On paper, influencer marketing seems pretty simple. All your brand has to do is get influencers or social media creators to promote your business and your products, and you’re done, right? All you have to do now is wait for them to do their magic, and you’ll be raking in sales in no time!
Well, not exactly. That might have worked before when influencer marketing was just starting to be a thing. However, there are many more influencers now, and some are more successful than others.
In other words, being successful at influencer marketing will take more than getting an influencer who uses an image upscaler tool to make themselves look good. You have to be strategic in going about it.
And to help you out, here are 5 influencer marketing best practices you can implement for your success this 2023.
Select Influencers Wisely
Don’t be blinded by influencers with 1 million followers on their social media accounts. While that number can initially be tempting, that number may not mean anything. After all, you can now buy followers!
What you should do instead is to look for proof of their effectiveness as influencers. They should be able to provide you with the numbers they’ve done for brands they’ve worked with before, such as increased views or sales.
Also, as mentioned earlier, don’t select influencers just because they look good. Partner with those that ideally already talk about your brand or, at the very least, look like they’ll actually use what you’re selling. That will be good for both of your credibilities.
And of course, aside from those two requirements, consider the following:
- The professionalism of the influencer–are they responsive when you reach out to them? Do they have a good track record for submissions?
- Check if they’re active on other social media channels and consistent with their look and branding.
- They should be posting regularly and should be interacting with their followers–this is important for brand engagement.
Video Is The Future–Especially TikTok
Statistics show that more people are consuming video this 2023. So what does that mean for you? Simply that you should now be prioritizing getting influencers who do video content.
That’s especially since Instagram is prioritizing video content, while TikTok is getting more and more popular, even with older people.
And speaking of TikTok, while IG is still a viable social media platform, TikTok has beaten it. That’s probably because TikTok makes it easier for its videos to be creative and engaging. How many times have you seen videos being responded to for fun in other videos on TikTok, right?
That’s not possible on Instagram right now. And with that in mind, you should jump on the opportunity to reach more audiences with these interactive short videos. Look for influencers who have good audience numbers on TikTok.
Consider also especially that if you’re selling a product, it would be nice to have a video of how it’s used. That would make viewers appreciate it more and think about how to apply it themselves when they buy it.
Go For Nano and Micro-Influencers
There’s nothing wrong with getting influencers who have a large number of followers, especially if they’re really authentic followers. However, you can also go the opposite route: work with micro and nano-influencers. They are influencers who have smaller audiences.
Why work with them? Well, two things. The first is that they have very engaged audiences. Because they don’t have as many followers, they actually have more time to reply to conversations and connect to them.
The second factor to consider is that they will seem more authentic. That’s a plus factor, especially when you get them to recommend your business. They’ll be more believable and a great way to target their particular niche.
Aim For Long-Term Partnerships Rather Than One-Off Projects
It’s better to try and collaborate with influencers on a long-term basis. Why? Well, for one thing, it takes plenty of time to make a sale, which means long-term collaborations will create a stronger relationship between you and the influencer.
That means the influencers can naturally use your products on a daily basis. And that means their followers will see your brand as something trustworthy and effective, which, of course, can lead to more inquiries and sales.
User-Generated Content Is King
User-generated content (UGC) is considered more authentic, relatable, and trustworthy. That’s one of the reasons why influencer content marketing works. And that’s why you shouldn’t control so much what your influencers put out.
Let them put out the content they usually do without you dictating what they should say, how the lighting should look, and so on. With consumers tired of the usual marketing stuff (i.e., celebrity endorsements), authentic-looking content will get more attention.
And when they’re done with their content, you can get their videos and post them on your social media feeds. Mix them up with your professionally-produced content. That gives your feed more variety and saves your team time having to generate more photos and videos.
Consider also that more people now use TikTok and Instagram as their search engines. Those platforms now offer more personalized experiences, and that means they’ll likely look for more UGCs. And that also means your brand’s account will pop up when you post UGCs on your feed.
Final Thoughts
Influencer marketing continues to be significant in the digital marketing space, especially with more people spending time on social media. However, to be successful in this, it is important to be strategic in your approach. To recap the 5 best practices for successful influencer marketing we discussed in this article:
- Don’t be blinded by vanity metrics or the appearance of the influencer. Look for data of their effectiveness with previous brand partnerships and how active they really are on social media.
- Prioritize influencers who make video content, as videos are being found to be more engaging. TikTok, in particular, makes video content more fun to watch and to be responded to.
- Consider working with micro and nano-influencers, who may have smaller audiences but are highly engaged and perceived as more authentic.
- Go for long-term partnerships over one-off projects, as they can build stronger relationships between your brand and influencers, and help sales in the long run.
- Prioritize user-generated content, which is seen as more relatable and trustworthy by consumers. Let influencers create content in their own style and mix it up with your professionally-produced content for a more diverse feed.
By following these best practices, you can maximize the potential of influencer marketing for your brand in 2023.