Influencer marketing remains a niche market. It’s not a replacement for traditional advertising. It’s a complement that businesses are increasingly relying on for cost-effective ways of reaching and engaging with current or potential customers.
But, the limited supply of influencers in a given niche creates an equally limited number of influencers with budgets and resources to service brands and agencies.
Niche is great for influencers, but it’s tough on brands and agencies. It’s a paradox.
That’s why you need to be smart about stretching that budget for the maximum impact on your business. The first step is to understand what you want to achieve. Let’s review 5 top tips to stretch your Influencer Marketing budgets.
#1 Understand What You Want to Achieve
The best way to figure out how to stretch your budget is to understand what you want to achieve first. For example, do you want to directly promote a product or service, or do you want to raise brand awareness?
In the past, influencers have been used to drive traffic to websites, but now many marketers employ a more holistic approach using influencers for diverse purposes.
Influencers can be used to:
- Generate interest and awareness for your brand, products or services
- Drive sales for your products or services
- Create more leads for your business
- Receive useful feedback from your customers
#2 Choose the Right Influencers
Influencer marketing is all about the right influencers. The right influencers have audiences that match your brand’s target audience, have credibility, and have strong engagement rates with their audiences. Start by determining the influencers in your niche that have a substantial reach to your target audience. While the number of followers is one metric, it shouldn’t be your only consideration. It’s better to reach out to influencers who have a smaller number of followers but have a high engagement rate.
#3 Set a Budget
Once you’ve done your research and found a few influencers that are the right fit for your business, the next step is to research their fees and find one that fits your budget. Many influencers have pre-set fee structures but will be willing to reduce their fees if they believe they can add value to your campaign. You can always negotiate – as long as you’re upfront about your budget and influencer’s fee structure.
#4 Create Your Campaign
It’s very important to include your influencer as an integral part of your campaign strategy. You want your influencer to have an active role in providing input, making recommendations and even implementing your campaign. Consult with them and make sure you know what you’re getting into before you start spending your budget.
#5 Consider Tracking, Analytics, and Measurement
The true value of influencer marketing comes from analytics and measurement of your campaign. This might include tracking the number of new followers, sales, leads generated, and/or referrals.You should also measure the engagement rate (number of comments and likes), as well as the click-through rate. Tracking and measuring the results of your campaign is essential to determine whether or not the campaign is working and if adjustments need to be made.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing is a very powerful thing, and if you’re smart about it, you can get a lot of bang for your buck. The most important thing to remember is to keep your focus on your campaign and to make sure that your influencer is an active part of that campaign. The more your influencer is involved, the better the chance for a successful campaign that results in a successful ROI.
CCG offers a variety of marketing strategies designed to bring you leads, sales, and successful marketing results, such as Instagram influencer marketing. Let us help increase your customer base and brand awareness through proper brand influence. Contact us today to get started!