Whenever you hear the word “influencer”, what comes to mind? Big-time celebrities, the rich and famous, or the most popular people in your school days?All these people can be influencers, but let’s look at a more encompassing definition.
An influencer is someone who influences the outcome of things and the behaviour of other people. Yes, we know, how can we possibly use the word “influence” to explain the word, “influencer”? So let’s look at the word “influence”; the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself. (Source: Google)
At this point, it is easy to draw out what “Influencer Marketing” is – making use of influencers to create awareness or drive sales for your brand. Contrary to popular belief, this marketing strategy can be used by both big businesses and small businesses. In this blog post, we will be looking at how to incorporate influencer marketing into your marketing strategy as a small business owner.
As a small business, working on a lean budget with limited personnel, if you are going to collaborate with an influencer to drive awareness and ultimately sales for your business, here are the most important things to consider:
BRAND IDENTITY MATCH
Your brand identity goes beyond your branding elements like logos, colours, fonts, etc. This refers to the very essence of your brand – your values, motivations, tone and so on. Does the influencer embody the essence of your brand? When people think of them, can they easily relate their lifestyle and mannerisms to your brand or will it be a very contradictory partnership? For example, if at all possible, having the Pope as an influencer for an alcoholic brand. Anyone who can pull that off will get a lot of attention but for the sake of the topic on hand, that will not be a very good influencer marketing collaboration.
YOUR GOALS
You need to be clear on your business goals in order to communicate effectively with the influencer. Do you want to just create brand awareness because you are new in your industry? Or do you want your small business to be seen as the go-to brand for your products/services? Or are you trying to make quick and massive sales? Your goals will determine the type of content that will be created and shared, especially if the influencer is the one to create the content that will be shared. This brings us to the next and most important subject…
BUDGET
Yes, money matters are very important because starting your small business was ultimately for profits right? Having a clear-cut budget to support your goals will help you in deciding which influencer to work with. Different influencers have varied price structures for whatever you require of them at a given time. And because you do not have a very big budget for this, it is salient that you clarify your business goals before approaching a potential influencer.
For a quick recap, influencer marketing is very attainable for small businesses as it is for big businesses. With the right understanding of your brand identity, clear-cut marketing goals and a definitive budget, any business (big or small) will be poised for success when engaging in influencer marketing.
Hope this blog post was helpful.
If you would like more help with influencer marketing for your small business, you can contact Progital Agency now.