How can you leverage influencer marketing for startups?

Startups have already been through all of these scenerios on paper and graphs and even testing. They have all the elements in place from controlled environments and now need real life performance. This is a very difficult period. They just came off a great victory in securing funding and have new partnerships in place. Since they have the initial goals set and an estimate of their first target date, they are riding an enthusiasm high. A professional influencer is aware of all of this. This is a time for them to be a voice of reason and pragmatism. Be sure to push for a true picture of the goals. Don't start any campaign without knowing the measurements of success. I can assure you that ( 95%) of the time it is not likes.

As a startup, there's already so much going on on your head. It's always best to define certain things, say them as you want them to be and work towards them. Before you get an influencer, you have to ask yourself, what do I want to achieve? Do I need them to increase my followers or app users, etc.

What worked for me is building relationships with influencers online and offline, sending gifts during special times, engaging with their content regularly till they became well connected, when I approached them for marketing they were open and supported with minimal fees which helped me along the way.

If you’re a start-up and you don’t have a huge budget then you’re going to want to make the most of the money you do have available. It’s important to recognise what you want to achieve so that you can create the content with a clear goal in mind. If you’re looking to drive sales a UGC campaign or a get ready with me type of video may perform best. However if you’re focused on higher reach or engagement you may want a content piece that feels more relatable or funny. Having the end goal in mind allows you to make sure you’re choosing the best content types and that the campaign works with the rest of your strategy.

Before influencer hunting, define your goals and metrics: Go beyond vanity metrics like follower count. Align metrics with your goals (website traffic = click-through rate, referral traffic). Consider influencer impact beyond follower count (engagement rate, audience, content quality). Continuously measure and adapt for optimal performance. Remember: Tailor goals to your brand and adapt as needed.

Start with micro-influencers. Micro-influencers tend to have a better conversion rate because they have built a community with their followers. An influencer with one million followers doesn't necessarily mean that their promotion of your products or services will convert well.

Read. Watch. Listen. When you are researching the correct influencer to collaborate with, do not just look at their follower count. Do you like their blogs? Do you like their videos? Do you like their podcasts? If you do not, chances are your audience will not either.

I personally rely on the people behind the start ups to influence. The founders, existing teams - they are the brains and rightly so, can influence. Positioning them as experts in their field is key to building relationships with potential clients/customers. A solid thought leadership strategy on relevant platforms, not just LinkedIn can serve as a foundation to growing a business from a 5 figure turnover to a 6.

Don't just jump on the trend of using social influencers because it's fun. Make sure you're getting the right influencer that's best for your brand. Use an influencer that is literally in the same niche with your brand

Don't pass over micro-influencers. They often have a bigger impact on their audience because they're niche and probably directly interact with them all the time. Big name influencers can't feasibly do that so the relationship isn't there. Partner with the little guys for measurable results!

One of the biggest mistakes new businesses make is to consider the partnership with influencers as a one-time thing. A good relationship with an influencer (not a content creator) can be everything for your business. A good influencer will sell the product on your behalf over and over again. That's why its important to build good, long-term relationships with real influencers. Consider each influencer as a partner and treat them as such. Keep constant communication with them. Be strict in your requirements but always ask them for feedback. Give incentives and don't forget to reward them for their work properly. The investment you make with them will definitely be worth it!

Everyone wants to be treated as partners or even friends, in positive, transparent and fair ways; so are the influencers. They are the talents whose voice heard and admired by many people; and there must be reasons. Working with them is not only for our branding and revenue benefits, it is also about learning from their perspectives, feedbacks as they can be our customers too. Their opinions can give us new ideas that we don't think of. Taking every partnership opportunity to build trust and strengthen relationship with influencers, from my experiences, is crucial. Once influencers genuinely like us, just like we like them, then they can support us with their heart and we will be amazed by the results.

Think of influencer as a part of your team. As an Influencer, i really appreciate the brand if they consider my opinion and i can put my own thought for their product. Sometimes, I also promote their product over the agreed time, even though it's not stipulated in our contract, simply because I truly believe in and appreciate the quality of their product.

Comunicación Personalizada: Aborda a los influencers de manera personalizada, mostrando interés en su contenido y valores. Colaboraciones a Largo Plazo: Construye relaciones a largo plazo en lugar de colaboraciones únicas para obtener beneficios sostenibles.

Like with any marketing relationship, you have to be consistent. Show the person you truly care about the work they do and the message they stand for. Influencers could have multiple companies asking them to work with them so show them how you're different and why they should choose you.

The best influencer partnerships are ones where you give the influencer freedom to create the content with your brand in mind, but in their own style and voice - after all, this is why you found them appealing in the first place. Don’t be tempted to micro-manage. Set the expectations together at the beginning and then leave the influencer to get on with it, using whatever type of content and format they think is best for their audience.

Possibly the most essential principle in influencer marketing is to empower influencers with creative control. Influencers have developed intimate relationships with their respective communities, and understand their audiences far better than you will. Relinquishing the creative control to the influencer will help them make content that aligns with their audience, and most importantly, converts.

Mientras herramoentas como Chat GPT y Gemini de Google no hagan un avance determinante, el contenido genuino sigue siendo el rey. Todavía no existe mejor opción para el engagement que crear contenidos que permitan que, una vez leidos, se sepa quien lo ha escrito. Este es uno de los valores de la marca personal. Los resultados superan con creces el esfuerzo que supone generar contenidos de este tipo.

Creating a startup means you are wearing all hats and have unlimited tasks to complete. Influencers are a unique medium, because you can outsource creative concepts and content creation to a 3rd party freelancer. Influencers are social experts. Working with several can allow you to quickly test what type of creative and audiences work best on social and in ads. It is extremely difficult to predict what creative and content will work best.

Colaboración Creativa: Trabaja en estrecha colaboración con los influencers para desarrollar contenido auténtico y atractivo. Propósito Claro: Asegúrate de que el contenido tenga un propósito claro y proporcione valor a la audiencia.

To get the most out of an influencer strategy, negotiate the rights to reuse their post across other mediums. Then, take that content and share it on your own channels: use it on your website, repurpose it in emails, print pieces, ads, etc. This will not only help you get the increased visibility of the influencer’s initial post to their audience, but will also build lasting value into content that is created. It may also help strengthen the relationship with the influencer. After all, they are trying to grow their audience and reach as well.

There are a few ways that work will to promote and amplify content. Sharing your content regularly, engaging with your audience, and considering paid ads options on these platforms for targeted reach. Collaborating with influencers and industry experts can help you tap into their audiences. If you can repurpose your content into different formats like videos, articles etc to appeal to different preferences and share across various channels.

Campa?as Multicanal: Promociona el contenido a través de varios canales para maximizar su alcance. Involucra a tu Audiencia: Anima a tu propia audiencia a participar compartiendo y comentando el contenido.

Crear contenido con influencers puede ser solo la mitad del trabajo. La verdadera magia puede ocurrir cuando ayudamos a la promoción de ese contenido audazmente. Al fin y al cabo, si no lo difundimos, ?realmente existe?"

Promote your collaboration with the influencer even in the offline space. Mention them in your press release, invite them to your press conference... And in the online space - show the backstage photos or videos from the collaboration to your audience too.

Don’t forget to ask the influencers for their analytics for the posts that include your brand. Talk with them beforehand about what data is important to you and if they can share it with you later on.

Lo que no se mide no se mejora, en startup esto es vital, pero se debe dejar claro que el objetivo de una actividad de influencers no necesariamente debe ser venta así que todas las acciones que se realizan alrededor de esto no se deben medir solo a nivel de ventas, es un camino largo que puedo generar un boom inicial pero que debe ser más sostenido en el tiempo, al final depende de diferentes factores y acciones circundantes si se determinan ventas por esta implementación.

Análisis de Datos: Utiliza herramientas analíticas para evaluar el rendimiento de tus campa?as en términos de métricas predefinidas. Aprendizaje Continuo: Aprende de cada campa?a y ajusta tu enfoque según los resultados obtenidos.

Remember that sponsored posts by your influencers will be subject to advertising regulations. Each post should include a disclosure that makes clear the commercial relationship between your brand and the influencer e.g. #AD or ADVERTISEMENT and it should be placed prominently, so that it can't be missed. Also be aware of the platform rules and use the paid promotion tools that are available. In the U.S, the FTC has provided guidance on influencer marketing and in the UK, look out for CAP's influencer help notes. Although it's a great way to extend your reach to your ideal audience, working with influencers can involve various additional risks so it's also worth ensuring you have a solid contract in place for the influencers.

Don’t rule out your own customers as influencers. Post Covid, as part of our strategy to bring customers back, New Capitol Cinemas created social media spaces that change every 2~3 months for our customers to create their own content. We are now well known as the place to come to make content.

Never start every relationship by throwing money around when you can snag deals using affiliates, especially as a startup. Build a genuine relationship with influencers and It doesn't have to be a mega influencer, as a strategy you can support an influencer who is just starting that aligns with your brand voice and is looking to attract the audience you need. The support can be moral or whatever you come up with. Ensure you are not starting every conversation by flashing money. Whoever you settle for should impact your business positively.

Cumplimiento y Transparencia: Asegúrate de que las colaboraciones cumplan con las regulaciones y que haya transparencia sobre la naturaleza de la asociación. Adaptabilidad: Mantente al tanto de las tendencias y ajusta tu estrategia según evoluciona el panorama del marketing de influencers. Presupuesto y Valor: Equilibra tu presupuesto con el valor que aporta cada colaboración, buscando un retorno de inversión positivo.

Influencers with a podcast are great to work with for two reasons—one, they create content that can easily be amplified and shared, and two, they already have immense trust with their audience (your buyer). Those two things make influencers with a podcast a win-win for startups strapped for time and money.