Influencer Marketing is for Everyone, Including the Little Guy

Recently someone mentioned to me that influencer marketing wasn't for small, up-and-coming businesses. I'll admit I was a little surprised. Influencer marketing is for everyone. Why would anyone think otherwise?

Then I realized how often influencer marketing is mentioned by the media in conjunction with giant corporations with deep pockets and knew where this belief came from. So I had to set the record straight. 

The truth is - influencer marketing will work for any size company with any size budget. Yes, you might not start out hiring celebrities and the top 1% influencers. Heck, you might not even be able to afford the powerful middle (I'll explain these categories down lower), but you shouldn't miss out on the value and ROI influencer marketing adds to your business, regardless of size.

Focus on Brand Awareness, First

The key to effectively using influencers for smaller companies, or any size company, is to maximize your brand awareness.

Forget sales at this point! Brand awareness should be your number one goal. If it isn't, make it so! You CAN'T focus on sales until people KNOW who you are. It's the only way a scrappy little mutt is going to grab a bone from the big dogs. 

You should focus on brand awareness over sales first, because:

1. Getting your name known is less costly than trying to generate sales and no one knowing who you are.
2. Once your name is known and trusted, you can quickly turn your campaign focuses on leading generation, leading to sales.
3. Brand awareness campaigns are much more cost effective than running paid ads on Google, Facebook or anywhere. AND have longer lasting ROI. 
4. Brand awareness builds SEO, boosting your rankings with the search engine gods.

How Influencers Help Build Your Brand Awareness

You've got to break into your niche somewhere. Yes, you could start out by dropping tons of money on Facebook or traditional ad campaigns. But you're swimming in a crowded pool where the markets are already overly saturated, and consumers ignore ads. It's not the most effective way to use your hard earned dollars. 

Using the already primed audiences of influencers who are seeking your type of kool-aid is so much easier. The influencers have already done the hard part of gaining the trust of their followers and building a reputation. And they know who and what appeals to their peeps!

So when influencers recommend a brand they've used and like - their audience immediately takes a look because of the trust factor and word of mouth recommendation. The next thing you know, people are talking about you, giving you cred as a trusted product and brand. Suddenly, you've got a foot in the door because someone vouched for you with "el hefe."

How Much Does Influencer Marketing Cost?

You can spend as little or as much as you want on influencers. Like with anything the more money you have, the faster the results because you can afford more. But that shouldn't scare off the little guys. 

A marketing budget as small as $500 can go a long way using influencers. Many micro-influencers are paid with free product or a combo of product and money because they are working to build as well. The trick is doing your homework so that you find the right ones for your brand, goals, story and price. Don't be afraid to negotiate!

What are the Different Influencer Categories?

Influencers are divided into different categories based on the number of followers they have. But do remember the numbers aren't as important as the quality of engagement. And that the names and numbers differ by marketer!

1. Celebrity: Very top of the food chain and the most expensive to use but you are gaining a face for your brand that the majority of people know. Engagement isn't necessarily the highest or trust factor. Cost range: tens of thousands of dollars per campaign.
2. Top 1%: Influencers with follower numbers ranging from 250K to 1 million. Again engagement generally isn't as high. Cost range: $500 and up per campaign.
3. Powerful Middle: 25K to 200K of followers. Know what they are doing and don't require as much supervision. Trusted and have decent to high engagement rates. Cost range: $250 to $1500 per campaign.
4. Micro-Influencer: Less than 20K in followers. New and upcoming, often requiring more supervision but offering high engagement rates. Cost range: Free product to several hundred dollars per campaign.

Finding the Right Influencers

Get the most bang for your buck by choosing the right influencers. How to Find the RIGHT influencers to Represent Your Brand looks at this topic in much deeper depth.

First, you have to know your target audience and which platforms they prefer to use. You have to know your goals, desires and the story you won't told. Then you can search for influencers with similar audiences and experience on the platforms your audience likes. 

Next, check the quality of work - the writing, the stories, the photos - especially the visual work. Influencer marketing is visual first, story second, so if the images, graphics, layouts, and art aren't good enough, you will be wasting your money.

Also, don't be afraid to experiment and try new things or to allow your influencers to create killer campaigns for you. Lower level powerful middle and micro-influencers are fantastic for building brand awareness. Not only can they put together they an amazing campaign that will get you noticed but you can afford, keeping the talk going.

Finally, don't forget - engagement is more important than the number of followers. An influencer with a million followers who don't engage is worthless if your brand isn't getting any coverage. You want loads of quality likes, comments, shares, and mentions to build your brand awareness. Engagement rates of 3.5% and up is preferred. Of course, the higher, the better!

Other Benefits of Using Influencers for Building Your Business

Another huge side benefit of using influencers is the amount of content they create for you can be used and re-purposed, helping reduce your need to create so much new material.  

When used correctly, influencers also help your SEO tremendously because they build backlinks, mentions and keep people talking about you, your brand and product. You'll be landing on page one or two of the search engines before you know it.

So get over the thoughts you can't use influencer marketing because you're a small company. And instead, get to using influencers to help stake your claim and grab a piece of the pie!

Don't know where to get started or want someone to play influencer matchmaker for you? PM me or drop me an email at [email protected].