In the world of business, marketing has become synonymous with sales and Influencer Marketing. Have you ever wondered whether or not your Influencer Marketing campaign is set up correctly? Everything that a company puts out for the public to see has an expected return on investment (ROI) one way or another. The challenging part of marketing is how to keep up with the ever-evolving market. The last decade witnessed the evolution of marketing from traditional advertising to e-commerce, all thanks to social media and the power of Influencer Marketing. 


Many businesses have done away with the conventional way of promoting their products and services. Instead, they have embraced the inclination of consumers to be more online savvy. Companies collaborate with social media influencers—those who have built a following through their online creation—in promoting their brands, products, and services. Whether you’re dipping your toes or making the huge plunge into Influencer Marketing, we’re going to share simple ways to make sure your Influencer Marketing campaign is set up correctly.

influencer marketing campaign is set up correctly

4 Things To Consider When Making Sure Your Influencer Marketing Campaign is Set Up Correctly

With social media taking up a huge chunk of an average person’s daily routine, it is a no-brainer that almost 74 percent of consumers trust what they see online when making a purchase. The marketing trend for the past five years aims to build strong market relationships to increase brand awareness and loyalty, which can be greatly achieved with the help of Influencer Marketing. Most brands, big or small, steer their campaigns to social media right away believing that it will give them the instant ROI they wish to achieve. 

If you are a brand owner and are seriously considering going the Influencer Marketing route, then here is a guide you need to reference to make sure your brand is Influencer Marketing-ready.

1.) Make sure you have a product or service.

Any business begins with a product. Whether it is a physical item or a service, it should be something of value to the market. Having the actual product determines the next steps for your online campaign. Remember, you can’t expect your campaign to create magic for your brand. A product—whether it’s a material product or service—will allow influencers to experience it first-hand. The experience with the product will help the influencers share authentic, genuine content when helping to spread the word about the product and/or service.

2.) Create an online presence.

Kicking off your online marketing strategy means customers are able to connect somewhere—it could be a website or a social media page. It does not necessarily mean a platform with massive exposure already, but one with quality content is a first step and a nice way to make a great first impression.

3.) Identify the right partnerships.

Do you know what type of influencers you want to partner with on upcoming campaigns? Whether you’re a small business or large corporation, you want influencers representing the brand who align with the product, service, and image. If you’re a small business candlemaker that provides a wholesome product, you’ll want to stay on-brand and work with influencers who have a wholesome image. If you’re a large corporation that is slightly edgy, then you’ll want to find influencers who have an edge to their look and feel on social media. Find influencers who have the same vibe as the brand to make the content authentic and genuine. Let’s face it, genuine content results in higher engagement.

You can blindly choose influencers based on their followers and engagement. That’s always an option. But, to really achieve high ROI, you’ll want to dig deeper and find influencers who truly represent the look and feel of your brand. In doing so, the content the influencer produces will be authentic since the brand fits the influencer’s lifestyle and image. The last thing you want to do is simply work with an influencer who has a high reach but doesn’t match your product or service. That mismatch can possibly do more harm than good and waste both time and money. Instead, working with the right influencers (maybe even influencers who have lower reach) will help you reach your desired audience in a more effective approach.

It’s important to keep in mind that influencers are creative people who can develop a positive, trustworthy image of your brand. With hundreds of thousands of influencers ready and willing to partner with you, it’s extremely important to find the right influencers for your brand. Here are simple tips to help you identify the right influencers for your brand.

4.) Create your package.

Just like any form of marketing strategy, taking your campaign online also means carving out some of your budget to hit a homerun. ExpertMarket reported that small businesses spend 10%-20% of their revenue on marketing alone. 

Influencer Marketing is a process that you need to integrate into your brand’s overall social marketing strategy. If you have the budget to engage influencers who produce excellent content and prove substantial revenue to market your brand, then go for it! Here are simple ways to know whether or not it’s the right time to use Influencer Marketing.

Crafting campaigns may get your creative juices flowing, but without focusing on results for your next sure-to-be-award-winning campaign, you’re not likely to improve your company’s bottom line. So, how can you maximize creativity while adhering to strategy and following a process? 

Initial Steps to Make Sure Your Influencer Marketing Campaign is Set Up Correctly

Once your brand has established the basic requirements, you may begin to create your online marketing strategy. To make sure your Influencer Marketing campaign is set up correctly, here are some steps you need to check.

1.) Set your goal.

The intention for your campaign should be clear. Do you want to reach a new audience, develop a strong relationship with your current market, or increase your brand awareness or sales? Understanding your end goal makes the process a lot easier and will allow your brand to send your pitch clearly and efficiently. 

2.) Find your target audience.

Different brands cater to different markets. Knowing your current market demographics will give you an idea of how to connect with them. You will then have a better understanding of your market’s interest and preferences and, most likely, the people they follow online or the websites they frequently visit.

3.) Identify your influencer(s).

Proper alignment and partnerships are key. As a brand, you need to find and partner with influencers who have the same niche as yours since they are experts already in promoting and advertising your brand or similar brands. Did you know that 44 percent of influencers will most likely partner with a brand if the opportunity is relevant to their audience? #IYKYK

4.) Outline your content.

Brands have a choice whether to co-create the content they want their influencer to publish or give that freedom to the influencers. Just be mindful that trust plays a vital role in this partnership. Before the campaign starts, you need to create an Influencer Contract that clearly outlines the requirements and expectations. No brand wants to waste money and opportunity out of this strategy. Keep in mind that influencers are creative people. When working with brands, they prefer to have creative freedom since they know what will work for their audience. Crowdtap reported that most influencers prefer to collaborate with those that give them creative freedom which means your brand exposure is really targeted to the right audience.

5.) Monitor your campaign.

Have you ever been tempted to jump ahead and brainstorm Influencer Marketing campaign activation ideas before tackling the upfront planning steps? If you have, who could blame you? Talking tactics is a much sexier albeit distracting first step than getting on the same page about goals, budget, and metrics.

What sets apart one agency or brand (or team member, if you’re managing Influencer Marketing in-house), from the next is its (or your) ability to develop quality content (e.g., blog, video, or social media posts) and events that drive measurable results. So, focusing first on critical components like metrics is the key to developing results-oriented campaigns. A viral video and ROI? What’s not to love?

The number 1 reason to put metrics right at the top of your campaign planning meeting agenda is because they prove ROI. In a nutshell, to get a budget for Influencer Marketing campaigns, agencies and brands need to prove that activations lead to sales. But, proving sales is difficult. Therefore, secondary ROI is great to track and report on: impressions, reach, engagement, website traffic, open and click-through rates, subscriptions, sign ups, testimonials, referrals, user-generated content, video views, and more. Metrics reports are the place to highlight that ROI.

Keep a close eye on how your campaign is doing so you can make necessary adjustments along the way. You also need to stay in touch with your influencers, especially when your campaign has been released since inquiries and feedback from the audience are expected at this stage. It is crucial that you remain on top of your campaign despite partnering with an influencer so you can see whether you are driving the results you are expecting. 

6.) Track your results.

As you set up your online campaign, you also signed up to monitor it. Releasing your campaign online is not enough to measure your success. Quantify your result based on the goal you determined early on. You can track your performance based on actual reach, impressions, sign-ups, downloads, or sales. 

In Influencer Marketing, numbers matter because they tell you how much you have achieved or how far away you are from your campaign objectives. Capturing both quantitative and qualitative data in metrics reports shows a campaign’s success. A successful metrics report answers these questions for your business:

  • What did my business gain by investing in this campaign or campaign activation?
  • Where and how, specifically, did the campaign help my business move the needle toward important objectives? (ROI)
  • What were my business’s losses, if any?
  • Where and how were the losses acquired?
  • Which area is my business the strongest or in which area are we excelling?
  • Who is my target  market?
  • What activation types most help my target demographic engage?
  • How will I proceed from here?

Wrap It All Up

Today’s global market is becoming more consumer-driven and competitive which can make it difficult to reach high ROI. Businesses do not only focus on attracting new customers, but also converting them into loyal ones. Conventional advertising methods (e.g., TV commercials and print ads) are not enough to achieve these goals.

Based on recent studies, 90 percent of people trust what they see online, especially if it’s from the influencers. What does this mean? Consumers rely heavily on human connection and relationships, even from those they don’t know personally.

If you decide to go the Influencer Marketing route, what is one way to help you reach high ROI? You need to make sure your Influencer Marketing campaign is set up correctly. You’ll want to start connecting and working with influencers. Let’s face it, Influencer Marketing is the “new normal” when it comes to spreading a brand’s message and creating awareness. However, many still question whether it can really drive ROI. With no signs of slowing down, Influencer Marketing will continue to grow every year.

Recently, it was shared that 89 percent of marketers think that Influencer Marketing is highly effective, but you won’t reap the benefits overnight. Influencer Marketing may be effective when done right, but it still requires patience and consistent effort.

As a brand, these guidelines will help you keep on track and get favorable results:

  1. Make sure you have a product or service.
  2. Create an online presence.
  3. Identify the right partnerships.
  4. Set a budget and create your package.

The moment you decide to take your brand online and embark in an Influencer Marketing campaign, you need to make sure your Influencer Marketing campaign is set up correctly. 

Sources

80% of marketers find influencer marketing effective
10 Ways To Have Engaging Influencer Marketing Content
How Long Does It Take to See Influencer Marketing Results?
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