A new decade is approaching, and influencer marketing is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. If you are still hesitant to learn about this growing industry, you are not alone. But, with 89% of marketers seeing ROI from influencer marketing as comparable to (or better than) other marketing channels, 2020 might be the year you want to start.

When creating an influencer strategy, you must first identify who will be the best fit for your audience, what new content you would like to see for your own marketing, and where your brand’s followers are most likely to consume sponsored content.

Once you have identified the who, what, and where of your strategy, it’s time to start looking for the actual influencers. Now the question becomes how can you go about this in the most efficient way? Influencer marketing platforms like AspireIQ and NeoReach can be very expensive and, thus, land somewhere outside of your marketing budget. Lucky for you, this can all be done on your own; without a platform.

Search for influencers

• What is your brand’s niche and what audience will be likely to consume your content? Jot down a list of 5 to 10 keywords that are relevant to your brand and enter them into the search bar on any given social platform. From here, browse through the top-performing posts and note potential fits.
• Are other companies in your niche (i.e. healthcare) utilizing influencer marketing as a strategy? Search for them and look at who is tagging them, engaging with their posts, and following them. There may be influencers interested in their content that may be interested in yours as well!
• Visit PR, Marketing, and Influencer agency accounts to see who they are following. Most of the time, much of their community (both following and followers) will be made up of influencers who are interested in working with brands.

Confirm the influencer is a good fit

How can you confirm that this influencer is a match for your campaign? This is one of the most difficult aspects of an ever-growing industry. There are several tools available to help you weed out who is and is not authentic.

1. Influencer Marketing Hub Instagram Audit Tool
2. IG Audit by Authentique
3. Upfluence Software Chrome Plugin

From follower counts and engagement rates to the nitty-gritty demographics, all these tools will provide you with useful information for your influencer marketing strategy.

Pull your list together and begin outreach

Once you have a list to start off with, decide what type of campaign you want to run. Many larger influencers look for compensation – are you open to both gifted and paid campaigns? If you are, great! If you don’t have the resources in the marketing budget, you can put a heavier focus on nano and micro-influencers who would be open to partnering with you on an unpaid basis.

A few pointers for outreach:

1. Engage with a few of their posts before sending a message
2. If their email is not listed, private message them on their active social platform
3. Send an email introducing yourself and with a clear offer
4. Always be considerate of their time, as they should yours

For an idea of what you can offer influencers for paid campaigns, plug their information into one of Influencer Marketing Hub’s sponsored post calculators. They have them available for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

* Influencer statistics pulled from Big Commerce.

Final

Once your campaign is in the works, be clear about what deliverables you will need to see. Send a contract that outlines your expectations for content and with a clear agreement, so the end result is what you originally agreed upon.

Things to ask for:

1. Performance metrics from their posts
2. A copy of the image/video to use on your page
3. Permission to repost their material
4. A clear timeline on when content should be posted
5. Any obvious things to avoid (i.e. competitor logos, colors, etc.)

Look out for more tips and tricks on influencer marketing, social media and public relations topics here on the Solomon McCown &Then Some blog!