Radostina Hristova as Radostna, stands out as a prominent figure in the realm of influencer & digital marketing.
Do you think working with influencers is expensive? That you can’t track the results and estimate the ROI? That is too risky for your business and brand?
Ok, let me argue about that, and I promise that at the end of this article, you will consider working with nano- (up to 10 000 followers) and micro-influencers (up to 100 000 followers). You will have a plan for exactly what is going to happen and how much money you are willing to spend on influencer marketing. And the most important thing for marketers – how to track the results!
Shopify conducted research at the end of 2023 and concluded that brands will spend $7.14 billion on influencer marketing in 2024; moreover, Shopify reported that businesses could expect to make $5.78 for every $1 spent. Data shows that over half of brands working with influencers have e-commerce stores. According to the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2024, there is a strong preference for working with small (nano, 44%, and micro, 26%) influencers ahead of expansive macro-influencers (17%) and celebrities (13%). The main purpose of running influencer campaigns is to create user-generated content (56%). Generating sales (23%) is a distant second.
But what does it mean for your business, and is this data gathered from respondents in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and North America relevant to the Balkan region?
We are part of the global influencer marketing trends, and even if there is a difference, it will be only the slightest one. We have used Instagram as our main influencer marketing channel, but as TikTok starts prevailing worldwide, the same is happening here. Nano- and micro-influencers are showing better engagement and results for online businesses, so we are working more with them. Tracking is very important, so we use tools, software, and tactics to be sure our spending on influencers is satisfying ROI.
Why Your Competitors Win with Influencers and You Don’t
Don’t worry. You can take advantage of your content creators with a 10-step strategy designed for impactful results in the next 3 to 6 months.
First, start working with an agency or hire a team that really knows influencer marketing, knows what motivates content creators, and knows how to make them work properly for your business. How to choose suitable profiles and define the budget based on expertise and expected ROI, not only on the price list of the influencers.
Second, align your marketing strategy with the content and the benefits from the influencers. Do you need better brand awareness, more content, a boost in your engagement on social media, more traffic to your website, and, of course, sales at the end? Define your needs clearly, and thus you will choose your influencers easily.
Third, you already have the best nano-, micro-, and macro-influencers ready to serve your goals. What should I do next? Be sure to prepare the best brief, contract, and deadlines so no surprises will pop up during the process.
Fourth, the content is ready; now what? Do you think one story in a 24-hour span is enough to reach your goals? Or a publication that will be seen for some days because a lot more are coming after it? No! Think about how you can use this content on your website, your newsletter, your paid ads on META, Google, or anywhere else you advertise. Do you want your influencers to live with your products and brand? Invite them to events such as expo, conferences, partner gatherings with you; give them a chance to become an organic part of your business.
Fifth, the campaign is over. Now what? It’s too late to measure the results if you weren’t prepared at the beginning. To give them UTM links, promo codes, or a special product to advertise that no one else is promoting at this moment. Thus, you can track the exact impact the influencer made on it. You can see the final results with statistics from social media channels or blogs they have published and match them with Google Analytics or your system that measures and tracks traffic and sales. I am sure you will notice at once which day an influencer has posted about the product.
Sixth, it’s not enough. Think about using influencers more and more; make them brand ambassadors. Design a special program for this purpose. Invite them to a special event. It might be a PR event, a trip to your factory, or a stay in a fancy hotel for a brief presentation. Just think about how to make your influencers friends with your company.
Seventh, have you thought about an affiliate program? Once you have paid your influencers for the content and promotion, why don’t you engage them to win more if they sell more of your products? The trick here is simple: send them free products, give them a motivating percent of the sale, be sure you have a person to take care of the plan and strategy of using influencers for your affiliate programme, and send them reminders, great ideas for content, different bonuses to motivate them additionally, and of course, more free products every month. The secret is to make influencers live with your brand at home, at the office, outside, and during their family vacations. Can you do that?
Eighth, the more you use influencers in your marketing strategy, the more benefits you will see. Put them in Viber, Telegram, or any other group; use them as validation power for your new products and ideas; give them a voice to guide you in your creative processes.
Ninth, one of the reasons to use nano- and micro-influencers, except for their lower prices, higher engagement rates, and various content for your brand, is the lower risk you take with them. The chance for celebrities and megastars to be part of a public scandal is bigger, so you have to think about crisis management. It’s good to have a guideline for working with influencers, no matter if they are super popular or not. Thus, you will be prepared to manage a PR problem if it appears during a campaign.
Tenth, the new technologies are here to help us, and the marketers know it very well. Use them smartly for better performance and brand awareness. Use them for better tracking and even for the content strategy with influencers.
Bonus: Be careful when you start working with influencers: check for fake followers, if they are participating in supporting groups, do they copy or steal content from their peers, do they really like your products and use them, what’s their social life offline, do they have causes they support, are they politically engaged and how do they react to hate speech, are they tolerant of specific groups of society, and do they proclaim ideas your brand is not supporting? Just do your homework.
Finally, 2024 is the year when nano- and micro-influencers will rule the game because their performance is great. Affiliate marketing is the direct way to increase your sales, and using influencers in it will only take half the time to get results faster.
So, are you convinced? What do you need to start working with nano- and micro-influencers right now?