The year 2021 was all about influencers. From Peloton instructors launching mainstream personal brands to TikTok and YouTube stars taking over the Met Gala red carpet, influencers were everywhere we looked.
With that came a mountain of questions from ecommerce marketers: How do you measure the effectiveness of an influencer campaign? How do you partner with an influencer? What are some of the most important influencer marketing strategies?
If your face resembles the math lady meme every time you open TikTok, don’t worry — we’re here to provide a quick summary of influencer marketing, plus how to get started.
Screen for quality. The success of your influencer campaign boils down to this: High-quality influencers attract high-quality followers. To ensure you’re partnering with the right influencers, do your research and ask the right questions — don’t simply base your partnership off the number of followers they have!
Stodgy content doesn’t convert. Influencers are all about engagement, which means your content needs to be relatable and shareable. Consider partnering with an influencer to launch a hashtag campaign, challenge, competition, or even a sponsored product collection.
Be creative with your payment structure. For example, if you have a limited budget, consider launching an affiliate program to incentivize your influencers to invest more deeply in the success of your brand.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Instead, cover all your bases by engaging with multiple influencers and posting on different platforms. Even better, repurpose your influencers’ content for your website, emails, and ads — word-of-mouth marketing is king.
Form personal relationships with your influencers — after all, they’re going to be the face of your brand. To keep them happy, consider offering them complimentary products or experiences and rewarding them for reaching certain KPI milestones (e.g., a certain number of clicks for a particular sales event).
Last updated on January 11th, 2022.