Social Media

Working with influencers can be incredibly beneficial for a brand. As a business owner and influencer, I’ve been on both sides of the coin. Over the last decade, through a lot of trial and error, I’ve learned the hard way how to get the most out of an influencer relationship with your company.

“I think influencer marketing is going to have a golden era of a decade. I think we’re at the beginning of it and I’m very fond of it.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

Here is the seven-step process I use when working with Influencers.

Get clear on who your ideal customer is.

This is something preached day in and day out in the world of marketing, but that’s because it is crucial to the success of a marketing campaign. If you’re going to work with someone else to promote your company, you want to make sure you really know who your audience is and who they know, like, and trust.

You’ll want to find an influencer who has the same or similar ideal customer as your company. The more crossover you and your dream influencer’s avatar have in common, the better the collaboration will perform.

Know what your goals are for the campaign.

Are you looking for a one-and-done deal to get the word out about your company? Or are you looking for a continued relationship?

Most of the time as a small business, you’ll be able to see better conversion rates when you focus on building relationships versus sending out a bunch of free products.

A blast campaign is better for bigger businesses with deeper pockets and large advertising budgets. If you’re smaller, it will make more sense to find people to work with on your own. This will cut out a lot of fees that you would have to pay an agency, and the relationship is more personal.

Don’t focus on follower numbers.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when looking for an influencer to partner with is only looking at a high follower count. Many people assume the more followers an influencer has, the more successful the collaboration will be. In my experience, the opposite is usually true.

There are plenty of accounts out there with a large following that has very little engagement and interaction.

Instead of focusing on how many followers an influencer has, look at how often their following comments, shares, or interacts with their account. Do they have a low amount of likes or interaction for how many followers they have?

An account with fewer followers that are dedicated is worth more than an account full of bots and people who are just there to watch from the sidelines.

For small businesses, the sweet spot is most likely partnering with micro-influencers: those with 10k-100k followers. Micro-influencers tend to have better engagement and a more active following than the internet-famous influencers you see everywhere.

If you’re just getting started, don’t discount nano influencers either. Nano influencers are categorized as those with under 10k followers. Everyone on Instagram has access to links now, so follower count is not as important as a dedicated audience.

Research, research, research.

Next, start looking at varied accounts to narrow down your search.

If you’re not sure where to start, ask your customers who they like to follow. One question I love to ask that usually sparks some great responses: “Who is an account you love to follow that you feel is underrated?” This will help you locate influencers that your audience loves (who are in that nano or micro-influencer range) who may be looking for opportunities to work with brands.

You can also search niche-specific hashtags that relate to your company to find additional potential influencers.

When you find an account, look at what their content style is, how often they have sponsored content, and the voice they use. Does the general feel of their page match your brand values?

Make sure who you choose to work with is a good fit for your business.

Start building relationships.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when working with influencers is to start cold-emailing or cold-messaging someone you want to work with.

As an influencer myself, I get anywhere from 5-10 of these pitches a day and I can tell you firsthand, they are immediately deleted.

Pick three to five influencers that you think would be a great fit and start following them. Leave thoughtful comments on their posts, share their content that your customers will relate to, and get to know them online.

Then, after a few weeks, if those comments and shares have warmed that relationship up a little, send them an email saying that you would love to work with them to gauge their interest.

It can literally be something as simple as “Hi _________, my name is ________ from _________. I’ve been following along with your Instagram account, and I think your account would be a great fit for my brand. I’d love to discuss how we can work together if you’re open to it.”

If your comments, shares, or interactions don’t get any response, it’s a good sign not to pursue that relationship.

Sweeten the deal.

Influencer marketing is a 10-billion-dollar industry as of 2021*, and it’s only going to continue to grow.

If you’re not looking to pay for posting in 2022 because you don’t have a budget, you’re not going to get very far. Even micro and nano influencers usually expect some form or payment to work together, and very few will work for a product exchange.

In addition to allocating a budget for influencer marketing, think of ways you can draw them in to work with you. Affiliate or incentive programs can go a long way in building continued relationships.

Don’t be afraid to try again.

You may be shocked when you reach out to someone and they ghost you or never respond. Maybe they’ll come back with a rate that’s not in your budget, or maybe their editorial calendar is full. This happens all the time. Don’t take it personally.

Don’t rush into an influencer relationship just because you feel like you need to. Wait until you find the right influencers to pair with.

Honestly, working with influencers is like dating – it’s going to take a while until you find the right one, but with each “date” or collab, you’ll learn something that you can take with you moving forward.

Conclusion

There is no “quick fix” to finding an influencer that will fit well with your brand. It takes time, research, and persistence. At the end of the day, influencer marketing can be very beneficial for your business – if you do it the right way.

Facebook Live is an incredibly powerful and engaging platform that marketers can use to share their brand stories in real time. With its simple yet effective broadcasting capabilities, it gives users the ability to reach a broad audience and build relationships with them. However, just like anything else worth mastering, there’s a plethora of tricks and techniques to get the most out of the platform.

For instance, you have to keep viewers engaged visually, which means moving the camera around and using other features to make the video look more interesting. Furthermore, Facebook is now factoring video engagement into their algorithm, so if you make a video that people interact with in meaningful ways — like turning on audio or going full-screen — your broadcast will be ranked higher in News Feeds. Ultimately, taking advantage of these capabilities will help you maximize the reach of your live streams.

When your own small to medium-sized business joins the growing ranks of Facebook Live corporate users, like Chevrolet, Disney, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Target, your streaming video will show up live as your friends, clients or followers scroll, and the recording will save automatically to your news feed, to be viewed or shared later. Even Santa used Facebook Live last Christmas, so viewers could track his holiday journey.

As an infinite number of words and images are vying for everyone’s online attention, Facebook Live video is winning with increased reach, visibility, and interaction in a fresh and exciting way. Here are 6 ways to create, share, and discover with Facebook Live using its proven and newest features:

Address blog comments and answer questions

Another way to use Facebook Live video for your business is to discuss a topic that your audience is interested in. For example, maybe you’ve written a blog post on a subject that you know your readers will have questions about. Sure, you can answer readers’ comments on your blog, but it’s much quicker (and more efficient) to schedule a Facebook Live video session where you can answer many of their questions at once. And it’s a whole lot more fun and involving because it encourages your fans to tune in for the live video session rather than wait for a replay. Answering questions this way positions you as a confident, knowledgeable, go-to resource. (Another tip: you can even turn proven, popular blog posts into live videos.)

To increase the likelihood of a higher relevancy score, encourage viewers to comment on your broadcast and make sure to respond to them. Not only will this promote more comments overall, but it’s also a great way to engage with your audience and make them feel part of the live experience. And if you take the time to mention commenters by name, they’ll be thrilled to be acknowledged!

Provide a peek behind the scenes

People love it when you pull back the curtain and provide a peek behind the scenes of your business. Give them a glimpse into the daily operations and processes you follow, show them what it really takes to run your company, let them see your office, or take them along while you’re on the go.

The purpose of taking them behind the scenes is to create a casual sense of intimacy so that they have the opportunity to begin to know, like, and trust you more.

Promote your upcoming event or live stream an event

One of the primary ways Facebook evaluates a post’s rank is by the amount of Likes and shares it receives. If your video post accumulates plenty of both, then it’s more likely to appear in people’s News Feeds. But while people are watching an online video, they may not be as inclined to Like or share it compared to a text- or photo-based post—something that Facebook identified early on and addressed by monitoring other engagement metrics such as volume.

Facebook Live is a great way to announce an upcoming event. Once you’ve planned the event, create a post to let fans know you have a special announcement to make. Then, share specific details about your event on your Live video. When announcing an event on Live video, be sure to have an easy-to-remember URL that you can share with your viewers. Post this link in the video comments as well, in case viewers don’t have a chance to write it down. You can use a tool like Bitly to create a URL that you can track. You can also use Facebook Live video to stream a live event and make viewers part of the experience.

Conduct Interviews

Interview people that your audience will want to learn more about or learn from, such as influencers in your field, professionals with expertise who work alongside yours, or even interview your clients. A good interview always reveals just as much about the interviewer as the interviewee, so use Facebook Live interviews to dive into some worthwhile topics, associate yourself with interesting people, show off your personality, and present yourself as relatable.

Introduce new products or services

Another way to use Facebook Live video is to give your fans a sneak peek of your products or services…maybe even before they’re announced on your website.

Want to tap into the growing audience for Facebook Live video…and increase your market reach? Simply give our social media experts a shout.

I’ve always been a little quirky. Tactful people describe me as imaginative and creative. The not-so-tactful ones say I’m one-of-a-kind, maybe even a little nutty. I’m not offended, because all those words make me unique, which is perfect for a writer. I know that if I am going to get and keep clients, I have to step up, stand out, and get noticed.

The same is true when using social media to promote your business. On Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Vimeo, Instagram, and others, you have to get noticed or you are wasting your time and money.

“Why spend your life trying to fit in, when you are born to stand out?” says Ziad K. Abdelnour, author of Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics. Standing out is how to tap into the growing number of social media outlets and use them to your advantage, as we’ve stressed time and time again on our blog.

Show that you care…and be sincere

Knowing what to share is critical if you want people to remember it and share it. “…you need good, fresh, and original content,” says Social Media Solution. “People follow companies that care about their interests. The most successful brands on social media are the ones who are transparent and authentic. Social media users are clever; they will figure out very quickly that you are only pretending if you are not sincere.”

Social media works by sharing small bits of information at a time. When you share this information you want people to remember it, and share it with their friends. For this to happen, you need good, fresh, and original content. Social media users strongly reject self-boasting and strong sales pitches.

People follow companies who care about their interests the # can be a valuable tool when you want to draw attention to a subject. If you are for example a study center, you can use the #studytip for tips and advice during exams.

The most successful brands on social media are the ones who are transparent and authentic. Social media users are clever; they will figure out very quickly that you are only pretending if you are not sincere. When your promises and your behavior do not give the same message, then you are seen as a fraud.

Content is the new advertising, find out what your customer wants. Your content should be original, never copied, and always current. Make sure that you check your spelling. Allow people to share your content from your blog or web page with share buttons. When people share your content, you look like the expert. Make sure your social media buttons on your landing page are clear and that you have a call to action on your page.

Carefully select your social media outlets

You’re using social media to build and reinforce your brand. So, don’t fall into the trap of trying to be seen on every single social media channel. If you do, you will lose control and spread yourself too thin. Staying up-to-date on too many media outlets is time-consuming, especially for a small business.

“Rather be great on 4 channels than be average on 10.”

Get and keep your competitive edge

Knowing how to use social media gives you a great advantage over your competition, Get Noticed Social Media tells us. Using social media to stand out and stay on top fills a void. When you fill that void first, you make it more difficult for other companies to jump in and get your target followers.

Post frequently

Keep your name in front of them with useful tips, information, and advice. Don’t let your followers forget who you are and what you do.

Stay engaged. “The more people know of your social media presence, the better results you’ll have,” says Petra Neiger.

Be humble

Regardless of its general form and purpose, one facet your social media campaign must include is habitual rapid, and professional response to all comments, inquiries, and reviews. This one aspect could prove the factor that spares your campaign total failure in lieu of resounding success. It’s especially essential that negative comments and reviews get your response. Ignoring complaints and suggestions could compromise your brand’s integrity in the eyes of your customers. However, a fast and proper response can actually make you look good, because it shows you care.

“Customers tend to be put off by posts that carry an arrogant or conceded tone, regardless of your company size. You must always remember that it is your customers who ultimately wield the most power in your relationship, not you. So, make sure you do your best to make sure they’re happy with you and can appreciate your posts.”

When working with social media and using it to promote your business, you must be prepared for any negative feedback that comes with it. Of course, you want your followers to post positive comments about you, but this isn’t going to always happen. You must be prepared to handle the negative ones as well. Don’t ignore it, but respond to it in a helpful way.

Respond to comments fast

Customers expect you to listen to them. They count on your rapid and professional response to all comments, inquiries, and reviews (especially negative ones!). A fast and proper response can actually make you look good because it shows you care. We recently detailed how best to be responsive.

Make it worth their time

Offer your social media followers exclusive deals, discounts, and coupon codes. This can actually raise your profits and give you additional sales. Plus, it keeps them coming back for more.

Promote your posts

Integrate your social media efforts into all of your content marketing. Mention it on your Home Page and in your blogs to maximize your social media presence. Even add social media feeds to your banners. And remember to include social media in traditional advertising, like newsletters, email campaigns, signatures, business cards, and even presentations.

Mention Facebook in your Tweets and your YouTube videos on Facebook. That kind of attention to detail will maximize your efforts.

Encourage sharing

Use social media bookmarks and sharing tools to enable people to share your page. StumbleUpon, Digg, and other tools like these can help you get the word out to more people.

“Be active,” recommends Petra Neiger. “Don’t just rely on other people bookmarking and sharing your content, have people on your team do the same to increase impact. You can add this feature to almost anything you do online—web page, blog, social media releases, etc.”

If you really want your social media to step up, stand out, and get noticed, talk to our marketing experts.