Why goals matter to influencer marketing success

By Nelson Esseveld
Best practices

This article and expertise was originally published on TapInfluence.

Influencer marketing has become a prime choice for brands that want to increase exposure and get connected with a larger pool of potential customers. In fact, 94% of people who use influencer marketingbelieve it to be effective.

There’s no question that influencer marketing is a worthwhile pursuit for growing brands. But, what comes into question is the way brands tackle their campaigns. It’s not uncommon for brands to adapt a non-focused, one-size-fits-all strategy to their influencer marketing, but this brings varied, and often less-than-ideal results because there is no focus on KPIs.

You can’t expect to handle your influencer marketing campaigns with a “throw everything against the wall and see what sticks” approach and also expect lasting, repeatable results. You need a clear strategy to get the most out of your campaigns. Furthermore, focus is essential. If you execute a strategy that focuses on too many goals at once, the tactics will under-perform. People do not normally perform two actions per engagement so rarely will they like or comment while also clicking to buy a product.

Each influencer marketing effort will produce different results so you need to formulate clear strategies for each campaign and laser focus them on one objective each. And to create focused strategies, you need to first define your campaign goals since your goals will ultimately define your strategy.

Let’s take a look at some influencer marketing goals and which strategies work best for each.

Goal: Brand awareness

If you want to generate some buzz and increase brand awareness, avoid focusing strictly on sales (though that may be a welcomed byproduct.) Focus on strategies that will get your brand name mentioned and shared.

This also isn’t the time to force heavy promotions on new influencers as you may be reaching out to them for the first time and they may not be comfortable with this type of aggressive strategy.

If your goal is brand awareness, here are some influencer marketing strategies that will work:

  • Brand mentions – Influencers can introduce your brand casually and not force products
  • Product reviews – Influencers can show images of your products and give their reviews
  • Encourage sharing – Influencers can encourage sharing to their followers and use brand-specific hashtags.
  • Contests – These contests will not be product-focused but more targeted to rewards for sharing. Use brand-specific hashtags here as well.

Goal: Increase followers/engagement on social media

By implementing strategies to increase brand awareness, you will automatically increase followers and engagement and vice-versa. So these two strategies can be used interchangeably.

An influencer’s followers are like gold and the more you can engage them, the more awareness and word-of-mouth recommendations you will generate.

To execute these campaigns successfully, first, focus on the social site you would like to target. Then, find and work with influencers who are a perfect match for your brand and who will result in the highest ROI.

Next, implement specific strategies that will get you to your goal such as:

  • Influencer account takeovers – Let an influencer take over your account for a short period of time
  • Focused shoutouts – Mention your profile on the social site you are targeting
  • Invitations – If you run a location-based establishment, invite local influencers to see your place of business and have them chronicle the day via social media. 
  • Work with bloggers to create unique ways to use your products

Goal: Generate leads/sales

Simply giving an influencer some product shoutouts will not be enough to increase your sales and drive ROI. Focus on sales-driven strategies if you want to maximize the profitability of your campaigns and generate excitement around your products and offerings.

Here are some influencer marketing strategies for increasing sales:

  • Custom coupon codes – Create exclusive offers for an influencer’s following
  • Product-focused contests – Create exclusive contests for an influencer’s following
  • Special promotions and discounts – Launch seasonal or pre-launch promotions
  • Promotional videos 

Final tip:

When creating your goals and strategies, share them with your influencers. Doing this will not only build trust in your relationship, but it will also allow the influencer to give you unique ideas for your campaigns. The more trust you build with your influencers, the more authentically they will champion your brand and your cause.

 

This article was written by Nelson Esseveld from Business2Community and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Twitter or its affiliates.

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