Creating an influencer marketing campaign is an influential marketing strategy brands adopt worldwide. The strategy allows them to connect with influential people on social media with a large social following to share information about their products or services.
As per statistics, the influencer marketing industry has grown from $1.7 billion in 2016 to $13.8 billion in 2021. This year, the industry is anticipated to expand to $16.4 billion. And this is primarily because over 50% of consumers, especially those between 18 and 34, prefer to find out about a brand on social media.
In today’s post, we will help you understand the role of influencers in digital marketing and discuss the various steps involved in creating a successful influencer marketing campaign. So, let’s begin.
What is an Influencer Marketing Campaign?
An influencer marketing campaign is a marketing tactic wherein influencers help businesses drive brand awareness, boost sales, and increase traffic to their website.
This tactic is executed on social media platforms such as Instagram or Facebook, where influencers have groups of loyal followers. Thus, influencers have a massive base of people who take their suggestions and recommendations very seriously.
To help you better understand, here is an example of a highly effective influencer marketing campaign launched by Baggit, a leading bag company in India.
The campaign was launched to increase the brand’s audience and improve interaction with them for their newest SS collection. Consequently, the company came up with the “Baggit Event,” where the leading influencers of Mumbai were invited to showcase their products by carrying them throughout the event.
The company created a pre-launch buzz on social media by enabling fashion influencers to create viral content using #PlayTheLifeGame.
Baggit also ran a 2-day campaign on social media where it asked the users to guess the bag’s name, tag a friend who should own it, and even tell why their friend should #PlayTheLifeGame. As per reports, the campaign generated over 5 million impressions and reached more than 2.8 million followers.
Steps to Create a Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign
Although the popularity of influencer marketing has surged, many marketers still need to figure out how to appropriately use social media celebrities to create the most successful influencer marketing campaigns. To help you, we have put together this simple and quick guide on boosting your brand’s awareness with such a campaign.
- Determine your business goals and KPIs
Before you start, you must consider your overall influencer marketing goals and objectives. For instance, do you wish to boost your brand awareness, or are you more interested in increasing your sales? Depending on your business goals, you can develop campaigns that fulfill your targeted goals.
Once you have finalized the goals, determine how you will measure success. In most cases, this is done through a predefined set of KPIs. You can track these KPIs to measure the success of a campaign, assess influencer marketing conversion rate, adjust strategy, decide if an influencer is fit for another round, and more.
- Outline your target audience.
Before reaching out to any influencers, you must outline your target audience. This will help you find the ideal influencer, as this influencer is usually similar to your defined buyer persona. Alternatively, you can pick out someone who interests or appeals to your target audience.
Lastly, defining your target audience will help you choose the right social media platform. For instance, there are plenty of Indian influencer marketing platforms, and while some venues have a broader appeal, others are more niche. So think about your audience and the best place to capture their attention for a successful marketing campaign.
- Select the type of campaign.
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The type of influencer marketing campaign depends on various factors, including your business objectives, target audience, and the influencers you are working with. Most commonly, one of the following options is chosen by the business.
- Affiliate marketing/ discount code
In this type of campaign, you provide an affiliate link or a special discount coupon to an influencer, which then creates content and posts the connection on their account, inviting their audience to check out your products. In this type of campaign, you pay the influencer based on the sales generated from the code.
- Product reviews/ giveaways
This is a simple marketing campaign where you provide your products to the influencer for exposure. For instance, the influencers can create tutorials on using the product or give it to other users via contests.
- Sponsored content
With this type of campaign, the influencer is paid to create and post content on their social media account. However, sponsored content sounds much more sales-type than other campaigns.
- Find, analyze, and vet influencers.
This is the most crucial and challenging part of creating an influencer marketing campaign. Finding the right influencer who resonates with your brand values and have a knack for content creation is significant. Fortunately, many influencer search tools available nowadays can make the process easier.
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Moving on, it is advisable only to oversee the power of nano and micro-influencers. These people start as influencers and have a reasonably limited following. However, working with these nano and micro-influencers may be an excellent opportunity as they often have a high level of engagement. Additionally, they mostly charge lower than well-established social media influencers.
- Pitch to chosen influencers
After you have shortlisted some influencers, it’s time to pitch to them. Most well-known influencers receive tons of brand pitches regularly. On the other hand, many micro-influencers may feel they need more confidence to start accepting compensation for their work. Thus, you will need a strong pitch with a compelling story to persuade them to work with you.
It is advisable to build a rapport with the influencer before approaching them with your campaign idea. You can follow them on social media, engage with their content, and appreciate their work.
- Activate the campaign
Once you have found the ideal influencer for your campaign, you can convey the content you want. Once you approve the content they produce, you can activate the campaign.
But make sure to follow up with the influencer regularly. Keep in touch without bugging them, and ensure you answer all their queries about your brand. Go to their social media page and verify the content. Give them appropriate suggestions if need be.
- Amplify the influencer content.
This is important if you want to increase the influencer marketing conversion rate. Once the influencer has posted the original content on their social media handle, you can reuse it on your own account. This technique is especially effective with Instagram and Facebook since reposting is simple and quick.
The purpose of reposting content is to enhance its reach. And if the influencer you have chosen for your marketing campaign is reputed enough, a simple repost can double the efficacy of your campaign.
- Track and measure your success
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Measuring the influencer marketing ROI is the last and final step that helps determine the campaign’s success rate. Besides, it also provides an opportunity to adjust the overall movement to enhance its effectiveness and reach a broad audience. Here are some of the most crucial metrics that you must track to determine the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaign.
- Track the use of discount codes.
One of the simplest ways of determining the success of your campaign is tracking the use of the discount code or affiliate link. These codes and links automatically follow sales. Thus, you can quickly determine which user is purchasing your product because of the influencer’s efforts. This metric also makes it easy to decide on fair pay for the influencer.
- Analytics numbers
Sometimes, your influencer marketing campaign creates a buzz among the audience and increases the number of visits to your website. This metric is a great way to track your success if your primary goal is brand awareness, not sales.
- Engagement
Tracking the number of people that engage with your brand after seeing the influencer’s post is another way to measure the ROI. Many times, businesses determine the influencer’s pay based on engagement.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing campaigns can help businesses increase brand awareness and attract new customers. However, setting up suitable influencer marketing campaigns and managing them throughout takes time and meticulous planning. Follow the steps above closely to launch a successful campaign and benefit from your social media.
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