Influencer Marketing, Done Right.

Without doubt, influencer marketing is the next big buzzword for another form of marketing that already existed. It shouldn’t be as groundbreaking as the industry makes it out to be, its always been here. How people didn’t know that, blows my mind. It’s really just another form of PR. It’s far more sophisticated than PR but none the less, still PR.

“Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on using key leaders to drive your brand’s message to the larger market.”

So, it’s pretty much the process of building exposure and monetizing external audiences. That is what Tapinfluence is saying about influencer marketing.

Here’s the catch, though. It’s more than that, much more than that.

Influencer marketing based on modern reference is a basic level strategy of outbound outreach. Something that has been happening forever.

So why is influencer marketing becoming so popular?

It’s becoming popular because it’s another way for marketers to pitch a product. Influencer Marketing is high-cost service that requires minimal work. Well, it’s minimal work to do it wrong.

Marketers are known for incorporating new strategical concepts incorrectly, though. Look at inbound marketing. How many inbound agencies are there? It seems like every city has at least three. The fact is, inbound marketing was also nothing new. It’s also conducted poorly 75% of the time. Sure, it still provides results. It typically doesn’t provide results at a solid rate of efficiency, though. Due to low quality, misunderstanding, and lack of caring. Then again, that goes for really all types of buzzword marketing archetypes.

The fact is if you can provide value and you are strategic. Then you don’t need a buzzword. You need to show your value by providing value. Then again, what do I know. I am just a Savvy Hustler labeled as a Growth Strategist.

If you value your time though, I highly recommend taking my advice. I am going layout the true value proposition of influencer marketing. Then, I am going to teach how to build an influencer marketing strategy. Be warned, it does require actual work. You can’t just sign-up for Hubspot or Tapinfluence and succeed. Although, for those who do take my advice, you might learn that hard work yields big results.

Influencer Marketing is SEO 3.0

Think back to a time long ago. A time where the digital marketing world was being overrun with SEO. Do you remember why? Everyone was obsessed with SEO. Due to the potential value of grabbing the attention of Google’s search audience. Now let’s take a moment. Let’s think about this in a more abstract light. Google ranks pages based on relevancy, which was a concept that any good SEO pro had to know. Now, most of those searches that you are looking to obtain. Even longterm versions are occupied. Who are they occupied by?

INFLUENCERS!!!!!! DING DING DING!

Not all influencers are particularly authoritative on Google, although they are apparently authoritative somewhere. If they weren’t, why would you care about them? You are looking to monetize their audience, not become best friends. Influencer Marketing is the next level of marketing. All the hard work influencers have put into rank, is about to pay off. The influencer has become the next channel of monetization. It’s a big freaking deal how you build your relationship with them. If you start off taking the advice of the marketing scene, you will be sad in the long term.

Why though? It’s a major opportunity and it’s just now getting started and building traction.

Well, according to several Influencer Marketing authorities, you should bribe an influencer. Offer them money or product, or even an affiliate marketing opportunity. This is a terrible idea, just like sending out 5,000 sales email templates. I get it though; it’s the easiest way to convert an influencer. It seems straightforward and it is. I just hope you’re willing to pay for a limited time monetization method. Rather than a long term lucrative relationship.

Do us all a favor, don’t saturate and ruin another marketing channel.

Now, on to the important stuff. The value stuff. The stuff that 99% will ignore, because it’s too much “work”.

Step 1: Build A Relationship

Obvious right? Apparently not. Do not just blast potential influencers with email templates offering something like money. Influencers are people who actually care about quality and value. They also love their audience. Nobody wants to be the guy advertising penis enlargement pills to house moms, for fifty bucks a post. Get out of here with that mindset.

If you want to monetize a relationship, then you have to do it the right way. Your business needs to ask these questions.

1. Who is this influencer and what is their message.
2. What value can you provide to the influencer’s audience?
3. How many channels and followers on each channel does this influencer have to offer?
4. What types of content does the audience react to on each channel?
5. What content topics are most popular and how can you provide value to them?
6. On a scale of 1–10, based on the influencer’s audience what is the relevance to your product or service?

These six questions are a legitimate assessment of an influencer. It’s something that needs to be done to make a solid strategy. It’s all important; it covers the following areas.

1. Each influencer should be relevant to your brand’s message. Picking the wrong influencers will hurt your brand. Involve yourself with quality influencers that have quality audiences.
2. Understanding the value you can provide an influencer is essential for your brand. If your team cannot come up with a value proposition in the form of content, then you shouldn’t be a company.
3. Much like keyword analysis, analyzing an influencer’s channels is essential. You need to have an idea of the value each influencer has to offer, in order to take the time investing in them.
4. If you don’t understand how to create content that an audience enjoys, then you might as well buy ads. Study the audience. You will find new and creative ways to interact with your potential customers.
5. If you are writing content about something that isn’t relevant to your brand. Then you are wasting your time. That’s why understanding the relevance is so important. Learn how you can incorporate the conversational drivers of an audience into your message.
6. This part is so important on so many levels. Rating the relevance allows you to understand how frequently you would like to interact. If 6 out of 10 topics that drive conversation are relevant to you. Then that means you have 6 new conversational engagements you can optimize for.

TIPS:

• When analyzing the influencer’s channels, check to see if they allow guest posts.
• Understand how you can engage on social. If someone mentions a question or topic relevant to your brand, be prepared to add value to the conversation. Being present in a community drives trust and thought leadership.
• Social Media and Blogs are not the only channels! Check out sources such as Reddit, Quora, and Facebook Groups. Do not spam or try to sell people. You will be rejected.
• Each and every point of engagement with an influencer is important. Whether it be contributing content or commenting. These activities will pay you back with dividends. If you contribute value to the community.
• Prepare marketing funnels based on which archetype your influencer is relevant to. Creating a personalized journey for the influencer’s audience will increase trust and sharing.
• Retargeting is an amazing strategy to use with influencer marketing. Focus on retargeting the audience towards more content relevant to them. Do not promote products or downloads. It will convert, but it won’t convert nearly as many or as often.

The true value of influence marketing comes in the form of building awareness. Not every audience will convert immediately. Although, if you are truly providing value. Then they will be sure to refer or share your brand’s message with those who would.

Additional Benefits:

1. SEO: Since your brand will be contributing to new sources, as well as appearing all over social. You will be building strong off-page SEO benefits. You will also gain social signals.
2. Brand Building: If your influencer is relevant, and you did things right. Then you can expect to see your brand pop up in conversation all over the web. You can also expect a healthy source of traffic from new referral sources.
3. Influencer Relationships: Once you have added value to an influencer’s audience. The influencer’s themselves become more loyal and appreciative to be involved with you. Make sure to offer them value by being part of your content journey. Sharing is caring, just incase you missed that in the last 10 years. Influencer’s who you treat well will be willing to be involved. This means more new customers and more value.

The more your brand is mentioned or referred organically. The more likely you are to breakout in your industry. Good luck guys, I hope you enjoyed the post. Start implementing Influencer Marketing before everyone else ruins it!

This article was brought to you by Daniel Snell at Growth Latte! If you have any topic requests, just let me know, i’m more than happy to share what I know!