sign up, you can test out NeoReach for 14 days through its risk-free trial.

Verdict Top influencer marketing platforms exist to help companies efficiently manage influencer partnerships. Criteria like audience size, social traction, industry, and content expertise can be matched with the results presented through intuitive dashboards. If you want someone else to perform the outreach, there are even talent agencies like Shine Influencers and IZEA who can gather a relevant social squad for you.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

124

Do I Need a Platform-Specific Influencer Marketing App? A platform-specific influencer app offers a direct way for businesses to communicate and collaborate with influencers on a certain platform, such as on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, or YouTube. It makes sense for most brands to use a fully-featured influencer app that allows them to look for influential people across several social media channels. However, you may want to find experts on a specific platform. Perhaps you just want to run promotions on Instagram. Maybe you’re already doing well using Facebook and Twitter for business, but want to partner with a Snapchat influencer to gain traction on the multimedia messaging app. That’s where a platform-specific influencer app comes in.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

125

Best Influencer Marketing Apps for Instagram, Snapchat & Other Platforms dzdz iFluenz (Instagram) dzdz Fanbytes (Snapchat) dzdz Famebit (YouTube) dzdz Klear (Twitter)

Let’s explore their features together.

iFluenz

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

126

iFluenz is one of the few micro-influencer platforms out there that connects brands with Instagram influencers of all sizes. With more than 20,000 registered influencers reaching an audience of more than 500 million followers on Instagram, you’re likely to find the right fit to promote your brand’s product or service.

They do more than just spread the word though; they prompt action among a wide range of demographics. The platform allows you to build campaigns around your offerings and pre-select influencers after it matches them to your campaign based on the industry, audience demographics, engagement, and other factors. You the receive proposals from influencers, which you can preview, negotiate, accept, or deny. Additionally, iFluenz allows you to track the influencer’s performance in real time, and you can also decide only to buy the influencer’s content. You can review the registered influencers free of charge and launch an influencer marketing campaign on Instagram for as low as $1. There are no upfront or monthly fees, so you only pay for what you need.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

Fanbytes

Fanbytes is all about using Snapchat for business via influencer marketing campaigns. It helps you partner with Snapchat influencers who create ‘sandwich ads’ on your behalf. No, I’m not talking about lunch (unfortunately).

127

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

128

A sandwich ad is a 4-panel story where the advertising is sandwiched between a short series of videos featuring an introduction from an influencer, followed by some comments. The last panel features a call-to-action (CTA) of some sort, with snapcodes and/or swipes to encourage the viewer to explore additional offers or content. The ad displays for a maximum time of 40 seconds, with each of the 4 panels getting a 10-second run time. The format – short videos that go back and forth with an interactive element at the end – is ideal for brands that are marketing to Generation Z. Additionally, Fanbytes presents you with ‘Fanbytes scores’ of different influences – the higher the score, the more quality engagement you’ll get from their followers. Fanbytes stays away from a monthly subscription model. Instead, you work with influencers on a campaign-by-campaign basis, doing whatever your budget allows for each one.

What’s good about Fanbytes is that there’s no wasted campaign spend: it charges you on a cost-per-completed-view model. If users leave halfway through the advert, there’s no charge.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

129

FameBit

FameBit is YouTube’s branded influencer app. It connects you with the right YouTube creators to enable the production of branded content that reaches the right viewers and inspires action. You can choose from a range of criteria to filter results, such as audience gender, creator’s country, channel category, and more. Search results reveal quick stats for each YouTuber, including their reach (which displays the overall user base across all channels). One of FameBit’s strongest areas is campaign management. It offers several tools to facilitate communications between influencers and brands, which are neatly organized based on what stage of dialogue you’re at: Pending Approval, Proposal, Production, etc.

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

130

Perhaps the best part is that when you pick a YouTuber for a specific campaign, FameBit creates a unique trackable link. This link can be used alongside the content to direct people to a landing page, a social page to follow, or any other goal you’ve set. It also makes it easy to track an influencer’s performance and attribute direct ROI to their efforts. It doesn’t cost anything to get started on FameBit. The influencer marketing platform charges a 10% fee on top of what you pay to YouTube influencers. So if you agree to pay $150 to a creator, you’d have to pay $165 in total to launch the campaign.

Klear

7. Top Influencer Marketing Platforms and Apps

131

Klear (formerly known as Twtrland) is an effective and efficient influencer marketing tool for researching influencers on Twitter. It lets you filter by audience size, location, influencer gender, skills (selected from the 50,000+ categories the Klear AI has classified them into), and more. Once you’ve finished your search, you can dive deeper into each influencer’s stats to gain more insight into their social influence and reach. Klear also displays an ‘engagement level’ for each influencer, which offers a plain assessment (like Outstanding, Average, etc.) along with real numbers to show the average for each engagement type. You also get an overall influence score for Twitter and a few other channels. Additionally, Klear lets you see the ‘True Reach’ of an influencer account. True Reach is a number the Klear algorithm determines based on the historical data associated with each profile on the platform.

Klear is ideal for brands and agencies that are looking for an industry-leading Twitter influencer app to build, measure, and scale their campaigns. You can sign up for a free demo to see how it works. Once you do, a product specialist will contact you to learn about your goals and share information on Klear’s capabilities.

▸ Obviously, not every influencer marketing platform in this roundup is right for every brand. But hopefully, this answers the question of how an influencer app works – and shows you how many tools are available to help you identify and work with influencers.

In the next chapters, we’ll take you through the mechanisms of working with influencers on different platforms, mainly Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

133

When you’re just getting started in the influencer marketing game, it can be challenging to figure out which social channel you should be focusing on.

With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram is one medium you should definitely explore. Instagram influencer marketing may just be the golden ticket that provides your company with access to a huge pool of new prospects. And lots of brands are learning how to make money on Instagram. According to the influencer marketing agency Mediakix, over $1 billion was spent on Instagram influencer marketing in 2017, and the figure is expected to cross the $2 billion mark by 2019.

Source

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

134

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Instagram influencers are highly creative individuals who infuse their work with a narrative and backstory, offering a perfect balance between style and substance.

And as the Instagram algorithm continues to lower the organic reach of some brands, we only expect the demand for Instagram influencers to increase significantly. In this chapter, we’ll cover:

dzdz Instagram’s secrets to success dzdz The most popular types of Instagram influencer partnerships dzdz How to find Instagram influencers dzdz 3 successful Instagram influencer marketing examples

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

135

Instagram’s Secrets to Influencer Success So, what makes Instagram influencer marketing so effective? Well, a lot of it has to do with authenticity. Instagram influencers post not just about the positives… but about the negatives, too. Influencers who are comfortable sharing their real opinions can gain people’s trust. As humans, we naturally seek authenticity, and those who give it to us enter our circle of trust. Another big reason why companies partner with Instagram influencers is creativity.

Instagram influencers will not only create suitable posts for your brand, but they can also offer fresh ideas for your campaign. Let’s say you’re a travel agency, and you want to reach more people on Instagram. In the past, if you were to sponsor a backpacker or travel enthusiast to document their experiences in a certain location, you’d probably just receive a few generic snaps to post later. At most, they’d make a slideshow if they really wanted to impress. But today, Instagram influencers will document every aspect of their journey, in real time. They let their creative juices flow, and put together breathtaking visuals that take us to new realities.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

136

Needless to say, an Instagram influencer can be a powerful way to raise awareness about your brand. Pro-dropshipper James Holt also advocates for Instagram influencer marketing when just starting out.

“My advice to everyone is to start with Instagram influencers instead of Facebook ads. Transitioning later is easy once you have the data to create a lookalike audience in your Facebook ad campaigns. My first two Shopify stores never made a sale. Only James Holt Dropshipping entrepreneur

once I took the time to learn from real experts, invest in an existing store, and do Instagram shoutouts (instead of messing around with Facebook ads) did I make my first sale. It took a little time, but once that first sale came, it wasn’t just one sale – the sales notifications on my phone started going off like crazy!”

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

137

Most Popular Instagram Partnerships When you start looking into partnering with any influencer Instagram has to offer, you’ll discover that there are multiple ways to work with them. Here are the most popular types of Instagram partnerships.

Instagram Stories Instagram Stories may be one of the most valuable features available to allow influencers as well as partnering brands to get more personal with – and organically increase – their audience. A lot of what goes out on Stories seems more believable. It’s not as fake or as polished; it feels more genuine, and that’s why Stories are great for real life, ‘in-the-moment’ content. Plus, Instagram influencers don’t need to constrain Stories to the look and feel of the feed.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

Another unique aspect of Instagram Stories is the ‘swipe up’ feature. It provides influencers with an opportunity to immediately link to a company-specific landing page, rather than inconveniently telling people to follow the link in their bio when they’re looking at standard in-feed posts. This feature has been a real asset for ecommerce brands that want to implement Instagram shopping.

Though the feature was first introduced on Snapchat, top influencers are now publishing twice as many Instagram Stories as Snapchat Stories, making Instagram Stories one of the best avenues for Instagram influencer partnerships.

138

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

139

Sponsored Posts Paying influencers or giving them free samples in exchange for sponsored posts is the most common type of Instagram influencer partnership. From soft mentions to in-depth reviews and alternative uses, influencers are able to shine a spotlight on companies, leveraging the trust they’ve already gained to inspire their audience to try the company or its offering out for themselves. Here is an example of this partnership between an Instagram influencer and an ice cream brand.

Most brands using this influencer partnership model pay influencers upfront for creating sponsored content.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

However, if you’re simply gifting your items to influencers, they’re not legally obligated to endorse you. Unless of course, there’s a legally binding contract in place specifying that the compensation is limited to free products.

If you don’t have any such agreement and are only giving away products with the hope that Instagram influencers would post about them, it can go the other way as well.

NOTE ON SPONSORED POSTS It’s crucial for both brands and influencers to disclose their partnership according to the Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines. This can be done by using the hashtag #sponsored or #ad.

140

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

141

Instagram Live Takeovers Brands can invite influencers to engage with their existing audience in real time using Instagram Live. Taking over a brand’s account and doing a live broadcast is perfect for creating exclusivity and sharing personal experiences with your audiences. Additionally, Instagram Live takeovers are an excellent strategy for businesses looking to interact with their followers in a fun and interesting way. For example, it allows people to interact or ask questions via comments. Influencers can use filters and also invite friends and viewers to join them in the takeover.

Besides all that, you can download and save your Instagram Live video to your camera roll once it ends. You can then publish it on another social media channel or save it as an Instagram Story to make the broadcast available for another 24 hours.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

142

While many companies are using Instagram Live as part of their influencer marketing partnerships, it still offers authenticity, helping keep sponsored content from ‘coming off’ as sponsored. When people see influencers talking about a brand’s product live, it feels less like sponsorship and more like just another day in the life of the influencer.

PRO TIP To increase the number of viewers watching your Instagram Live takeover, ask your influencer to promote your upcoming broadcast on their social media pages and encourage their audience to watch and follow you.

Which type of Instagram influencer partnership is right for your business? The good news is that you don’t have to pick one over the others. You can get started with one to see if it works. Then, change course if you’re not satisfied with the results. Brands can also try a mix of Instagram influencer partnerships all at once.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

143

How to Find Instagram Influencers Now comes the step of finding the right Instagram influencer. This is easily one of the most difficult parts of influencer marketing, whether it’s for Instagram or another social channel. In fact, 67.6% of marketers acknowledge that finding the right influencers is their biggest influencer marketing challenge. Where do you begin? What should you be looking for in Instagram influencers? What’s the most effective way to go about an Instagram search?

All that’s made easier by wide availability of influencer marketing tools specifically created to connect you with the right Instagram influencers. But let’s assume you’re working this without their help.

Determine Ideal Types of Influencers First of all, you need to determine what type of influencer will be ideal for your campaign. The vast majority of smaller brands should look at micro-influencers and perhaps a couple of macro-influencers. If you’re a cosmetic brand, you might think Kendall Jenner at first, but trust me – there are way better options if you know how to find them. And often, the opinions of those a little closer to home are more believable and transparent.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

144

The best micro-influencers on Instagram may be masters of their craft. They are trusted because they’ve demonstrated immense knowledge of their industry, but they’re mainly individuals like you and me rather than high-profile singers, actresses, or runway models.

By identifying your ideal influencer, you’ll find it easier to narrow down the best Instagrammers for your brand from an Instagram influencers list. If you don’t have an Instagram influencers list, don’t worry. There are several ways to find these potential influencers.

Use Relevant Hashtags One of the best ways to find relevant influencers is to conduct an Instagram hashtag search. For example, searching for the hashtag #foodblogger will lead you to the many influencers associated with that hashtag. One of the search results is an image of Victoria Da Corte, a lifestyle and food blogger with more than 10,000 followers. She could be an ideal influencer for a trendy local bistro that focuses on fresh, colorful meals with a beautiful presentation.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

145

Victoria also has a website, and a quick look at her Instagram feed reveals she has collaborated with a variety of food brands and eateries. All of these details show that she can be an excellent choice for an influencer marketing campaign if her values and Instagram presence align with your brand.

If you want some hashtag inspiration, head over to Chapter 4 where there are some nice, big hashtag lists to help you learn how to find influencers in your industry, including influencers in the key industries of beauty, fitness, fashion, food, and travel.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

146

Use Google You can also use Google to find relevant influencers. To give an example, if you’re in the business of men’s clothing, you can search for ‘men’s Instagram fashion micro-influencers.’ Here’s what Google displays for this search:

Many websites have curated lists of influencers in this category who are present on Instagram. It’s in these lists that you can find the right influencer to partner with. For instance, if you click on the third result in the list – Top 20 Menswear MicroInfluencers Every Dapper Guy Should Know – you go to Dealspotr. The site presents you with a list of Instagram influencers for this niche.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

147

3 Successful Instagram Influencer Marketing Examples If you’re interested in running an Instagram influencer campaign for yourself, take inspiration from these three real-world examples.

1. Gillette’s Gillette Venus Campaign Safety razor and personal care brand Gillette partnered with several beauty influencers to promote its new shaving line ‘Gillette Venus.’ The campaign had a unique twist – the Instagram influencers used their feeds to drive traffic to a longer video of the product. Their content featured the new line being used in a variety of settings, with close-ups. Also, Gillette associated the campaign with a catchy hashtag #ChooseToSmooth.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

148

The influencers used in this campaign achieved an engagement rate of 2.2% on average and reached over 476,000 people. If you search for the hashtag #ChooseToSmooth on Instagram, you’ll notice that most of the influencers who took part in Gillette’s initiative are micro-influencers. Their authenticity and creativity were the keys behind the success of the Gillette Venus campaign.

2. Glossier Beauty and makeup brand Glossier has been collaborating with Instagram influencers since its inception. Born out of the heavily-trafficked IntoTheGloss blog that Emily Weiss (the founder) opened in 2010, Glossier has managed to create an engaged community of microinfluencers who’re busy endorsing the brand’s products on Instagram – and in real life – in exchange for a combination of product credits and a monetary commission.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

149

80% of Glossier sales and growth comes from peer-to-peer recommendations, which goes to show that women on Instagram are not necessarily relying on celebs or high-profile influencers for recommendations. Speaking to Fast Company, Emily revealed that Glossier believes in the power of individuals. And if many individuals are rooting for your brand, then their impact is equivalent to 10 Kardashians. So while it gave Glossier a great joy seeing Kim Instagramming their body wash, the company gets much more excited about seeing the power of the people magnify and multiply. Glossier also runs an ambassador program that has skyrocketed in recent years. It began with 11 women (serving as micro-influencers for the brand) and has grown to more than 500.

Micro-influencers have been extremely effective for Glossier, offering honest reviews and insights that people need before they commit to buying from a brand.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

150

3. American Rag Holidays are a prime opportunity for clothing retailers to capture massive dollars as consumers look to layer up for the colder weather and buy gifts for their loved ones. During the fall season in 2016, American Rag (a Macy’s brand) used microinfluencers to let consumers know how to stay warm and comfy. Instagram influencers for American Rag used captions that talked about the new line being exclusively available at Macy’s, along with sharing images of their flannels, jackets, and other layers to demonstrate a seasonal vibe.

The campaign enjoyed an engagement rate of 5.7% and generated over 30,000 likes. By teaming up with relevant influencers in the fall season, the brand was able to reach its target audience in time for seasonable shopping.

8. Working with Instagram Influencers

151

Bonus: Instagram Influencer Pro Tips with Karolis Rimkus Here’s a masterclass video featuring Karolis Rimkus, a dropshipper who leveraged the power of Instagram influencers to build and grow his brand. Karolis talks about the dos and don’ts of approaching micro-influencers on Instagram, whether shout-outs or free products work better for influencer partnerships, and more.

▸ Instagram offers incredible opportunities for brands of any shape, size, and industry, but it isn’t the only channel that’s capable of maximizing your outreach.

In the next two chapters, we’ll tell you how to achieve the same effect with YouTube and Facebook influencers.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

153

Social media isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? Social media influence! When I wrote that line, I took some liberties from a scene in The Social Network (you know, that movie about Facebook). It’s the scene where Sean Parker tries to convince Mark Zuckerberg about the potential of his then-small platform. “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars!” You can see Sean’s eyes gleaming with excitement at the future that Facebook had in the world of social networking. When it comes to influencer marketing, I think marketers and brands should gleam with similar excitement: excitement at the opportunity a YouTube influencer has, especially when appealing to millennials and niche audiences.

But these aren’t the only audiences YouTube is successful in reaching. Brands across all industries and niches are quickly discovering how to make money on YouTube with influencer marketing. In this chapter, we’ll cover:

dzdz The rise of YouTube dzdz Some of the most popular types of YouTube influencer partnerships dzdz How to find the right YouTube influencers dzdz 3 successful YouTube influencer marketing examples

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

The Rise of YouTube There are plenty of benefits to working directly with a YouTube influencer:

dzdz When it comes to video content, a YouTube influencer is a trendsetter that social media users trust to identify the hottest products and trends. dzdz Most YouTube creators are highly selective when choosing brands to partner with, adding a level of authenticity to sponsored content. dzdz YouTube influencers listen to and interact with their audiences, cultivating communities that are more like friendships than fanships.

Source

Also, YouTube influencers are changing perspectives across more industries than you’d think.

154

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

155

A study conducted by Carat, Nielsen, and YouTube found that beauty brands were the first to partner with YouTube influencers, with 86% of the top 200 videos in the beauty category coming from influencers (not brands). But what’s intriguing about Carat’s finding is just how far YouTube influencers stretch beyond this particular niche. Carat tested nine more categories including snacks, auto, and toys. Across all nine of them, working with a YouTube influencer caused an uplift in brand affinity as well as consumers’ purchase intent. So the idea that YouTube influencer marketing is purely for the female audience who are looking at beauty and cosmetic brands simply isn’t true.

Ultimately, a YouTube influencer’s impact on marketing is worth paying attention to, because the next generation of audiences is picking up on their branded content across multiple industries. And YouTube is making its own contributions, continuously working on nurturing influencers of all sizes. For instance, it launched a ‘Merchandise’ feature that allows influencers to sell to audiences directly. Creators with more than 10k subscribers can offer merchandise like phone cases, T-shirts, hats, or any of over 20 different items that make sense for their channel. Additionally, it has a dedicated creators program in place that allows influencers to make great videos, find their audience, and grow their channel on YouTube.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

156

Most Popular YouTube Partnerships Partnering with YouTube influencers offers several advantages. But to carry out a YouTube influencer marketing campaign, it’s crucial to think about the different kinds of collaboration possible. Let’s dive into the most popular YouTube partnerships that you can consider to promote your products, initiatives, and brand.

Unboxing Videos Unboxing videos – that show YouTubers unwrapping products for the first time as they analyze the features – are a hit on YouTube. Google’s research found that one-fifth of consumers has watched unboxing videos on the platform.

Because they portray the product experience without using marketing lingo and buzzwords, they are generally regarded as objective, unvarnished, and honest. Here’s an example:

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

157

This unboxing video features a micro-influencer on YouTube unboxing a GoPro Hero7. It’s close to 25k pageviews and has received over 130 comments, many of which are from people who are planning to buy the product.

For all kinds of businesses, working with top YouTube influencers on unboxing videos can ultimately drive up brand engagement and result in people taking profitable actions like shares, signups, and sales.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

158

How-to Guides and Tutorials Where would YouTube be without the power of the ‘how-to’? These videos have an advantage in the sense that they’re almost timeless – they only become outdated if the activity explained in the video changes or its ‘educational value’ goes out-of-date.

Some of the most popular educational videos, tutorials, and howtos include software upgrades, mobile troubleshooting, makeup, and fitness. Here’s an example of a how-to:

On YouTube, you’d notice that you’d notice that micro-influencers like Louie post many of the how-tos. Louie has just 17k subscribers, but his video has raked in over 3.5 million views. That’s the power of the how-to tutorial. Brands can partner with YouTube influencers like Louie to provide educational and thought-provoking content to their target audiences.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

159

Comedy and Sketches Many YouTube influencers create comedy and sketch content to keep their viewers amused. Of course, everyone’s sense of humor is unique, but there are so many content creators in this video genre that you’re sure to find someone who matches your branding. These can go from full-on productions with a proper setup to impromptu skits in someone’s living room. Comedy and sketch videos are among some of the most talked-about, often making their way onto Twitter, Facebook, and even mobile-based channels like WhatsApp. Which means they’re usually a go-to method for brands and people who are trying to master viral marketing. Here’s one by Lauris Beinerts:

Lauris is a micro-influencer with less than 100k subscribers, but due to the viral nature of this videos, he gets a significant amount of views and engagement. That said, it’s important to set realistic expectations, as not every sketch put on YouTube goes viral. Unfortunately.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

160

Product Reviews Nowadays, it’s ideal for people to turn to YouTube when they’re considering buying a product. They want to know what others think about the item that interests them.

Research has frequently shown that people are more likely to buy a product if they see positive reviews online. It clearly depends on the product, but YouTube videos are the perfect medium for many different items. Audiences find it so much easier to make a purchase decision if they can see how a product works and if it has any shortcomings.

Straightforward and transparent: product reviews are just that. A YouTube influencer talks about products from brands and what they think of them.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

161

Some of the most popular product review videos are about technology, but reviews can be about anything, really… from hotels to the latest model of Mercedes Benz.

Most of these partnerships involve brands sponsoring the YouTube creator. Sponsored YouTube content looks a bit more in-depth than other channels, giving audiences an opportunity for longer engagement with a piece of content.

Ultimately, the perfect partnership will be the one where you pay or give free products to a YouTuber who then creates (or co-creates) valuable content that aligns with your goals.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

162

How to Find YouTube Influencers We all know the popular YouTubers who started early and have now gained a popculture icon status with younger audiences. Everything they upload gets tons of engagement, and their influence extends far beyond the platform, to conferences and even Hollywood flicks.

Talent agencies manage many of these mega-stars, but for brands, finding micro-influencers (YouTubers with smaller audiences) is now more achievable than ever. Use the following tips to ensure that you connect with a YouTube influencer who’s the right fit for your brand.

Use Google Start with Google to find a targeted YouTube influencers list that can steer you onto the right path. If you’re unsure of who exactly you should be contacting, this process will be useful. As you go through the YouTube influencers list, you’ll be able to better visualize how partnering with certain YouTubers may or may not be beneficial. Here are some search strings to help you get started:

dzdz List of [your industry name] influencers on YouTube dzdz YouTube [your industry name] dzdz [your industry name] influencers to follow on YouTube dzdz best [industry name] YouTubers to follow

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

163

To explain through an example, if you sell wearables and other similar gadgets, you can search for ‘tech influencers on YouTube’ to find potential partners for unboxing, product review, and other types of videos. Here’s what Google returns for this search:

Most of these sites will present you with a relevant list of tech influencers who you can narrow down based on how closely they align with your goals.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

164

Don’t just stop at the first page! Explore 4-6 pages for each search you conduct to ensure you’re not missing out on any good results. Just because some YouTubers haven’t made it to the lists on the front page doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider them for influencer marketing. In fact, they might be in the early phase of their career, which makes them an ideal fit for a lucrative YouTube influencer marketing partnership.

Search YouTube A YouTube search is different from a Google search in that it doesn’t present you with the same helpful curated articles and lists as Google does. With YouTube, you’re better off conducting individual searches for videos and channels. As in the case of Google, you can narrow down your search. Click the ‘Filter’ option in the top right corner to do so. Try filters like:

dzdz ‘Type: Video’ to browse videos that have crossed a certain threshold for the creator or have gone viral. dzdz ‘Type: Channel’ to search by creator. dzdz ‘Sort by: View count’ – go past the popular videos and channels, as high-profile influencers most likely own these. Look for videos and channels with views between thousands and tens of thousands.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

What Else? Apart from using YouTube and Google to find YouTube influencers, you can get in touch with a talent management agency that manages micro-influencers, such as Socially Powerful.

These agencies reach out to their network of YouTubers, find relevant talent, finalize deals on your behalf, and help to line up the best YouTube influencers for your brand. Finally, you can use a self-service influencer platform like FameBit to receive proposals directly from YouTube influencers. Go to Chapter 7 for more insight on how influencer marketing platforms work.

165

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

3 Successful YouTube Influencer Marketing Examples Thinking about trying your hand at YouTube influencer marketing? Now is the perfect time to leap. Here are three real-world examples to inspire you.

1. Try The World’s Brand Awareness Campaign Food box brand Try The World wanted to drive brand awareness for its range of subscription boxes. Instead of working with a high-profile influencer, the brand decided to collaborate with several micro-influencers. One of them was Tyler, who runs a travel agency.

166

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

167

Tyler, who has more than 50,000 subscribers, posted an unboxing video featuring two subscription boxes from Try The World.

The video managed to get more than 20,000 views and resulted in a high level of engagement – more than 200 people left comments. What’s more: many of those who saw the video noted that they intend to buy Try The World’s subscription boxes.

2. Society6’s Female Millennial Market Drive Society6, an online store and community that lets artists sell their artwork through various products, wanted to tap into the millennial women demographic who are in college and conscious about fashion.

For the purpose, Society6 partnered with both renowned lifestyle influencers and smaller YouTubers on this campaign. These influencers published videos that showcased the many products available at Society6’s online store, which millennial women can use to spruce up their dorms. They wanted to portray the idea that these offerings are perfect for personalizing a small living space.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

168

Here’s one from Katherout, a micro-influencer with around 100,000 subscribers.

The majority of the videos posted by micro-influencers like Katherout for Society6’s YouTube campaign got less than 50,000 video views. However, these videos accounted for 31% of the total campaign reach collectively. Not bad, if you consider that these brands could recruit these smaller YouTubers at a much lower rate than high-profile influencers in the same industry.

9. Working with YouTube Influencers

169

3. Aunt Jackie’s Black History Month Campaign Every year, as Black History Month is celebrated across the US, companies like Aunt Jackie use the power of storytelling to cultivate people’s deeper interest in black history. This year, the haircare brand partnered with NaturallyCurly, a YouTube channel run by natural-haired micro-influencers. NaturallyCurly’s Alex and Gerilyn made a video in which they style their hair with Aunt Jackie’s products while taking a quiz on Black History Month.

The video generated over 20,000 views. More than 80 people left comments. I’d say that was a success.

▸ A YouTube influencer can be an ideal partner for any brand aiming to promote its product or service via video, and there are so many opportunities to leverage creativity, authenticity, and organic relationships.

Now that you’ve got an idea of how to make YouTube work for your brand, we’ll take a look at how Facebook influencers can help brands achieve similar goals.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

171

Ah, Facebook. Some might argue that it’s the patron saint of social media as we know it today, giving birth to social media’s massive explosion of popularity. (Sure, there was MySpace… but that was just a primer.) Some might also argue that Facebook is slowly dying as more popular platforms catch up and close the gaps that the new, ‘digital native’ generation prefers in its online experiences.

While Instagram is the undisputed influencer marketing king, it would be foolish to write Facebook off as a platform that’s not worth examining. Especially after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it could seem like Facebook’s tarnished reputation is hurting its performance. But if you look at the numbers from Statista, its user base continues to steadily grow with around 30 to 50 million new users per quarter.

Source

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

172

Influencer marketing studies are also showing that Facebook’s doing just fine. A 2018 survey by influencer marketing company IZEA showed that for 48% of participants, Facebook impacted their decisions to buy a product or service. Facebook was also one of the most popular social media platforms for researching their purchase decisions.

The bottom line is that plenty of companies still use influencer marketing to make money on Facebook. So I say: march forward with your Facebook influencer marketing campaigns! If it’s a good fit for your brand, of course. In this chapter, we’ll look at:

dzdz Facebook’s new Brand Collabs Manager tool for influencer marketing dzdz Some of the most popular types of Facebook influencer partnerships dzdz How to find the right Facebook social influencers dzdz 3 successful Facebook influencer marketing examples

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

173

Facebook’s New Influencer Tool: Brand Collabs Manager In summer of 2018, Facebook made a splash on the influencer marketing scene when it announced its new Brand Collabs Manager.

Essentially, it’s an influencer search engine that was created to compete with the other major influencer marketing platforms in the game. The fact that the biggest social media platform in the world is creating a special influencer marketing tool makes a very clear statement: influencer marketing is huge, and it’s here to stay. Facebook recognizes the multi-billion-dollar opportunity, and has started competing for its slice of the influencer marketing pie.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

174

As of October 2018, Brand Collabs Manager is only operating on a limited scope in the US, with new brands and creators added to a waitlist when they sign up. Travel and photography influencer Laurence Norah agrees that Facebook has some slack to pick up in the influencer marketing game, and it’s working hard to try and do so. This is especially true with the platform’s continuous algorithm changes that have impacted the organic reach that influencers can get on their pages, giving some influencers a tough time in seeing results. “Facebook has started to more fully embrace content creators, after largely ignoring them for nearly the full lifetime of the platform. New tools are in place for content creators to use, and also to help them monetize their content – something Facebook has long shied away from, despite competition from platforms such as Youtube which have native monetization options. So I think more content creators will start to use Facebook as a primary platform.

Laurence Norah Finding the Universe

Facebook Groups are looking to be a big change that has started to be felt in 2018 – the lack of organic reach on pages has left influencers searching for a new way to reach audiences, and Groups seems to be the way to do that – with a focus on community rather than the individual.” Looking back to November 2017, Facebook launched Facebook for Creators (yep, basically the same as YouTube for Creators). This move made it apparent that Facebook was already working on nurturing the influencer space.

Facebook says the tool is for passionate and talented videomakers who wish to ‘level up.’ If that doesn’t say, ‘Influencers, use this to make more money!’ – I don’t know what does.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

175

Most Popular Facebook Partnerships One notably successful influencer marketing tactic is Facebook Live, where users can stream live video broadcasts from wherever they are.

In comparison to other social channels, Facebook offers more content diversity because a post doesn’t require any visuals. Whereas Instagram posts need a photo or video and YouTube is inherently videos, users can post all kinds of pre-existing content on Facebook. This can manifest as sharing and reposting a brand’s web page, blog post, branded video, or some other type of content they didn’t create. But generally, the whole point of using an influencer is letting them put their unique spin on it, so a simple reshare usually isn’t the case. Apart from these details, Facebook influencer options are generally the same as Instagram: influencers can post regular photos and videos they’ve created, along with temporary Facebook Stories that can also contain photos and videos. Let’s look at these a bit closer.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

176

Facebook Live You can have an influencer promote your product or service inside one of their Facebook Live broadcasts, whether they give it a brief name-drop or show themselves using it in action. Viral comedian Laura Clery promoted the game app Best Fiends by playing it during a live broadcast, including a link for users to download the app straight from her post. By the way, this is another testament to how important it is to let influencers have creative freedom. In the video, Laura played one of her eccentric characters Pamela Pupkin, who got into a rather entertaining and chaotic feud with her husband Roger (played by Laura’s real-life husband Stephen) over the game.

This shtick allowed Laura to promote the game while still giving her fans what they know and love.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

Standard Photo or Video Posts On Facebook, you’ll find all kinds of influencer marketing examples like the ones we talked about in Chapter 2. Tactics like reviews, mentions, competitions, and giveaways can all be executed with standard Facebook posts. In this example, Vital Proteins had fitness influencer Jordan Morello host a giveaway on his Facebook page. He gave three steps for users to enter: follow the company’s Facebook page, like the post, and tag two friends in the post’s comments. He included a fun, simple, eye-catching GIF of himself with the products to gain his followers’ attention.

177

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

178

How to Find Facebook Influencers Just like your other searches, your quest for Facebook influencers should start with the good ol’ search bar. Type in keywords for the types of products or services you’re offering, or words that describe your brand and goals. Say you have a travel gear ecommerce brand that’s releasing a new line of mountain climbing accessories. Start with typing ‘mountain climbing’ into the search bar. Use Facebook’s filter options to view the results by ten categories:

dzdz All

dzdz Pages

dzdz Posts

dzdz Places

dzdz People

dzdz Groups

dzdz Photos

dzdz Apps

dzdz Videos

dzdz Events

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

179

To see results from influencers with their own established brands, go to the ‘Pages’ tab, then go to the ‘Categories’ filter section on the left sidebar. Select ‘Artist, Band, or Public Figure.’ You can also check out the ‘Local Business or Place’ and ‘Entertainment’ categories.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

180

And as we mentioned earlier, check out the ‘Groups’ tab as well, since Groups may not have the same organic reach issues that pages and profiles do. Try all this with hashtags too. Start with the more obvious ones, like #mountainclimbing. Go to the ‘Posts’ filter tab to see posts that contain the keyword, then start browsing through the profiles and pages the posts came from.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

Use Google Never forget that Google is your friend. Sticking with the mountain climbing example, you could type in searches like:

dzdz Mountain climbing Facebook influencers dzdz Top mountaineers Facebook dzdz Facebook mountaineering influencers dzdz Climbers on Facebook dzdz Action sports influencers Facebook dzdz Facebook extreme sports influencers

181

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

Your post will likely lead you to media outside of Facebook, like blogs and Instagram. Check those out too! These links might lead you to an influencer who’s also active on Facebook. Or you might fall so in love that you decide to work with them based on their other platforms.

182

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

183

3 Successful Facebook Influencer Marketing Examples The overall success of your Facebook influencer marketing campaign will come down to strategy and execution. If you’re short on ideas, take inspiration from the following campaigns that didn’t feature top-tier influencers but still managed to make noise.

1. HelloFresh’s Facebook Live Cooking Party Meal-kit delivery service leader HelloFresh understands that people want to have fun while preparing their food. And, they want to cook that food well, so that the homemade meal matches up with the delicious-looking mockups online.

With that in mind, the brand started hosting a live cooking show series where audiences prepare food at the same time as the hosts. The show regularly features HelloFresh’s head chef and occasional appearances from micro-influencers. Here’s a video featuring a special guest mom and her 4-year-old son.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

184

This particular video got over 50 comments and 17,000 views. Audiences were also able to ask questions on the fly, and get pro tips from the chef and the host in real-time. While live-streamed interviews and newscasts are fun because of the interaction, the appearance of smaller, friendly, and relatable personalities offers the legitimacy that viewers love and crave.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

185

2. SoFabFood’s Creative Recipes Drive SoFabFood, a group of diverse, self-taught home chefs who share family-friendly recipes, approached micro-influencers on Facebook to promote healthy cooking. The brand wanted to mix influencers’ creativity with the different food items it regularly featured in its recipes. So influencers were required to make something unique out of the food staples in addition to showing their healthy sides. Blogger Sara of Tastefulventure, for example, posted a back-toschool morning recipe featuring a cinnamon turmeric smoothie.

When organizing campaigns like these, avoid constraining influencers to the brand’s vision alone. Give them the liberty to explore and enjoy your products thoroughly.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

186

3. Loeffler Randall’s ‘Cool Girls Doing Cool Things’ Campaign High-end footwear and accessory brand Loeffler Randall is a favorite amongst fashion insiders, bloggers, and artists, courtesy of the company’s vow to involving social media influencers in its campaigns.

The brand’s program ‘LR Ambassadors’ includes a diverse group of painters, writers, and fashionistas living dynamic lives. In addition to profiling the ambassadors on the official blog, Loeffler Randall has them post content on Facebook and other social media channels. Influencers, in turn, post the hashtag #LRambassador to let people know that they’re associated with the brand. Here’s an example of one such influencer:

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

187

Could I Have That is a lifestyle blog run by Samantha Wennerstrom. She’s an LR Ambassador who posts about Loeffler Randall’s new and upcoming line of products across different social media channels, piquing users’ interest in the brand’s offerings.

Overall, there are pages and pages of successful Facebook influencer marketing campaigns. They’re a testament to the possibilities the platform provides.

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

Go Forth and Influence! Alas, our time together has come to a close. In this ebook, we’ve hit all the ins and outs of influencer marketing, including:

dzdz A definition of influencer marketing and why it’s so successful dzdz Current trends and considerations, as well as the legal and ethical issues you’ll encounter dzdz Top types of influencer marketing campaigns and examples of what they look like in real life dzdz What a micro-influencer is, and why you should work with them over mega-influencers and high-profile celebs dzdz How to find influencers in your industry, from Google searches to hashtags to industry-specific niches dzdz Tips for building, managing, and tracking a solid influencer marketing strategy to identify your ROI dzdz Tips and templates for reaching out to promising influencers, as well as building lasting relationships dzdz Some of the most popular and effective platforms and apps to help you along the way dzdz Channel-specific tips for influencer marketing on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook

188

10. Working with Facebook Influencers

189

As you start gearing up your influencer marketing efforts, remember to focus on finding authentic and engaging partners that really complement what you stand for as a brand. Be as specific as possible with setting goals and setting up ways to track them, so you can be on top of your results and know when you’re winning or you need to readjust. Above all, have some fun! Make new friends and let your brand’s personality shine.

The world of influencer marketing is growing and evolving really quickly as brands across the globe realize the incredible power that these influencers hold in their fingertips – literally. At first glance, it might seem like a ‘pay to play’ game where only the big spenders are succeeding. But no matter how big or famous your brand is – and no matter how big your budget is – there will always be an opportunity waiting for brands with the persistence, savvy, and creativity to make it work. Is your brand one of them?

Related Documents


More Documents from "Wa'el Bibi"