Where To Start With An Influencer Campaign?
Ready to jump into the fabulous world of influencer marketing? Here’s an easy guide to kickstart your campaign and get your brand noticed by all the right people!
1. Define Your Goals
First things first, what do you want to achieve? Are you looking to boost brand awareness, drive traffic, increase sales, or become the next big thing on TikTok? Clear goals will help shape your strategy and measure your success.
2. Identify Your Target Audience
Know your audience! Are they teens obsessed with makeup and skincare, fashion-forward millennials, Mums or fitness fanatics? What is their age demographic, where are they located and what are their interests? The better you know your target audience, the easier it is to pick influencers who resonate with your potential customers. If you are struggling to find the right influencers, it would be beneficial to reach out to a talent agency (like us at VIVE!) who can provide a list of talent who would be the best fir for your brand.
3. Set a Budget
Determine your budget based on your goals and resources. Your budget should reflect what you aim to achieve, whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or growing your social media following. When setting your budget, consider all potential costs. This includes influencer fees, which can vary widely depending on the influencer’s reach and engagement rates. Also, factor in the cost of product samples that you’ll need to send out for reviews or promotions.
Remember, quality over quantity! It’s better to invest in a few well-aligned influencers who can create genuine, impactful content rather than spreading your budget too thin across too many influencers.
6. Develop a Clear Campaign Brief
Create a detailed brief with guidelines that outlines your goals, key messages, deliverables, timelines, compensation and content examples. Don’t be too strict on content ideas as the whole point of influencer marketing is for the influencer to connect with their audience in the most organic way while promoting your product. After all, they know what their followers love!
4. Research and Choose the Right Influencers
No easier way to find the perfect influencer to be a part of your campaign then scrolling on all socials yourself. Check out their follower count, engagement rates, content quality and if they align with your brand. It’s like online dating but for your brand! If you are struggling to find the right talent, talent agencies are a good place to start. At VIVE we can provide a list of different types of creators (lifestyle, food, fitness, fashion, beauty etc) for you to choose from!
5. Build Authentic Relationships
Slide into their DMs or reach out to the email in their bio. Start with a short and sweet pitch (about a paragraph or two) about your brand and what you’d like the influencer to do. Most of the time it is a talent manager (that’s us!) who will respond and organise the collaboration on the influencer’s behalf. Building real relationships with both the influencer and talent managers can lead to more smooth and authentic promotions.
7. Negotiate and Formalise Agreements
Once you’ve found the perfect influencer, discuss the details of your collaboration. Clearly outline the deliverables, such as the type and frequency of content. Discuss compensation, whether it’s a flat fee or free products/services. Clarify payment terms and address any exclusivity or usage rights, like whether the influencer can work with competitors or how you can use the content they create. At VIVE we will handle all negotiations, information, rates, and deliverables on behalf of our talent. We will then present the best rates and deliverables to them, from which they will decide to accept or decline. Once the influencer has confirmed that they would like to collaborate, you can formalise all these details in a written contract which will be signed by the talent mangers (that’s us!) on behalf of the influencer. This ensures clear expectations and protects both parties, leading to a smooth and successful collaboration.
12. Analyse and Evaluate Results
When the campaign wraps up, analyse the results. Check what worked, what didn’t, and where you can improve. Measure engagement rates, follower growth, website traffic, and sales conversions. Learn what worked and what didn’t and take that to your next influencer campaign!
13. Foster Long-Term Relationships
Building long-term relationships is more beneficial than one-off collaborations. Loyal influencers enhance your brand’s credibility and create deeper connections with their audience. Consider ambassador programs or recurring partnerships with your favourite influencers.
Launching an influencer campaign is all about careful planning, strategic selection, and ongoing management. By following these steps and having a good talent management on board (like VIVE…) you can create a successful influencer marketing campaign that resonates with your audience and achieves your brand’s goals. Remember, authenticity and genuine connections are the keys to making your influencer partnerships shine!