Photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash

An influencer is defined as an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience.

Influencer Marketing is all the buzz these days, but it is right for your business? First, let’s start with What It Is. Influencer Marketing is a way to get your brand, product, or service in front of the masses by connecting with others that have large online and offline followings and paying them to endorse or talk about your business.

This concept really isn’t anything new. Radio personalities and celebrities have been doing this for years, but what makes it so prevalent now is the sheer number of “influencers”, or people with large platforms, that are available to just about any sized business and any audience you can think of.

For most businesses, unless you are a national brand, getting someone like Matthew McConaughey to endorse or promote your product is too rich for your marketing budget. But, most businesses can afford to use Local Influencers. A local influencer, depending on the size of the city you live in, could be anyone from a radio host, tv personality, local sports celebrity, blogger, cable access show host, politician, or even another business owner. Really, anyone with a large following of people that meet the demographics of your ideal client.

Here are some ways to work with local influencers to grow your brand and business:

• Ask if you can write a guest blog post on their site, with a link back to your own site
• Interviewing the influencer for a blog post on your own site, and asking them to share a link to the interview with their audience
• Asking an influencer to review your product in a blog or a video
• Asking an influencer to feature your offerings in a tutorial
• Asking an influencer to use and endorse your product or service

Before you can make these requests though, the first step is to connect with influencers that can help your business and build a relationship with them. This part will probably take the most time and effort. But here are some things to think about:

• Identify the goals you hope to achieve by working with influencers. Do you want more phone calls? Website visits? More brand awareness? Once you have this figured out, you can do some research to find the local influencers that you think can help you achieve those goals.
• Figure out your budget. Some influencers will charge as little as $20 for a guest blog post while others charge $350 or more for a Facebook Live video to talk about your product or service. It is up to you to figure out what you can, and are willing, to spend to reach your target audience. DO NOT ask Influencers to promote you for free. Just like you, this is part of their business, and you don’t work for free, so don’t ask them to.
• Build a relationship with your chosen influencer. Follow their blogs, radio shows, tv appearances, comment on their social media posts, etc. Get to know them and how they interact with their followers. This will help you in the next step.
• Once an influencer has agreed to work with you, help them plan their content. They know best how to engage with their audience. You know your product or service better than anyone else. By joining forces to plan out your messaging, your influencer marketing campaign will have a higher likelihood of success.
• Lastly, track and monitor all leads and sales that can be attributed to your influencer campaign, and share that information. Influencers are just like everyone else, they want to know that they are doing a good job for their clients, and in turn, you want to know that you are getting a solid ROI.

If Influencer Marketing is something that interests you either for your business or as an influencer, feel free to contact me and we can chat more. I have several friends and connections that are Influencers in various cities around the world and I would be more than happy to make a connection for you. I would also welcome the opportunity to work with your business to create your Influencers Marketing Campaigns or help with any other marketing strategy needs you may have.

Feel free to reply or leave your thoughts and comments below, and for those of you in the States, have a great 4th of July holiday! Stay safe out there.