A few years ago, the term “influencer” was limited to only a few people. However, with the advancement of technology and social media, this term is no longer limited to a few people. 

As the marketing Guru has rightly said, “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.”

Influencers are able to do just that. 

Influencer Marketing the art of using the power of an influencer who has built a strong audience to endorse your brand to their audience. 

According to Forbes, only 1% of millennials trust advertisements. 33% of them give more value to blog reviews. Forbes has also revealed 40% of people reported that they purchased a product online after seeing it used by an influencer on YouTube, Instagram, or Twitter.

Now that you must be clear on how important influencer marketing is with those numbers and facts, let’s see how your brand can implement influencer marketing in the right way. 

1) Define your end goal 

Before you set out to implement your influencer marketing strategy, you need to be aware of why you are implementing one in the first place. The most common broad goals are, attracting a new market, creating more brand awareness and generating more leads. 

Once you identify what your common goal is, you need to segment it into smaller and more easily doable goals. For example, if your end goal is to create more brand awareness, you can break it down to increasing your brand awareness in a younger demographic, another country, and so on. 

2) Decide the message you want to communicate 

Once you have decided what your goal is, the next step is to decide on what it is that your brand will be communicating to others. Remember that the message and the influencer are your two weapons to achieve your goals. 

Therefore, you need to be very careful here. Think of a message that would cause urgency in your target audience. 

For example, if you are aiming at Gen Z through your influencers, you might want to use something that they would be able to relate to. For example, you can use a reference from the most trending movie or TV show right now.

3) Stick to your niche 

One of the most common mistakes marketers make is that they choose an influencer that is completely irrelevant to their niche. That is a deadly move. 

If your influencer is not relevant to your niche, then no matter how strong of a strategy you create, it is bound to fail. 

Therefore, make sure that the influencer you have chosen resembles your niche. 

During your research, find out the influencers who have something common with your brand. For example, if your brand is into cosmetics, you might want to look at influencers who are into this field, such as, Komal Pandey, Kusha Kapila, etc. Likewise, if your brand is into technology, you might want to look at influencers such as Technical Guruji, etc. 

4) Reach out to influencers in the right way 

You have now 50% of your influencer marketing strategy. Now, comes the other half which has more to do with how and where will you find the right influencers for your brands. 

First, let’s talk about how you can find them. There are tons of tools that are dedicated to just finding out the right influencer for you. BuzzSumo is a great tool for this. 

However, if you want to dig a little deeper and find out your ideal influencer, you can do so by exploring your Instagram page. You can also use LinkedIn for the same depending upon your niche. 

You need to make sure that your approach towards them has all that it would take for them to say yes to you. You need to give them a reason to promote your brand. 

At this point, you need to remember that you’re not just talking to a person but also a brand. Therefore, formulate your approach accordingly. 

You need to personalise your pitch. Do not just begin by talking about your brand. You need to focus on building a relationship with the influencer. After that is done, you can get down to business by explaining what your brand is, what is your project, etc. Also, mention why you chose them instead of others to make them feel valued. 

5) Set your budget 

In 2017, the average price per post was influencer marketing for $271. 

The budget depends on how vast your project is and how big their followers base is. 

The pricing would vary across micro, medium and big influencers. For example, if you are aiming at someone who has 5000 followers but a decent amount of engagement, your budget would be dependent on those two factors. 

You can also give them incentives apart from their payment. This would motivate them towards doing the project with their entire heart. Incentives can include exclusive discount coupons, one-year free access to your product or, a lifetime free access to your product if you want the influencer for the long term.

Whatever you decide, make sure your basis is fair and you are providing a fair range. 

Now your influencer marketing is almost complete. All you need to do is give it a thorough review. 

At this stage determine how you will be measuring the success of your strategy and what metrics you will be using. 

Also, go through all that you have already done. Review your message and see if you can perfect it any further. 

If not, then you’re good to go!