When looking for influencers, keep in mind that you don’t need to focus on influencers with massive followings like the Kardashians. Instead, look for micro influencers with followings between 5,000-100,000. Be sure to check out their engagement by dividing the amount of likes on a post by their number of followers. It’s important to check this because you need to see if their audience is active, or if they’ve simply bought followers. Micro influencers are also a better option compared to mega influencers because they tend to have more interested followers, and can achieve 22.2x more conversions than average.
For the trade industry, we’d recommend looking at trade influencers in your niche. For example, if you own and operate a plumbing business, you could reach out to influencers like @conradtheplumber. Also, look for popular podcasts within your niche, and reach out to the hosts to see if they’d be interested in a partnership. They may accept the offer, or they may decline, but you’ll never know if you don’t ask.
It’s important that you take the time to fully flesh out the design strategy of your marketing materials before you start coming up with ideas! Ask yourself what you want to communicate with your design. Remember, certain colors, fonts, and graphic designs all elicit a different subconscious response from the viewer, so make your selection carefully.
A guest post occurs when an influencer allows you to post content on their account or ‘take over’ for a predetermined amount of time.
This occurs when an influencer repeatedly calls out or ‘mentions’ you to their followers via their platform.
An affiliate partnership occurs when the influencer will receive a commission on every customer they bring you.
You can also ask the influencer to do a collaboration networking event, such as a sponsored meet and greet.
You can utilize influencers for PR events by working together to create newsworthy events and content that would interest media outlets.
If you’ve taken the time to create company branded merchandise that can be purchased on your website, you can ask the influencer to promote your merchandise to their audience.
Normally, influencers prefer monetary compensation for their efforts, but sometimes, depending on what type of influencer they are, they may accept a different form of compensation. A blogger, for example, is very different from an Instagram influencer.
Social media influencers like Instagram personalities tend to rely on sponsorships and brand deals and manage their own brands. A blogger, meanwhile, often has other forms of revenue like affiliate programs and advertising on their site. So, they may be more open to other forms of payments, like an affiliate partnership where they get paid per sale, or simply obtaining high quality blog content that will provide value to their audience and can help them obtain traffic and bring in more ad revenue.
Feel free to get creative with your compensation method. You can offer them something exclusive like a free service and ask for an honest review. Don’t just blatantly ask for a review – give them a real life experience of your business. The more interactive and enticing the offer is, the more likely the influencer/audience will be to take it. If it’s an interesting enough experience (e.g. maybe you remodel part of their kitchen for free), you can then go and pitch the experience to a media outlet. Always be sure to make your offer unique, valuable, and shareable.
Then, when you first start chatting with influencers about a pitch, you’ll need to explain the benefits to both the influencer and their audience in terms of traffic, influence, money, or gifts. We’d recommend that you start out with a direct message or an email to contact influencers.
In the body of your email, you’ll want to either talk about exclusive content you’re providing them, or inform them about a campaign you want them to be involved with. These campaigns can be anything from service or product giveaways, to discounts or commissions on every sale.
We’ll be honest, when it comes to working with influencers, be prepared to be kind and patient. These people are often approached by companies daily and it may take a few times to get their attention and start building that relationship.
Interacting with influencers is all about balance. You want to give them a clear direction, but you also want to give them enough creative freedom to make the message their own. An unclear objective can lead to a result that doesn’t fit your needs, but strict scripts can come across as inauthentic to their audience. We’d also recommend creating deadlines to help keep your partnership on track.