TIPS| INFLUENCER MARKTING FOR BRANDS

Welcome to the last day in July. I’ve got something special for brands out there (it might be a little more bias to fashion brands).

If you follow me on Instagram you can spot that line in My Bio which states “New Age Digital Marketer”. Basically thats what I do & hence I have experience from both the brand/Influencer perspective.

It’s only right we define the term “Influence”

What’s Influence?

Influence is the ability to actually persuade someone into taking an action

 

We have been hearing a lot lately about “Influencer marketing”, but what is it exactly?what’s all the fuss about it? and how can you, as a brand, use this marketing strategy? That’s what this blog post is all about. I hope it helps you as a brand decide if its a strategy you would love to take on or Not!

 

Before going into any form of Marketing its advisable to;

Identify your brand, target market/audience and your goals. Without all of these you’re like a lost puppy scattering the dustbin for ratchet food. Don’t do that! Don’t be that! Be solid Gold. Asides the above it would definitely help you determine the budget you need to set aside to reach your goal.

When people (or in this case “Brands”) start thinking about influencer marketing, they always feel the need to choose the big people in the industry, who have more followers. That’s not always the best strategy, especially when you’re just starting out. You need to go to the people who have the highest number of people who are part of your specific “who.” Also, when you go with smaller names, they tend to be more engaging, which might just result in a higher Return on Investment (ROI) + Its less expensive.

From my research “The number of brands having implemented influencer marketing in their marketing strategy is predicted to jump to 75% by the end of 2017 from 60% in 2016”.

Top Tips on Influencer Marketing? Yes Please..

1)Know your Target Audience: The above leads me to this first Tip, “Selecting the right influencer” This is an art that we all(brands) need to master. When considering an influencer, go for people that are not only likeable and trustworthy but are able to drive engagement with their followers and are an authority in their field.

Note: That an Influencer can be a/an:

• family/friend
• industry experts
• bloggers/vloggers and product reviewers
• journalists and media professionals
• celebrities

It all depends on the niche of your brand, your goal & what level your brand is in.

2) Do your research: Before reaching out, you must first do your research Its okay to ask the Influencer for his/her Media Kit; The media kit should also give you a good indication of her demographic, which will further allow you to see if it’s truly in line with the one you’re trying to hit.”

The influencer has a very specific, attention-grabbing personality. That’s what got you attracted in the first place, so why not let he/she do her thing? Its advisable you let them do the styling/choose their favorite pieces from a collection. This makes it more believable cause it would be more realistic +He or she already knows their audience and they know what’s going to resonate with them. But you can always offer to help.

3) Compensate your Influencers : No matter how little your brand is or the audience of the Influencer as long as you have chosen them to represent your brand. You have to find a way to compensate them for their time and effort.

From research 70% of influencers(Me included) report that brands expect them to donate their time for free.

This is very popular in Nigeria, they’ll tell you “Oh we are introducing you to our audience” Oh yh you are but so am I.

Even if you’re not paying money, find other means /ways to incentivize the partnership (That’s why doing your research comes into play). For ideas you can email me, i’ll be willing to share a few incentives 🙂

 

4) Tips from an influencer’s perspective: It is also important to see things from the perspective of an influencer. As influencer marketing is a lot more personal and targeted than some forms of marketing, this point of view is invaluable when it comes to planning your campaign.

Don’t just approach them casually, you need to approach your influencer as a partner and brief him/her about your campaign objectives, timing and message delivery to ensure maximum control, delivery & satisfaction.

As a brand you need to help influencers give back to their followers. You need to think of ways you can add value to the influencer’s audience(It could be through special offers and discounts, access to exclusive events like product launches,competitions & giveaways)

5) Track, measure and analyze: Your job isn’t done after you create the content and publish it. You need to track the results, measure its effectiveness and analyze your metrics to make sure you get the most bang for your buck (Money).

Note: It’s not just about the likes and views your content receives. Check your traffic stats and your sales count. Did you reach your goals? If yes, then great! Keep doing more campaigns. If not? then you need to find where the problem is and how can you solve it the next time. After all, influencer marketing is a long-term game. When you make a mistake never be afraid to try again.

One last extra tip?

Always make it as Effortless as possible Whenever you partner with influencers make sure to do all of the hard work; putting content, designing, making emails, etc. and then pass it on to the influencer to push to their audience via email. After all said and done Be sure to say “Thank you”. This goes a long way in building a good relationship

You can also follow up with them in the days that follow to let them know if their content performed particularly well, if there are comments for them to respond to, or even to team up on another collaboration down the road.

 

ThisthingcalledFashionn x Collaborations

This is Me sharing a few of my collaborations as examples

What brands have I worked with?

KatiewangCompany,

DebsbyDebby,

ShopMaju,

StyleMeAfrica.

These are all Nigerian Brands who reached out to me as regards Collaboration.

Each brand had their different reasons for reaching out to Me.

TheKatiewangCompany- Their price point is quite compatible with people within my age range who love RTW Ankara & trendy shoes. I never asked what Goal they wanted to achieve by Collaborating with me cause I was quite new and exited to work with them but My Guess is “Their Goal was to spread the word to my engaging followers & Also convert them into customers”. They are the first brand to reach out to me & I’m happy we have an existing relationship.

ShopMaju – They reached out to me cause they loved the Fashion videos I post up on Instagram. Tbh they made a right choice choosing me, I’m a perfect representation of their “target market” fun, young, trendy and high Street. Their Goal was to make a fashion video consisting of a few looks which would of course! Attract my following to Shop the Pieces from them.

 

StyleMeAfrica – Is an E-commerce online store that consists of various Nigerian Brands . I wasn’t their perfect target audience mostly because of their price range was a bit higher but nonetheless their Goal was trying to introduce a different crowd to their brand and they did just that.

DebsbyDebby – Reached out to me cause I take stunning pictures + they are basically family. Their target market also suites my age range I’d say it was a perfect fit.

 

Did all these brands achieve their goals? Of courseeeee! It was a Collaboration with me Lol jokes apart Most of them did to a great extent.

 

 

Are you a new brand & looking for bloggers to collaborate with. There’s a platform in Nigeria to make that easier for You can check them out on @Thebloggerpoint

 

|Thanks for reading|

 

 

 

 

 

Are these tips useful to you or Do you have anything to contribute, Please let me know by leaving a comment below