When you run a business, social media influencers can be your best friend. These people tend to have very large social media followings and tend to hold a lot of power over purchasing decisions. A post from an influencer that features your product or service could see hundreds of new customers flocking to your business as they see what the influencer is using and get inspired by it. In order to work successfully with influencers, conducting influencer outreach is a must. Here are some ideas to try to help you get in touch with influencers like a pro.
Set Clear Goals and Objectives:
Most importantly when putting together your influencer outreach strategy should be to come up with goals that are clearly defined, realistic, and achievable. For example, you might want to set a goal to reach a certain number of influencers and then take it from there in terms of setting goals your content reach, traffic generated and the number of leads or conversions produced based on the influencers who you connect with.
Show Your Human Side:
Social media influencers are so often used in marketing today that it’s easy to forget that there’s a human being behind the profile. At the end of the day, influencers are people, so spend some time getting to know them and crafting tailored messages when getting in touch with them rather than sending a generic ‘copy and paste’ email. Take the time to follow them on social media, read their content, and get to know more about what they do, and understand their niche.
Offer Support:
An influencer is going to be unlikely to want to work with you if you’re completely unsupportive or barely notice what they do. The best way to reach out to and start building a relationship with an influencer is in a supportive manner. Like, share and comment on their content; show them rather than simply telling them that you think they would be a good fit for your brand and you like what they do.
Understand the Difference Between Influence and Audience:
Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that in order for an influencer to be successful, they need to have millions of followers – but that isn’t always the case. In fact, there are plenty of people who have lots of followers on social media but have no power when it comes to influencing their purchasing decisions. On the other hand, there are influencers with a smaller number of followers, but incredible power when it comes to advertising and encouraging them to spend their money with a certain brand.
Run Background Checks:
Finally, once you have identified some potential influencers that you have connected with and are receptive to promoting your brand, it’s a wise idea to run a background check to ensure that they are indeed the type of person that you want to be associated with your brand. Anybody can become a social media influencer these days and the last thing that you want is for your brand reputation to be damaged if you end up working with an influencer who has a criminal record that you were not aware of. Nuwber is an excellent resource to use; all you need to do is enter some basic information on an influencer like their name or telephone number to bring up criminal records.
Keep these tips in mind and you will be able to leverage the power of influencer marketing for your brand in no time.
