Ultimate Influencer Marketing Guide: Strategies, Tips, and Best Practices
Last update: 26 September 2024 at 03:31 pm
5.00/5Want to expand your brand awareness and reach? If so, you need to consider influencer marketing. This collaboration between popular social media content creators gives your business the perfect boost to promote your brand and products. But for it to have a great return on investment, it has to be done the right way. Our influencer marketing guide will help you get started, choose the right influencers, and launch a campaign that works.
Ready to get started?
What Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is an approach to social media marketing that involves working with well-known influencers to endorse your brand, products, or services. By working with these people who have a large number of followers, you can reach a wider audience, increase your brand awareness and earn the trust of your target audience.
It’s important to understand that you need to carefully choose influencers who are naturally related to your company, products or services. This will make it easier for their followers to trust their endorsements.
Why Use Influencer Marketing?
In recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of brands using influencer marketing to promote their products and services. This is a result of years of evidence showing that trust is a key factor in purchasing decisions. Influencers have it. They have thousands of followers who trust their ideas, recommendations and opinions. The 2024 State of Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report proves it:
- The influencer marketing industry will grow to approximately $24 billion by the end of 2024.
- 60% intend to increase their influencer marketing budget in 2024.
- Nearly 1/4 of respondents intend to spend more than 40% of their total marketing budget on influencer campaigns.
- There is a strong preference for working with small (nano – 44% and micro – 26%) influencers over expensive macro influencers (17%) and celebrities (13%).
- Companies have decided to pay influencers (41%) instead of just giving them a free product (31%).
- TikTok (used by 69% of brands using influencer marketing) is the most popular influencer marketing channel, ahead of Instagram (47%), YouTube (33%) and Facebook (28%).
In other words, working with influencer marketing opens the doors to a number of benefits, including
- Exposing your brand to a wider audience.
- Precise targeting.
- Increase your chances of converting those exposed to your brand.
- Building trust with your target.
How To Work with Influencers?
Working with influencers is a slow and strategic process. First, you need to understand what you want to achieve with this campaign and then decide who will help you achieve those goals. Later we will explain how to set your goals. But as you embark on this adventure, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:
- You always want to work with influencers who are aligned with your brand’s message. It’s important to avoid working with someone who reflects poorly on your company.
- The number of followers doesn’t matter. What matters is their level of influence and the relationships they have with the people who trust them. A large following does not necessarily mean large conversion numbers. Trust does.
- Take the time to carefully research each influencer you consider. Look at the posts they make, the way they interact with their followers, and the brands they’ve worked with. Check out their commitment and make sure it aligns with your values and goals.
- Look for ways that both you and the influencer can benefit from this relationship and agreement. This will make it more attractive for them to open up their channels and promote your brand and products.
Not every influencer will work for every brand. You need to carefully decide what type of influencer you want to work with, so you can narrow down your options and reach out to those that better align with your brand.
Types of Social Media Influencers
When choosing the influencers you want to work with, keep in mind that there are different types based on the number of followers. Today, it is more common for brands to partner with nano- and micro-influencers because their followers respond to a niche and tend to have high levels of trust and engagement.
- Nano influencers: Their followers range from 1,000 to 10,000, making it easy for them to consistently engage with their audience. Nano influencers content tends to be organic and focused on a specific niche.
- Micro-influencers: They have between 10,000 and 100,000 followers. Like nano-influencers, they have high engagement rates and share content related to a specific niche.
- Macro influencers: They have between 100,000 and 1 million followers. While their reach tends to be larger, they have lower engagement rates. This category includes social media stars such as bloggers, podcasters, vloggers, and more.
- Mega influencers: Over 1 million followers. Here you will find celebrities, up-and-comers, thought leaders, and others who have a level of popularity in both the online and real world.
Which would work best for your marketing strategy? Most likely, an influencer marketing agency can help you find out.
Top Influencer Marketing Platforms
As you prepare to research influencers for your brand, you’ll want to be specific about which social media platforms you want to conduct these efforts on. Today, most companies choose to work with influencers on Tiktok, Instagram, and YouTube. But does your target audience spend time on any of these platforms? Where does your ideal customer spend the most time? Which platform do they use the most? Where do they engage with influencers? The answers to these questions will quickly help you understand where to look for your next social media influencers.
How to Hire Influencers
Once you know the type of influencer you want to work with and the social media platform you want to use, it will be much easier to filter who to partner with. At this point, you should be ready to sell them on the idea of promoting your brand, products and services within their content.
This process is not mandatory.
There will be influencers who need to be convinced that this is actually a good idea. You can either choose to work with an influencer marketing agency that will handle this entire process or you can do it yourself. If you choose to do it in house, you need to be prepared:
- Reach out to every social media influencer on your list and start a conversation. You want to learn about their past experiences working with brands, their engagement rates, and even how they create content. Pay close attention to what they say; it will be filled with clues about their values and how they work. Information that will make it easier for you to understand if you want to partner with them and if they are interested in your brand.
- If they are a good fit, you will need to present them with an initial proposal. Be specific about your brand’s needs and how this relationship will be a win-win for both parties. Be clear about your expectations, your budget, your level of control and their creative boundaries.
- If the social media influencers agree, it’s time to put everything in writing and sign a contract. Check with your legal team and ask them to include the social media platforms to be used, details of the campaign, fees, payment terms, content rights and confidentiality terms.
- As you get ready to launch, make sure both parties are on the same page about goals, KPIs, tools, messaging and any additional details.
Influencer Marketing Examples
It’s always a good idea to see what other brands have done with influencers. Take a look at what your competitors have done and who they have worked with. Go beyond your industry and see how big, well-known brands are using influencers. Use this information as a source of inspiration to create a campaign that will provide a great return on investment and increase your brand awareness.
Some great examples of influencer marketing include:
- Fiji Water partnered with fitness influencer Danielle Bernstein to promote their water. After seeing the success and people feeling encouraged to post their own pictures of themselves drinking the brand’s product on social media, the brand decided to increase influencer collaborations and has been actively working with her for years.
- Burger King launched a Tiktok influencer campaign with creators Loren Gray, Avani Gregg and Nathan Davis. They posted videos of themselves doing the #WhopperDance and encouraged their followers to do the same. The brand garnered over 47 million views on the hashtag, proving that marketing campaigns don’t have to sell a product, but rather make the audience feel connected.
- In an effort to promote skin care, La-Roche Posay partnered with influencers like Jae Gurley and invited them to use a skin scanning machine that looks for sun damage. Their experiences were recorded at the US Open and shared on their social networks. This interactive approach to influencer marketing proved effective.
Steps to Creating an Influencer Marketing Strategy
For influencer collaboration to work, it needs to follow a strategy. One that defines goals, KPIs, tone of voice, messaging, etc. This process involves a number of details that need to be carefully considered. So before you start, take the time to consider whether you want to handle everything in-house or if it’s smarter to work with an influencer marketing agency. Both options come with their own set of benefits and challenges, and it’s up to you to decide which is best for your business.
Working with your in-house team gives you more control over everything (from selecting the influencers you want to work with to negotiating their contracts and briefing them). An influencer marketing agency is already in contact with large databases of influencers, making it easier for you to start conversations and negotiations with them. They also have the experience to create contracts, briefs and monitor results.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the different steps you’ll need to take to set up an influencer collaboration with your brand.
Identify your Goals
The first step in this process is to determine your campaign goals. What do you want to achieve with these partnerships? Some common goals for influencer marketing include
- Reach new audiences and increase brand awareness.
- Generate more user-generated content.
- Drive reviews and social proof,
- Generate more targeted leads.
- Increase customer retention.
- Increase user engagement with your brand.
Setting clear goals makes it easier to understand the types of influencers you need to work with and the messages you want them to deliver.
Determine your Audience
Then you need to specify who you want to reach. Think about who your ideal customer is, their pain points, their goals. Research their online behavior. Look at the social media platforms they use and the influencers they trust.
Once you have these answers, you can more clearly determine where (Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, X, etc.) you want to launch this campaign and who the right influencers are.
Create a Budget
Take the time to understand how much money you can spend on influencer marketing. This information is key to understanding if you can afford the costsof these partnerships and negotiating to your advantage.
To learn more about the costs associated with influencer marketing campaigns, please read our article “This is the real cost of influencer marketing (with examples and rates)”.
Find the Best Influencers
At this point, you already know who you want to target, what platform you want to work on, what your budget is, and what you want to accomplish. Now it’s time to start looking for the social media influencers who can help you.
Take a look at how many followers they have. But pay more attention to their engagement levels. Do they respond to comments and questions? Are they encouraging users to engage? What kind of content do they post? Is it related to a particular niche?
The goal of this research is to understand if the influencers are naturally related to your brand and if they will help you reach your target audience. Once you know who you want to work with, it’s time to reach out, get to know them, and negotiate. Remember, you need to brief them and set clear guidelines, but you also need to allow them to be creative and have their posts look natural in their feeds.
To learn more about finding relevant influencers, read our article “How to Find Micro-Influencers? Using Smaller Social Media Followings to Reach Niche Audiences”.
Track Metrics and Optimize your Influencer Campaigns
Once your new partnerships are in place, you need to closely monitor and track results. Your KPIs need to be aligned with your goals, but you should be looking at traffic, conversions, engagement, brand awareness, sentiment, audience growth and ROI.
You can use the platform’s analytics tools and Google Analytics to track results. Remember, it’s worth the effort because it gives you a clear understanding of what’s working and what’s not, so you can make the necessary changes in time to be successful.
Influencer Marketing Guide: What to Avoid
Managing brand influencer relationships is something that needs to be done with a high level of attention and detail. In fact, it’s common for brands to make the same mistakes over and over again. Here’s a list of the most common ones so you can avoid them at all costs.
Working Without A Goal and KPIs
Many marketers do not take the time to determine their influencer marketing goal. Not only does this make their job harder, but it doesn’t allow them to determine specific KPIs and understand if the influencers posts are actually helping the brand. Think of your goal as the compass that guides all of your efforts.
Prioritizing the Number of Followers
Another big mistake is to prioritize followers over any other indicator. The truth is that mega-influencers have huge follower counts, but what level of influence do they have? Brands have come to understand that nano and micro influencers may have lower follower counts, but they have a huge impact because they are highly trusted.
Before choosing one influencer or another, take the time to carefully review who follows them and how many interactions they get on every post.
Working With the Wrong Influencer
The key to a successful influencer marketing strategy is partnering with someone who represents your values, mission and vision. Someone who is naturally inclined towards your product or service. Someone who represents your brand. Don’t just pick someone because they’re big on social media.
Not Briefing your Brand Influencer
Every influencer you work with needs to be briefed on the campaign you are running. Share the goals, tone of voice, and key messages. Give them enough information about the product or service they will be promoting. Allow them to try it out. The more information they have, the easier it will be to create authentic and engaging content.
Lack of Trust in your Influencers’ Creativity
Finally, you need to leave room for your influencer’s creativity. Allow their content creation process, let them feel free in what they post. You can review the pieces before they share them on social media, but authenticity is key here. You want their paid partnership posts to look natural in their feed, not like something created by your marketing team.
Working with an Influencer Marketing Agency
As you prepare to work with influencers, we encourage you to consider using an influencer marketing agency. Not only will it help you save time and focus on other key areas of your business, but it will also come with several benefits, including access to
- A team experienced in finding, negotiating, hiring, briefing and monitoring the work of influencers.
- Extensive databases of influencers by industry and niche.
- Expertise in planning, measuring and tracking results.
- Experience in creating detailed briefs to ensure influencers are on the same page as you.
- Full monitoring of messages, posts and schedules.
- The tools you need to find, engage, retain and monitor influencers.
Our list of the top 100 influencer marketing agencies is a great place to start looking for the right partner.
Key takeaways
- Influencer marketing is a strategy that involves working with popular social media creators to promote a brand, product, or service.
- The key to successful influencer marketing is choosing influencers who align with your brand’s values and target audience.
- The benefits of influencer marketing include increased brand awareness, targeted outreach, improved conversions, and enhanced trust.
- Create an Influencer Marketing Strategy:
- Define goals: Clearly outline what you want to accomplish with the campaign.
- Understand your audience: Identify your audience’s demographics, interests, and online behavior.
- Set a budget: Allocate a budget based on your goals and the costs associated with influencer marketing.
- Find the right influencers: Research influencers that align with your brand and target audience.
- Track metrics: Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure campaign effectiveness.
- Optimize: Continuously analyze and refine your strategy based on performance data.
- Overall, influencer marketing is a powerful way to increase brand awareness, reach and engagement. By following these guidelines and avoiding common pitfalls, you can effectively implement an influencer marketing strategy that delivers results.
Conclusion
As long as social networks exist, so will influencer marketing. This may change over time, but the fact is that it gives brands the opportunity to expose themselves to a larger audience that may be interested in their products and services. What makes it even better is that it captures people’s attention through creativity and authenticity.
If you haven’t considered this as part of your 2025 marketing strategy, it’s time to give it some serious thought. Influencer content is the perfect way to increase brand awareness, engagement, conversions and sales.
