Influencer Marketing is when done correctly, a powerful tool. We published ten strategies to get influencer marketing right.
You can tap into massive, new, and relevant audiences by working with influencers in your industry. They will be more than happy to engage with you. They trust the judgment of the person who recommends you, often implicitly.
Influencers can also be trusted to promote your brand. It’s possible to be a brand advocate.
These are your customers and employees. They also represent other stakeholders within your business who choose to endorse your company publicly. Because they love what you do, they are natural campaigners for your company.
Influencers and brand advocates are powerful assets for your brand. But who is going to serve you best? How should you split your time if you plan to invest in both?
Influencers vs. Influencers vs. Brand Advocates
Jay Baer examined the differences between brand advocates and influencers in an infographic called “Influencers Vs. Brand Advocates”. Brand advocates
Jay Baer and Cara Fuggetta from Zuberance published posts before this infographic that claimed influencer outreach was overrated.
Baer believes that saturation is part of the problem. Baer says:
Here, I agree wholeheartedly with him. There are so few bloggers who start up solely to get freebies. Consumers are becoming more skeptical and less responsive to their messages. They are not experts. They are paid to review.
Fuggetta is concerned that influencers will only help themselves and won’t be interested in helping you if that supports them. She explains:
Making influencer marketing work
Influencers are defined by their audience size. This includes how many Twitter followers they have, YouTube subscribers, and how many monthly visits they get to their blogs.
Their audience is more critical than their influence.
However, it can be more complex.
It would help if you were more than a subscriber to be an influencer. Authority is what you need. Your audience must trust you. It is essential to say, “Hey, this product’ and get people to buy it immediately.
You know you should be working with someone with this kind of power in your industry. You need to ensure that your influencer marketing strategy works.
Influencing at the right places is critical.
It doesn’t matter how influential someone is as long as their audience doesn’t align with yours.
Let’s take an example to show you how important it is.
In his post above, Jay Baer refers to a misjudged venture in influencer marketing.
Chris Brogan, a business advisor and super-influencer posted a video reviewing a jacket Wilson’s Leather sent him.
Although the video is brief, it is clear that Chris isn’t an authority on leather jackets.
Wilson was thrilled with the outcome. But what did they get from this?
The video didn’t result in anyone buying a jacket. We know the video generated 250% more engagement than Chris typically gets on his posts.
Chris has over 300,000. That’s huge. He is an influencer, but not on men’s clothes. The fit needed to be there.
Influencers to your side
Getting an influencer to your side requires a lot of outreach.
Sometimes, you can meet someone important through a mutual connection or get to know someone at an event. But most of all, it is up to you to reach out and start the conversation with people you want to work with.
This is easiest to do via email. However, it is essential to build a relationship before you send it.