I have been there before. You are on cloud nine after the latest campaign kick-off meeting with your client, including their marketing team or even their C-suite. The client finally wants to shake things up for this next integrated campaign. Although press releases, blogs and good ‘ol fashioned cold pitching have been effective in the past year, the client now seeks something new, and you just so happen to have a perfect idea – an influencer campaign. In most cases, influencer marketing is an impactful way for brands to increase brand affinity, find new customers and increase their social media presence. However, before you pitch this idea to your client, here is some advice you should consider.
A marketing team builds every campaign strategy around its goals and objectives. A marketer’s goal is to drive business – it’s about the bottom line and attracting new customers. Sometimes marketing departments focus solely on brand awareness rather than driving business. With those points in mind, the biggest thing to consider when proposing to work with an influencer is that the campaign will be profitable for the brand.
For example, James Avery Artisan Jewelry regularly runs seasonal influencer programs to raise awareness of the arrival of new jewelry pieces. Citrus helped James Avery drive business by giving each influencer a new seasonal jewelry piece to create content and a personalized tracking link to James Avery’s seasonal product page. At the end of each campaign, Citrus had data to demonstrate to the James Avery marketing team how many sales each influencer brought in through the tracking link.
Don’t get me wrong; social engagement is a great key performance indicator. Engagements support the story you are telling in your campaign report to prove how your customers feel about a new product. It is quantitative data, but because engagements can convey nuances and emotional responses from your customers and social following, they are qualitative data.
But remember, conversions are the cupcake. Everything else is the icing.
If you suggest an influencer program, you need to prepare for any and all questions – in other words, do your research.
- What does influencer marketing look like in your client’s industry?
- How can an influencer help execute the campaign strategy?
- Can you show an example of what influencer content may look like for this campaign?
- What are your KPIs?
- How do you determine success? (You already know the answer to this question – see above).
Instagram and Tik Tok are great places to start if you do not have access to influencer tools. If you want to look by market, search for hashtags listing a city, such as #dallasinfluencer or #DFWVlogger. You can also search for influencers by brand. Many brands showcase their partnerships with influencers through their social channels.
After a couple of hours of research, you will have insight into how brands tell powerful stories and create captivating content by partnering with influencers. For a little extra research, we recommend reading blogs (like this one from Citrus Advertising!) and articles focused on influencer marketing. Soon, you will know everything you need to know about working with influencers.
Lastly, make sure you have an independent contract prepared. If you have a legal team, ask your team to create a contract outlining all services, guarantees and protections between the client, agency and contractor. If you need a legal team, you may want to find a vendor that can help. A good rule of thumb is to think through all best-case and worst-case scenarios. It is best to have agreements clearly defined just in case things go south, and trust me, the longer you work with influencers, you will experience a partnership that goes south. You must also have a process in place to safeguard all sensitive information. Hacking is a real problem today, and you do not want to be responsible for anyone’s information being stolen.
Now, go nail that influencer pitch! Good luck, my friend. And if you need more advice on choosing the right influencer or starting your campaign, don’t hesitate to Contact Us at Citrus.
Stay tuned for part two …
