Influencer Marketing: How to Develop a Successful Campaign

To continue last week’s discussion on influencer marketing, this week we’re talking all about the different compensational models, what is expected and how to manage influencers, and the key components of developing a winning campaign.

Compensation Methods

Now let’s talk about free product, discounts, and paid compensation models. So paid is better than free product. Free product is not really the best method anymore. A long time ago a lot of influencers would just take product but now they want product and to get paid. I don’t blame them. It takes a lot of time to hire a photographer and take photos for your Instagram. It’s literally a full-time job. So unless they’re totally in love with your brand and just want free product then paid compensation is the better method.

I have a couple of my influencers that we work with that simply just do free shout outs. If your page is at the same level as their page, they’re like I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine. So you both do a shout-out and we both get we want. That’s awesome. And that’s also why you need to have a really good Instagram following. I’m always preaching that. There are so many reasons and so many benefits to having a high following.

Should You Pay Them?

In my opinion, you need to pay an influencer. How much should you pay them? Well it can vary. I’ve seen posts as low as $7 and as high as $500. If you do a campaign, which is a longer type of engagement, it can cost thousands of dollars. Obviously you want to spend as little as possible while still getting results. But sometimes you have to spend a little bit more to get what you really want. It can be hard to tell if the higher price will be worth it. You really want to do some testing.

I also want to talk about discounts. Giving influencers a discount on a product in exchange for promoting it is more of a customer rewards type of program. This is not really influencer marketing. It’s kind of along the lines of the free product method. They love you and maybe they just want a discount so they can buy more of it. But typically real influencers just want to be paid. Or they want product and to be paid. Keep that in mind.

Types of Campaigns

There are over nine types of campaigns that you can do with an influencer. We talk about all this in our online course, PR like a boss. You can do campaigns that last a long time or only a couple of days. You can have links in bio for 24 hours or for multiple days. Or you can do stories. And what’s considered a story could be one single post or a multiple of 4 or 5 posts all together in a story. There’s IGTV and video posting.

It really just all depends on what you want. But I can tell you one thing, I expect that influencer if they are being paid and given free product, I expect them to agree to whatever the terms and contracts that we have set out. I expect them to post on the specific day and the specific time. And to follow all of our instructions very strictly. I’ve had influencers not post the right day and time. I’ve had influencers that forgot to put the link in their bio. It can be a nightmare, especially if you have a lot of influencers all promoting at the same time. This is why a lot of brands hire agencies.

Different Agreements

It’s normal to have a written agreement. I always have a written agreement with influencers. It doesn’t have to be something that you do with a lawyer. Just literally put it on a Google doc and write out the terms, what you’re going to post, at what times, etc. Include if pictures have to be approved 24 hours ahead of time. Keep in mind the less you’re paying for the post the less you can expect in return.

I’ve worked with a lot of agencies too. And I have had horrible experiences with working with other agencies. Some charge ridiculously expensive prices. And in the end, I have been so dissatisfied with the level of service. That’s why we’re now offering influencer marketing in our services. I’m all about offering affordable services for small startups and helping you succeed. You can’t succeed if you run out of money.

Allow us to do it for you so it’s not another thing on your plate to worry about. We will manage the entire thing. We’ll get the influencers, handle all the finance, and the whole scouting process. Then we’ll manage the entire campaign start to finish. And it’s super affordable. Anywhere from $275–$500 per influencer/post. That includes our fee too. That’s crazy. We don’t typically do influencer marketing services, we usually do mostly product placement. So you must have a product. You don’t always have to have inventory but you do have to have a product in order to do in influencer marketing.

Developing a Winning Influencer Marketing Campaign

1. Set Your Goals

What do you want out of the campaign? Is it gaining more followers? Or increasing traffic to your website? Gaining trust and credibility? Promoting a brand launch? That’s all awareness. You could have engagement as one of your goals. That would be like getting more email subscribers or more SMS text subscribers. Then the third type is just wanting straight up more sales. So figure out what your goal is first.

2. Figure Out How You’re Going to Quantify That Goal

Goals need to be measurable. Actually put numbers and time on your goals. That way you can measure them right. Be sure that when you’re doing this that you’re using tracking links, otherwise you won’t be able to track anything. You won’t have any stats at the end of the day. For example, how many emails do you want to have added to your email list by a certain date? How many sales do you want? How many testimonies do you want? And how many likes, comments, impressions? So quantify your goals so you can measure them.

3. Map Out Your Budget

Both time and money I consider to be part of your budget. Because time will run out. There are only 24 hours in a day, so you need to budget your time as well. Do you need to budget your time the same way that you budget your money? How much money can you actually allocate to influencer marketing on a monthly or yearly basis? How much inventory can you part with? You’re going to be giving free products to all these influencers. And then on the flip side, how much time do you actually dedicate to finding and forging relationships with these influencers? Do you need to hire an agency to do all this for you? Probably, because you’re already doing a thousand things. It’s hard to keep track of it all. Influencers are a headache, so let us handle the headache for you.

When is the Right Time to Start Influencer Marketing?

My answer is right now. You need to start influencer marketing right away, as long as you at least have samples. You don’t necessarily need inventory, although inventory is preferred. As long as you have samples, you can start your influencer marketing right now.

I would say that you should also have a decent Instagram page first. The first thing most influencers will do is check out your brand. They’re going to check it out on Instagram. So you need to have a decent-looking Instagram page. Otherwise, they’re going to be turned off and not want to put their name on your brand and promote you. I have a great online course if you’re not sure how to do that. It’s our Intelligent Instagram course. We also have amazing Instagram Services. So we can grow your following. We’re getting over a thousand followers per month right now in my own Fashion Angel Warrior Instagram page. And we also create amazing content for your Instagram. So set up a 20-minute call with us, it’s free if you’re interested in any of Instagram services.

When Should You Do It?

I also recommend that you don’t start influencer marketing until you have your Shop page launched and you’re ready to actually take orders. If you’re going to start with just samples, do a little bit of it but don’t start heavily doing it until you have product.

Again, the way you reach out to influencers is really important. If you don’t reach out to them the right way they may not want to work with you. They may think you’re trying to scam them or just offer them free product. This is another great reason why you should hire an agency to do it for you. We’re professionals and we’ve worked with plenty of influencers so we know exactly how to do it.

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