Influencer marketing used to be all about celebrity endorsements, but now in the age of social media, it is about people whose entire claim to fame is their online persona as an Influencer. Influencers create and curate engaging, unique content and are always a step ahead of the latest trends for their chosen topic, whether that is beauty, lawn care, or something else.
Why Connect with Influencers?
There are social media influencers who focus on every subject under the sun from mindfulness to fashion to dentistry. Influencers have a loyal following of fans who really listen to what they say and take it to heart, so finding one related to your brand and engaging with them can increase your reach, build trust with your followers, and boost your ROI.
People are more likely to trust what a third party has to say about a given brand than what the brand says about itself, for obvious reasons. People trust influencers and are likely to believe their recommendations, so if you have an influencer singing your praises, you are going to start building a loyal following of your own.
Tips for Finding Influencers Relevant to Your Brand
- Always keep your target audience in mind. Think about where their interest lies and find an influencer that intersects with their interests and your services/products.
- Search keywords that your brand wants to rank for and see who comes up for those searches on social. This is a great way to find influencers who resonate with your target demographic.
- Check the “recommended accounts” section on Instagram and you may find some influencers whose vision aligns with yours.
- Keep an eye on trending hashtags and who is posting popular content using those hashtags.
How to Engage Effectively
There are endless different ways you can engage with influencers, The first thing to do is find them and build a relationship with them. Your engagement can range anywhere from sharing one another’s posts now and then to partnering up and launching a product line together. Here are a few simple ways to get an influencer involved with your brand:
- Find influencers relevant to your brand, then follow them, comment, and share their posts when it makes sense to (don’t start sharing and commenting on every single one of their posts–this looks spammy and won’t help you build a relationship with them).
- Promote special offers and giveaways for each other’s products or services
- Have them do a takeover. This means the influencer runs your Instagram account for the day. Have them post whatever they want to your page, do a tutorial or giveaway in your stories, or just show a day in their life. This is a lot of fun and will bring their followers to your account.
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