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6 WAYS TO TURN YOUR INFLUENCERS INTO BRAND ADVOCATES
6 WAYS TO TURN YOUR INFLUENCERS INTO BRAND ADVOCATES 150 150 faizan

Influencers, as we all know are social media celebrities. People follow these content creators and love to watch their content in their social media feeds. Not only that, 49% of them refer to their favorite brand advocates when making certain purchase decisions.

So, do these influencers contribute to conversions? The answer is an absolute yes. About 40% of users made purchases after watching a product on Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram.

Many brands have incorporated influencer marketing in their marketing strategy. But, to make the most out of it, organizations need to convert influencers into their brand advocates.

And how will you be able to do that? Here, we bring you six ways that will help you to achieve this.

01. Influencers takeover your social media

Normally, when companies conduct influencer marketing activities, they send their products to influencers or ask them to shoot testimonials. Influencers publish that content on their social media while tagging the businesses.

That’s a traditional influencer marketing tactic. Here, you turn the tables around. You ask influencers to take control of your social media for a certain period of time. This will give your brand a face people can relate to. It will also help in recalling your brand when that same influencer will appear on their mobile screens.

For example, you can invite influencers to take a master class using your brand. Influencers of Pakistan shared their influencer’s video highlighting how to keep COVID away.

Example of brand advocate social media takeover

02. Educating and interacting with the audience

Educating the audience about your product or business, discussion sessions, launching a new product, or interacting one to one with the audience can be best done through Live sessions.

Not only that, when such sessions will be hosted by influencers of your niche, people would want to see what the session is all about and what will they get from it. This will put the audience’s trust in your brand.

For example, a service-based business can provide training or hold a session about a certain topic. This will make the audience hook with your brand.

Example of educating the audience

03. Series of a content

While posting influencer-made content in the form of ‘take over your social media’ is a good tactic. An upgraded level of the same tactic is to produce content serially. That is, either you take one influencer to speak on different topics related to your niche. Or take different brand advocates to speak on a similar topic.

Also, multiple sessions of different influencers altogether can be held to create a panel discussion between influencers and the audience. Podcasts or interviews can be another way to communicating your brand message through an influencer’s voice, on your social media.

For example, Influencers of Pakistan arranges its training programs periodically with different influencers sharing their expertise about how to become and grow as a successful influencer.

Example of brand advocates' series of content

04. Using influencers as affiliates

Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring conversions. Whenever a sale takes place due to an influencer, s/he gets paid with a certain percentage of the sale amount. 

You might face challenges while converting your influencers into affiliates i.e. they might not trust your product or ask for an amount to promote your products as affiliates. 

But, if you have already established a good relationship with influencers and conducted the above-mentioned activities with them, they will be able to collaborate with you on a commission basis.

05. Understand and value influencer’s ideas

In normal practice, influencers are given instructions to create certain content. However, they are also given the freedom to create content in a way that meets the objective of collaboration. 

But, when you give them the liberty to create content as per their understanding, the results will be different. Because these influencers understand your audience better than you. They know what kind of content they love and engage with.

By giving influencers the liberty to create content, they feel comfortable and friendly. Thus leading to a long-term relationship. Also, when influencers have a better understanding of a brand, they feel more comfortable working with them and generate better ideas.

For example, you may ask your best influencers to create a WOW moment at your product launch, by making their presence surprisingly.

06. Track your influencer activities and measure ROI

When you look at the content created by influencers, you might look at good numbers of engagement, but is that the only metric with which you can measure ROI? We think not. Below we present some ways to track and measure your influencer campaign performance.

  • Use UTM links

Remember we talked about asking your influencers to become affiliates. That’s where Walee comes in. Using the platform of Walee, your influencers can get their UTM link with which you and they can track their performance in terms of website clicks, impressions, and most importantly; sales.

  • Number of mentions

Check whether is there any spike in the number of brand mentions and their context too. How people are talking about your brand or any communication of your business. This can easily be done by our Walee Enterprise Social Listening tool, which fetches every post or tweet mentioning your brand name.

  • Sentiment analysis

As influencers start advocating your brand, see whether it has changed your brand perception (from negative to neutral or positive). Do people recognize and recall your brand in the market?

  • Source of traffic

From where you are receiving the most mentions and traffic? Is the source relevant to your industry or niche? Are the topics related to your business?

As you track and measure these technical points of your post-collaboration, and you match the results with the objectives, you can find room for improvement.

This will help you to focus on the concerns your audience and customers might have regarding your brand.

How we can help you in meeting your influencer marketing objectives

Do you feel trouble finding the right influencers for your business? Or do you think it is too time taking to search for influencers? You might have found the influencer you want to work with but don’t know how to approach them?

That’s where you will need Walee. We help you in finding the best fit for your influencer marketing campaign, provide you relevant details like their niche, the content they create, their audience details, etc.

With Walee, you make informed decisions on every corner and measure performance in real-time so that you control your campaigns promptly.

Tried and trusted by leading brands such as Reckitt Benckiser, Burger King, and more, with a community of 100k+ influencers and affiliates, we make sure you get the maximum satisfying results of your campaign and therefore, turn influencers into your brand advocates.

Lets’ connect now and tune up your influencer marketing.

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From a TikToker to a Transformation King of TikTok: Hassan Abid
From a TikToker to a Transformation King of TikTok: Hassan Abid 1080 1080 faizan

If you aspire to become a successful influencer on Instagram/TikTok or are already on the path of creating content but struggling, then this post is surely for you which will motivate you to keep going on.

Since we all know that influencer marketing is growing at an exponential rate, thanks to the influencers. Today, many people who want to become an influencer enter this field to collaborate with brands. But, collaboration with brands should not be the primary purpose of becoming an influencer.

 Many influencers you see with millions of followers today started with the purpose of sharing. Be it entertainment, expertise or any talent, they started with sharing that asset with people to relate with them and build trust. Brand collaborations come later.

Hassan Abid, Transformation king of TikTok

Walee brings you an inspiring story of the Transformation King of TikTok, Hassan Abid. Hassan is one of the most promising young influencers with a lot of fan pages. Initially, he started with TikTok and then moved towards other social media platforms like Instagram and Snack Video. Walee is proud to provide the first-ever paid campaign opportunity to Hassan. With his remarkable efforts, he recently hit the mark of 200k on Instagram. He believes in making decent yet fun content for his die-hard followers.

 Let’s find out how did he took off his journey:

Q: How did you discover TikTok?

I made some transition videos at the start to post on TikTok and got good feedback. My family was not that supportive at that time. However, I wanted to make positive and decent content that one can see while sitting with family. So, I kept doing it and now Alhumdulilah my family also supports me.

Q: When did you start your TikTok journey?

I started making basic-level videos back in March 2019. At that time I didn’t even have a phone for myself, I used to make these videos on my brother’s phone. Later on, I bought a phone for myself and made so many videos and received a lot of love from my followers. 

Q: Is your family happy with your work now?

Yes, Alhumdulilah. At first, they were a bit hesitant and concerned about it but now they are happy and support me because I made such content that would not bring any shame to my family. Whenever I make a new video I show it to my mother first and ask her for approval if the video is okay before uploading it. 

Q: What would you advise the young influencers/users? How should they make content for social media without compromising on their studies?

I would advise them to strike a good balance between the two because in the end, every parent wants their child to be good at the academic side and studies rather than the social media. No parent would want their child to be a model or an influencer, everyone wants to have a doctor or an engineer child, it’s how our culture is. 

So, I would suggest the young influencers prioritize their studies of course. And then in their free time, as a side hobby, they should make content for social media. I am a student of Computer Science, currently in my sophomore year in university. I take both things side by side, as both are very important to me.

Q: How much time does it take to make these transition videos that we all love?

Well, it’s not easy because whenever anyone does something for the first time, it takes him a lot of time to understand the whole process. Once we keep on doing it with consistency, we keep getting better at it, we find the easy way out for it. So at the start, it took me a lot of time and effort to make these videos. Now, it takes less time but the effort is the same or even more than it used to be at the start.

Q: How can one be approached by different brands for their campaigns?

One should have a good understanding of what the brand wants. Usually, the brands look for good dressing sense, good video quality and aesthetic sense, decent content and a good voice (so it could be used in voiceovers if needed). And the market is quite saturated as there are already a lot of people in the industry, and now the influx of influencers is quite high. So, one should always bring in new ideas and new unique trends that can attract the brands. 

Q: If you had to choose between Instagram and TikTok, which one would you choose?

I would pick Instagram because I think the audience and users of Instagram are more educated and decent. They know what’s appropriate and what’s not, TikTok is accessible by everyone and has all sorts of audiences. Other than that, Instagram is the most used social media platform and almost all of the brands approach influencers for marketing campaigns on Instagram rather than Tiktok. 

Q: Tell us about your first-ever marketing campaign?

So, my first ever marketing campaign was in fact with Walee. I was very excited and I didn’t even have a bank account at that time. So, I gave my father’s bank account instead. I took my family and friends out for a treat. My parents were very happy that I am earning and making an income of my own, so they started supporting me even more after my first paid campaign.

Final Word

Lastly, if you want to become an influencer and are looking for ways to start from, we suggest trusting your gut and be authentic. Identify a niche you think you’re best at and start creating valuable content.

You can also join Walee as an influencer to attend our Influencer Training Sessions so that you can receive learning and insights from the senior influencers of different niches.  

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8 THINGS YOU MUST DO TO BECOME A LINKEDIN INFLUENCER
8 THINGS YOU MUST DO TO BECOME A LINKEDIN INFLUENCER 1024 683 faizan

LinkedIn – as we all know, is a platform for professional activities. Whether you connect or follow a LinkedIn influencer, like, share or discuss anything, they all are backed by a professional purpose.

With the recent updates and features, the platform has been able to bring engagement and more users to interact. According to LinkedIn, the number of globally registered users has now reached 756M+ (and still growing). 

As more professionals become available on the platform, LinkedIn Influencers (also known as the opinion leaders) arise from the community. But, what does it take to be an influencer on a professionally populated platform? 

This is what this blog will answer. If you are thinking that only a good number of connections will do the job, check out our blog: Followers VS Engagement, which one you should be concerned about.

Let’s uncover the tips for becoming a LinkedIn influencer.

01. Engaging Content

Regardless of the platform, content is the single most vital thing for anyone becoming an influencer. However, the content can be categorized and created as per the platform’s protocols. For example, Facebook and Instagram can be used to share casual content whereas, on LinkedIn, you will find content related to the professional life of people, career growth, management of work, etc.

Instagram Content
LinkedIn Content

02. Incorporate Video to Present Your Ideas

Talking of content delivery, video is the number one choice of audience. It is the best way to share long-form content, stories, How To’s, and discussions. (Source: Animoto) 

LinkedIn’s algorithms also regard the video format. The platform has made some upgrades for video format such as it plays automatically while you scroll with it. Another innovation is the introduction of LinkedIn stories which helps people share instant news, countdowns, raw or behind the scenes moments of their efforts. 

So how can this format help you being a LinkedIn influencer?

LinkedIn Ad Sample
LinkedIn Ad Sample

Like mentioned earlier, people engage more with videos featuring a human element. You may share an interesting story or start a discussion or podcast with your peers or other industry experts. 

As you take leverage of video, don’t miss out on the ‘value’ part of your content strategy. Your content (either static, video, or any other format) must provide value to your followers.

You may come up with a professional series of videos discussing how manageable business can be while working from home? In which you share online meetings/interviews with other industry peers.

Breaking-the-ice question: Is it only us or have you seen that most of the LinkedIn ads you see in your feed are in video format?

03. Tell and Relate with a Story

You might have passed through many situations in your career from which you learned something. Whether it is rejection or promotion, or how you helped out someone in the workplace, leadership or people-handling skills of yours, such experiences help others relate and connect with you.

So try to share the stories through your LinkedIn profile and people who have or haven’t passed through such experiences, people who may or may not know you will notice you. Some of them will relate, some will discuss or ask, and some will share their guidance with you.

Nevertheless, all of this will be happening around your story. That’s what an influencer does, right? Share, engage, inspire, influence.

04. Accept Rejections

A number of people possess the desire to be an influencer, however, they don’t get on the ground with their own content. They stay quiet and keep checking (and interacting with) their feed. Remember, if you want to be an influencer, showing up with your own made content is important. 

Yes, it is possible that people on LinkedIn might disagree with your opinions, but that will end up as a healthy discussion. However, if you keep producing honest and authentic content, you will periodically grow as an opinion leader on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn influencer

05. Give what people want i.e. Value

Any content is worthy enough if it is valuable for its readers. Posting randomly will fill your profile with haphazard content. Plan out your content and the purpose it should serve. A well directional content strategy is vital especially if you are becoming an influencer.

Create and post what you think will bring value to your audience. Whether it is a poll, a factoid, info-graphic, statistics, or even a simple status update, it has to be valuable enough for your followers.

Video consumption on LinkedIn (Image source: MWP Digital Media)

Video consumption on LinkedIn

06. Bring people together

A good LinkedIn influencer profile is one that invites its followers to participate and share what they feel. This has become easier with the introduction of LinkedIn polls. But other than this feature, how can you bring people to participate in your content?

There are different ways through which you can produce such content. See the examples below:

LinkedIn Profile Post
LinkedIn Profile Post

07. Offer and ask for help

Offering help is good and common too, however, asking for help as an influencer might sound odd but it is actually not. Rather, it is a great way to increase engagement. For example, you might ask your audience to join you at a specific place to help you with shooting your next vlog or interview. 

That way, you will not only help your audience by sharing valuable content, tips, and consultation but also making them feel helpful by including them in your social media activities too.

08. Create challenges and giveaways

Challenges and giveaways are great ways to get people to land on your posts and even bring others. One might think that giveaways are part and parcel of Instagram or Facebook, but that’s not true. 

There are challenges and similar activities people do on LinkedIn while maintaining the platform protocols. 

Example of giveaway on LinkedIn
Example of giveaway on LinkedIn

So as long as you can keep it relevant and interesting, people will take part in those giveaways.

Let’s Rewind

Now you know what it takes to be a LinkedIn influencer, the stage is set! Move on and start creating content you are best at. Use these tips and learn more along the way.

If you are already on the way to becoming an influencer, how about signing up on Walee today and start collaborating with brands. 

Are you a business looking to push your brand through influencer marketing? Contact us now!

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INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT RATE VS. FOLLOWER COUNT – WHAT MATTERS MORE?
INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT RATE VS. FOLLOWER COUNT – WHAT MATTERS MORE? 1024 683 faizan

Have you come across Instagram accounts where the follower number is in the many thousands, but then posts have a relatively low number of engagements – likes, comments, saves, shares – on most posts, that number less than ten? Doesn’t the account’s follower count seem questionable?

As an influencer, do you have a follower trap?

Avoid the Follower Trap

“Follower Trap” refers to social media accounts where a mismatch of high follower numbers with low engagement rates exists. This situation happens for many reasons, ranging from non-active followers to  “questionable” activities such as accounts buying fake followers in the thousands. 

Many believe the follower count metric makes an Instagram account look successful, but not so.  To understand its value, the follower count should be compared with an important sister metric that heavily takes into account Instagram’s algorithm –  the engagement rate, or ER.

But first, let’s get back to basics…

What’s an influencer’s main purpose?

Essentially, influencers build quality followers who can be “monetized.”  That means brands will hire influencers to promote and sell their products, services and image to their followers as they are potential customers.

Many industry studies say the best way to create a strong, loyal following is for influencers to create and curate content relatable to their unique fans and followers, even if it is paid, as long as it’s presented in a way they expect, enjoy and relate — such as live product reviews or sharing ideas on how the influencer would use the product.

If this content is likable, the post is likely to have a reasonable engagement amount and followers would likely amplify the content further, by reposting, sharing, or even inviting their friends and family to follow the influencer’s account, thereby increasing the fan base. These newbie followers are likely to interact with the content positively and also refer on… and the cycle continues – success!

Welcome to Instagram engagement metrics where the right numbers can determine the true value of influencers and their audiences.

Why should we keep talking about engagement rates?

Influencers are a bridge between brands and their target audiences, so an influencer’s brand relevance is important. Instagram’s ER measures how well content is performing and generates an indication of positive or negative perceptions by followers, say by the comments left or the emojis used.  ERs ultimately help price an influencer’s worth to the brand and their followers’ value uses engagement rates versus the number of follower accounts as an indication.

How do you measure Engagement Rates?

ERs can be calculated in two common ways, depending on who is measuring:

  • Brands’ Engagement rate by reach = (Likes + Comments)/Reach x 100
  • Influencers’ Engagement rate by audience = (Likes + Comments) / Followers x 100

Plenty of paid platforms that do the math for you quickly and accurately such as IQ Hashtags. 

An influencer’s engagement rate should be continuously improved. It might sound unfair, but for a brand, it may be far better to have a small engaged audience size versus a huge number of followers who will not view, or interact, thereby driving down ER, lower influencer’s value to brands and negatively impact future collaborations. Success benchmarks are also different for each platform –  Instagram is 23% more popular and engaging than Facebook – so different strategies should be tested and the better ones continue to be improved.

What is the average engagement rate?

  • Instagram’s average engagement rate is ~1.22%, (source: Dailypurpose.com) but varies by different factors like industry, product, brand popularity
  • A good engagement rate on Instagram ranges from 3% to 5% 
  • Referencing the graph, there is an inverse relationship between the number of followers and the engagement rate which means nano- and micro-influencers tend to be more effective than macro-influencers and celebrities

Why are accounts unfollowed?

Did you know that Instagram notifies accounts of new followers, but not for unfollows?  So, influencers have to carefully and frequently track changes to have a good understanding of how many followers they are losing daily, ideally the net of new and leaving should always be positive.

Often, unfollows are directly the result of poor quality followers. For example, many profiles who follow a new account in the hope that they will be followed back, and so if this does not happen, then they will eventually unfollow.  

Also, if influencers purchase followers, then these fake profiles and bots, eventually may get closed.  Instagram regularly reviews profiles to ensure they are valid and being used or will be closed – it’s not unheard of for thousands of followers to disappear overnight!

How to get followers hooked to your profile?

Two words –  AWESOME CONTENT.

We’ve concluded that a sizable follower base does not mean all new posts will automatically generate good engagement – this is simply not true! The key is to align content to audiences’ interests and avoid situations that result in low engagement. Below are the reasons which may be the root cause of unfollowing:

  • Followers are not interested or even ignoring the account due to poor and non-relevant content
  • Content is infrequently posted so followers lose interest
  • Audiences are not connecting with the visuals.

Influencers have many challenges – time, skills, creativity – to create great content and also maintain a quality follower base.  If done well, Instagram can also boost organic follower numbers by using its algorithms – referencing high engagement content, Instagram recommends the account to new audiences with similar profiles to their existing followers. Therefore, it is important to ensure the right type of audience and content is on your profile to stay relevant and meaningful.

You can search and read thousands of articles on how to create the right content on Instagram, focused on your niche.  So if you’re a travel blogger, content your audiences may like are the places visited and cover the entire journey, from planning to execution.  Here are the top five ways we feel you should master the art of creating engaging content, with added examples for a travel blogger.

  1. TEACH SKILLS – share topics about your niche, like how-tos, tutorials, tips and tricks. Examples: how to plan a trip to Peru, tricks to finding the best flight discounts, how to find hotel sponsors, etc.
  2. INTERACT FREQUENTLY – respond to as many followers as possible, including comments on posts, or even host live sessions, a popular trend. Examples: Answer questions on any videos posted, or places recently traveled or answer questions on recent trips.
  3. SHARE BTS – create frequent behind-the-scenes stories, which can be unedited and in a raw version, as no one will mind being on-the-go! Example: experience parts of the trip like viewing scenery while on a bus to another city
  4. GET FEEDBACK – run fun polls and questions to know about your audience. Example: where should they next travel, their preferred content type to their favorite country
  5. INCENTIVIZE ACTION – offer giveaways and lucky draws. Example: tag and then invite three friends to follow their page for a chance to win a giveaway, which could include food coupons, or a sponsored gift like a passport cover set by a leather company.

Engage with Walee!

High engagement rates will help influencers get selected by brands as social advocates for their niches. If you’re an influencer, or a business looking for influencers for your next marketing campaign, you’re in the right place. 

Download and sign up to Walee now and become a part of Pakistan’s fastest-growing influencer marketing ecosystem!

Download the app now: Google Playstore | Appstore

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WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM IS RIGHT FOR INFLUENCER MARKETING?
WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM IS RIGHT FOR INFLUENCER MARKETING? 1200 675 faizan

With the ever-changing world of digital, social media platforms are becoming more powerful each day, thus opening new doors for influencer marketing.

We say this as we see an increase in the number of social media users worldwide. Last year, new users with an average of 1.3 million joined social media, bringing the global user count to nearly 4.2 billion by the beginning of 2021.

Deciding which social media platform can be fruitful for your business or influencer marketing program can be a choosy task.

Mostly, two social media platforms are known best for influencer marketing. One is Instagram and the other one is TikTok. So let’s dig into the details of both platforms to find out which one is best for you.

Instagram

Launched in 2010, the platform offers a mobile-focused environment to interact with. Broadly, Instagram has been seen as the best platform for influencer marketing. The platform has an audience base of Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X.

Features

Instagram offers a variety of features for an influencer to create content either in terms of a static or a video. These options are available for content shareable on the feed. Social media content creators share professionally shot images and videos on the feed and maintain their grid as per their niche.

Moreover, Instagram has a ‘story’ feature which makes the content available for 24 hours. There, you have multiple options to interact with the audience including polls, open questions, and quizzes. Instagram stories are used to share instant and raw content as the audiences like to see the behind-the-curtain version of yours.

The interactive nature of Instagram stories has increased the time spent on the app to more than 28 minutes.

Instagram has also launched ‘Reels’ on stories which allow users to create 15 seconds multi-clip videos with audiovisual effects, and other creative tools. However, this feature is unavailable in certain geographic locations.

Audience

If your target audience lies from an age group of 25 to 34 years, your influencer marketing program should definitely include Instagram as this age group is the most abundant one on Instagram.

They follow celebrities or social media influencers/content creators. Not only that, people on Instagram love to share user-generated content which includes their own images, and stories of their creations as well.

Not to forget the mentioning part of Instagram where people mention each other in different content.

Instagram is a place where you can find a healthy and impactful community. Influencers and content creators interact with their audience, discuss, guide, and recommend.

Tracking and measurement

Instagram offers analytical tools to track and measure the performance of individual posts. This helps in understanding how the content of an influencer is performing, what the audiences like and interact with.

When is the best time to interact with the audience and to what extent the influencer’s content reached and brought new followers?

TikTok

The application is known for shooting and sharing short, musical, and hilarious videos. The app which began as a platform to make lip syncs and participate in dance trends has now become a full-time career of many social media content creators.

Features

TikTok has provided a great avenue for users to share user-generated content which includes everyday vibes, as well as tips and tricks, entertainment, and challenges.

In parallel, we have seen many influencers who became famous from the same platform for creatively converting the daily routine moments.

As the platform is video-based, it offers more features to shoot videos creatively thus enabling its users to make the most of their mobile phones.

TikTok favors original content and by following different best practices, your video can get a chance to appear on the ‘for you’ page of the app.

Audience

About 33 million users access the app to interact with the content. With the great potential the platform offers, many brands have accessed TikTok with influencers and have found great results. 

Regardless of the fact that TikTok is comparatively new in Pakistan, brands like Cadbury, Samsung, and Huawei have run their influencer marketing campaigns on TikTok.

Around 60% of TikTok users lie between the ages of 16 to 24, making it a primarily Gen Z platform. This gives the brands an opportunity to target their audience group which is kids or Gen Z. 

The platform is interactive in nature and requires its users to perform on camera while shooting a video. So if you are thinking to appear on TikTok, plan out some activity that entices the audience to participate.

Tracking and measurement

Like Instagram, TikTok also offers certain features to track and measure the performance of your content. The analytics are more or less similar to Instagram where one can find followers’ information as well as profile visits and video views.

TikTok or Instagram?

So having adequate knowledge of both the platforms, their audiences, and how they work, how should one decide which platform is best for their influencer marketing program?

The answer lies in the audience. Wherever your audience is active should be the targeted platform for influencer marketing campaigns.

Both platforms have their distinct genres. So the next big thing is which platform is aligned with your brand’s communication.

Sometimes, you may find that both platforms can work best for you as your target audience is available and active on both platforms.

On the contrary, there may occur some cases where both platforms might not work best for your business.

To find the best platform for your business and the top-performing influencers on those platforms, sign up on Walee and kick start your influencer marketing campaign. Moreover, you can create your online presence by creating your Walee shop.

To see how your campaigns and influencers are performing, Walee provides you a real-time dashboard that makes it easy for you to track, measure, and control your campaign along the way.

Interested in starting your first Influencer Marketing campaign? Contact us now!

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Influencer Marketing: How to build your strategy
Influencer Marketing: How to build your strategy 1024 682 faizan

There was a time when Influencer Marketing was limited to celebrities and dedicated bloggers only. But now, since the rise of influencer marketing, it has opened new doors for businesses and brands to connect with their potential consumers and audiences.

A decade ago, direct selling and testimonials used to be seen as the only way of influencer marketing, with known and famous faces. Thus, making it an expensive mode of promoting a business.

 

influencer-marketing

However, in today’s millennial era, there’s been seen a shift in perception of people from those celebrities with the massive following to bloggers and micro-bloggers producing unique, genuine, user-generated content.

Today, we can see different people in different categories creating good content and maintaining a healthy community. So if you want to know whether influencer marketing can help your business in exploring new possibilities, keep reading on.

 


What is Influencer Marketing?

For a basic understanding, Influencer Marketing is a part of social media marketing in which influencers promote products/brands in their content through social media.

The main driver of influencer marketing is the trust these influencers have developed with their audience and their recommendations for something serve as social proof of their following power.

 

Influencer Marketing then vs. now!

Back in 2014, getting featured on Instagram was easier. If you were able to reach Instagram’s explore page or if your posts were so differentiating in terms of aesthetics, the chances of being an influencer were high. Many influencers have chosen this as their full-time career while working with different brands.

But like other areas of marketing, influencer marketing has also been changed. How?

We get influenced by what we are exposed to. Bright and properly cropped aesthetics are more common and typical now. So what’s the next unique thing when the unique becomes typical?

Authenticity is the next big thing in influencer marketing. Driven by the millennial, the younger generation has mastered photo capturing through their phone.

 

Is Influencer Marketing worth being invested for?

Many people think that influencer marketing is all about promoting through people on Instagram. However, there are influencers on different platforms like Snapchat, YouTube, and TikTok as well, having an ample amount of following. According to Website Builder, influencer marketing is going to reach $13.8 Bn worth in 2021.

A survey of marketers at the end of 2018 revealed insights that 89% of marketers say ROI from influencer marketing is enough to be compared with or better than other marketing channels. (Source: MediaKix)

So after knowing the value of this industry, let us guide you about how can you create an influencer marketing strategy.

 

Influencer Marketing Strategy

Like other marketing strategies and tactics, developing an influencer marketing strategy requires dedicated time and planning. From objective to execution and tracking, everything needs to be planned first.

 

1. Make your objectives clear

Before jumping into the horizon of influencer marketing, take out some time beforehand and make things clear regarding what actually are you trying to get out of influencer marketing. Does your brand really need an influencer marketing program? If so, how you can capitalize from this corner of marketing?

Having clear objectives will provide you with a concrete ground to build your influencer marketing strategy on.

Most businesses prefer influencer marketing either to create awareness about their business or generate sales. Having these broad objectives, it is important to further refine the objectives which align with your brand needs. Maybe you want to expand your customer base in a different demographic. Or you may want to introduce a new product to your existing customer base. Or you might want to increase social mentioning of your brand by igniting word-of-mouth activities.

Most influencers have a specific following and they can make your message reach a specific audience group. So with your broader goals, keep a note about how you will be converting your broader goals into small, specific, and effective actions.

 

2. Finding influencers

Once you have a clear understanding of what you want to take out from influencer marketing in terms of your objectives, it is time to look for those which can convey your message in the most relevant manner.

Just like other strategies, research is the first step. Start with one platform first then expand to other ones. Your brand should also have a presence on that platform.

If you are not sure which platform is best for you, use different social listening tools which can help you identify your potential platforms and the influential voices. Also, check out our detailed guide on How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Business.

While you research, keep the below things in mind:

 

  • The influencer should be relevant to your business or creating content that is relevant to your audience
  • The social media content creator has a good engagement rate with a significant number of followers
  • Some influencers are in the growing phases of their social career but have a good engagement rate. So, if you can compromise on the follower count, you can get an effective engagement rate with a very specific audience
  • The person should be authentic as well as their followers. Beware of fraudulent activities. Do check the comments and whether are they maintaining conversations with their followers.
  • Look for branded content they have shared. You will get an idea of what they are capable of and how you want them to work with you

To help you avoid all this hassle, you can simply register on Walee and connect with a community of influencers.

 

3. Budgeting and management of the campaign

While you search for the platforms and influencers, choose the type of influencers with which are you interested to work? Would you like social media celebrities with huge follower numbers? Or are you comfortable with micro-influencers having less than 2000 followers? You might like to work with someone having between 5K to 10K followers. Your selection of social media content creators will directly affect your budgets.

Once you lock the type of influencers you will be working with, start creating your budget. Also include the time for planning, developing, executing, and reviewing the entire plan.

Unlike an automated campaign, influencers are human and most of them don’t like to be controlled. They are creative people and constantly managing multiple partnerships too.

Some of them might miss your deadline to post at a specific time or alter the requested call to action in their communication. For that, you will need to invest your time in maintaining a fruitful relationship with them. Then you will be able to bring out their natural talent in the best interest of your brand.

 

4. Track and control your campaign

As you launch your influencer marketing campaign, keep it on track and making necessary changes is equally important. There are different ways to track your campaign such as speaking with influencers regularly or checking their profiles where they have posted about your business.

If you have run a sale-focused campaign, then you can track and monitor in real-time through Walee dashboard. It makes it easy for you to track every influencer working for you and how they are performing in terms of bringing sales for your business.

 

Final Word

An influencer can stay but the industry of influencer marketing and its operating procedures have changed completely in a short period, and this same industry may become entirely different from today. However, this article will help you to start drawing your campaigns on the canvas of influencer marketing. But like other marketing areas, influencer marketing is constantly evolving so be ready for change.

 

 

 

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How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Business
How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Business 1024 682 faizan

 

When it comes to connecting with the audience in a meaningful and more personal way and identifying their behavior patterns about certain brands, the right influencers or social media content creators are the obvious option to make this happen.

 

how-to-find-the-right-influencers-for-your-business

Onboarding and working with the right influencers can help you connect with your target audience, drive traffic to your website, lead to sales, and achieve other objectives of the brand. Around 63% of marketers work with influencers on every campaign.

The importance of influencers in a marketing strategy is consistently increasing and the reason for their exponential growth is their connection with the audience. They connect, create, share, listen, and discuss with their community. In return, they have become trusted peers for their audience.

Now that you know how important the role of an influencer is, let’s dig in further to explore how you can find the right influencers for your business.

 

Why do you need to promote your brand with influencers?

Before you start looking for influencers, first make the objective of onboarding an influencer crystal clear. Ask yourself what is the primary purpose of incorporating the social media content creator(s).

Are you looking to create brand awareness other than through paid advertising tools?

Is it a positive perception you want to create around your brand?

Or do you want people to buy your brand on the recommendations of influencers?

Once your goals are clear enough, you can direct your efforts to find the person who can help you meet your objectives.

 

How to look for Influencers

There are certain ways you can work to find your best match of influencers. Below are they described:

 

1. Get to know your audience

In influencer marketing, audiences are the third pillar alongside influencers and the brand. Many brands here make mistakes. They see the number of followers but not the type of followers. You must ensure that the audience following a specific influencer is the one you are looking for.

For instance, you work for a food brand and want to generate trails of a new variant. In order to do that, you choose to work with a food blogger. According to you, will this be the right decision?

Well, broadly you took the right step. But specifically, you need to see which food blogger will work best for you as the right influencer. The one with pretty aesthetics of some lavish restaurant food or one who specializes in home-made food as well as covers the ingredients of the same.

An influencer with an audience similar to your target audience and content which fits your brand will be a perfect pick. Because s/he will feature your brand in front of people who can eventually be interested in your brand.

 

2. Get to know your influencers

After getting a complete hand on the knowledge of your audience, it’s time to identify the potential influencers who can meaningfully represent your brand. For selecting influencers, below are the criteria you must see for what a good influencer should have.

 

Influencer Reach

Reach is the number of followers an influencer has on their social media. It is important that the person you select for outreach has a good relevant audience.

 

Engagement

This metric is more important than reach. The engagement rate shows how much followers actually engage and interact with the influencer’s content. A good engagement rate is a sign that an influencer can affect the purchase behaviors of their audience. A recent study showed that Instagram influencers who have 5k to 10k followers have a better engagement rate than the big ones.

 

Authenticity

Authenticity is the single most important metric which makes one an influencer. People will most likely follow the person whom they feel authentic. Therefore, when searching for influencers, take a look at their content and see how authentic their content and thoughts are. How much their audience believes and follows their opinions.

An influencer with authentic content can bring positive perceptions to your brand.

 

Personality & Niche

A good influencer marketing campaign is actually successful when the influencers promote the brand which technically fits their personality, niche, content, and industry.

 

3. Where to find the relevant influencers

Influencer marketing is all about genuine people advocating your brand. It is not restricted to big celebrities. So, how do we find those genuine people? Here’s the answer:

 

Hashtags

With hashtags, it is easy to find content on social media. You can search for hashtags that are relevant to your brand and similarly the people using those hashtags. Here’s how:

 

  1. Search for #sponsored #ad #influencer #blogger and #[Yourbrandcategory], and see what content appears
  2. Let’s say you find a pleasing picture, then see the creator’s profile
  3. If there is similar content that you liked earlier, see whether they are from the same niche your brand belongs to
  4. If they have a good number of followers, calculate their engagement rate using different tools. That way, you will get a rough idea of the worth of that content creator
  5. If they seem to satisfy all the conditions, mark them on your list of potential influencers

 

Social Media

You can find relevant influencers on social media by searching for those who are already talking about your business or alike. Different blogs and social media mentions will help you find such people.

Here, social media listening tools will make it easier for you to find the content people have created about you. For example, if someone has created their content on bicycles, and you deal with the same, you definitely would want to engage them.

 

Google Alerts

Google Alerts can be a good source of information when searching for content related to your business. Just create alerts of your relevant keywords and you will start receiving alerts whenever someone writes about related topics.

Let’s say you want to promote your business on the web but don’t know the leading or relevant websites, Google alerts will help you in finding them.

 

Influencer Marketing Platforms

These platforms can help you easily find influencers from different niches. You can access their database and filter your search as per category, social media platforms, engagement, followers, and more.

To help you look for your best match of influencers, Walee is there! We are Pakistan’s largest and growing influencer network with more than 80,000 influencers onboard.

You can register on Walee as a business, run campaigns, and track performance; all in real-time.

 

How to approach the influencers?

Once you list down all the right influencers for your business, it’s time to approach them. Below are some ways you can use for outreach:

 

1. Introduce yourself meaningfully

When you find the right people for your campaign, then first be a follower of them. Engage and share their content, comment on their posts, showing appreciation for their work.

As you appreciate them, you can introduce yourself in a direct message with a reference leading to the content you liked and shared.

 

2. Share your proposal

After you place yourself in the eyes of influencers, send them a proposal that wins their hearts. Below can be the details you may include:

 

  1. You and your business’s details
  2. How you came to know about them
  3. What are the specifications of the campaign
  4. What they will get in return (monitory or else)

Try to keep every detail transparent and discuss it with the influencers after you send them the proposal. Take them on a call or meet them and cater to their concerns. Similarly, try to build a friendly or casual relationship with them so that they can stay longer with you.

Lastly, follow up with them after a few days.

This is how you can find the influencers for your outreach campaigns, create a healthy relationship with them, and make them your brand’s advocates.

Want to kick-start your next influencer marketing campaign? Sign up on Walee today or connect with us for more details.

 

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