What is the main goal of your campaign?
Before sending your first requests, here are a few steps to follow to prepare your campaign with your influencer. We strongly recommend thinking about these questions since it will allow you to increase your chances of success. First, what is the main goal of your campaign? Is it to present your new business? Is it instead to increase the number of sales of a specific product or promote one of your services? Would you like to increase the number of followers on your social media or visitors to your website? We also advise you to aim for measurable and time-related objectives. It will then be easier to see if you succeeded.
Here is an example of a measurable objective: have a 10% increase for my product A in March. According to the SMART method, a good objective must be specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic, and timely.
Who is the target audience?
Next, ask yourself who you would like to target. The more you will be precise, the more it will be easy to find THE person you need, according to your target audience. If needed, create a buyer persona; create a fictive person representing the people you want to reach. Is it a woman who works downtown and loves yoga? Is it maybe a hunting and fishing enthusiast who is retired? Then, note down everything that could be these people’s interests and the media they use daily. This will help you where to start your searches.
What is your budget?
As we mentioned before, there are many kinds of influencers. For example, there are celebrities and nano influencers. Prices can then vary a lot depending on who you work with. Consequently, you should take the time to set your budget as you would do for a Google Ads campaign, for example. Try to respect your budget.
Some influencers might indeed accept to present your products free of charge, but it is now becoming less the case. The more your will want to work with a known ambassador or an expert, the more you will have to pay.
Find and contact your influencer
It is now the time to find your influencer! Where can they be? If you analyzed your target audience, you would know which social media platforms to check first: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Some agencies can also help you find an influencer that could be interested in your products, services or values. This can increase your chances of having a positive answer and having someone interested in working with you. How many times did we see celebrities promote products that did not seem related to their interests? It might be why influencers do not always have a good reputation.
Ask yourself who your buyer persona could follow or find credible. Do you need an expert in a specific domain or someone popular with different communities? Would you rather work with the most popular reality TV celebrity? Either way, do not forget that the most important thing is relevance. Also, why not start doing campaigns with nano influencers? Although being often less expensive, they receive fewer requests and are more likely to involve themselves more. You might then have the budget to do many campaigns with different partners.
Most of the time, there is a place where you can contact the influencer. Be courteous and professional. Write that you are looking for an influencer and briefly explain your products and why you would like to work with them. They may answer you that they are not interested or that they do not have the time. If it is the case, thank them for their time and answer that will might be for another time. You might face a few refusals before finding an influencer that is available and interested. It would then be smart not to put all your eggs in one basket and have a few interesting influencers in your lists when you are ready to contact potential partners.
Write down everything in a contract
Once you have found your influencer, there is one step left before letting them promote your products: write down your agreement in a contract. This is important because it helps you avoid any issues. What would you do if you send one of your expensive products to the partner, but they decide not to do anything as it was agreed originally? When you have a contract, you are more protected. Furthermore, it will show that you are a serious business.
In conclusion, as is the case with other marketing campaigns, it is essential to analyze the results at the end. You can then see if you reached your main goal and think about improving your campaigns for next time. Even if you are a small business, dare to work with influencers. They are interesting tools and marketing trends you should not neglect!