Almost every brand wants a slice of influencer marketing, even startups. You might think that influencer marketing for start-ups is a no-go given their budget constraints. And obviously, they would want the maximum possible return on their investment. Well, the good news is, they don’t even need a lot of capital to get started with their first influencer marketing campaign. What’s more, influencer marketing for startups gets them an edge over bigger brands. So here’s how even startups can implement an effective influencer marketing campaign.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Any individual with the power to convince others and influence their purchasing decisions can be called an influencer. With the advent of social media platforms like Instagram, the influencer marketing industry has seen a boom. The global spend on Instagram influencer marketing is expected to be around $8080 billion in 2020.
The most surprising element here is that not all influencers have thousands of followers. In fact, influencers with a lesser count of followers (2k-30k) have more engagement on their posts. And this is the trick we use for influencer marketing for startups.
Steps for Influencer Marketing for Start-ups
This isn’t a tough strategy to formulate. You might feel a little intimidated thinking big brands invest in influencer marketing, but it really doesn’t depend on your company’s size. There can be a different pathway for you to take. Let’s discuss it step-by-step.
Your Ideal Influencer
There are various types of influencers like mega, macro, and micro-influencers. So when you decide to opt-in for an influencer marketing campaign you have to make a decision. It is advisable for start-ups to opt for micro-influencers. These influencers have an active follower base and negotiating your offering with them will prove a little easier. Also, you have to judge other factors like whether the person exudes an innate sense of business. Do they have enough credibility? Have they, at any time in the past, worked with your competitors? Answering these questions might help you narrow down your list of potential influencers to work with.
Your Goals
Defining your own goals is key. It is important because you will need to communicate them to the influencer too. Also, when you are sure about your goals, you can decide which KPIs to keep monitoring in order to track your progress and ROI. For startups, the primary goal is to increase awareness. For this, working with multiple micro-influencers works best. For instance, say you sign up 10 micro-influencers and organize a giveaway contest. They will ask their followers to share a post or story mentioning your brand and their handle in order to enter the contest. Imagine the ripple effect here. If you can get even 10 influencers with say 2k followers each, you will have each of these followers mentioning your brand on their feed!
Social Listening to Find the Right Match
It is important for you to be clear about your dream influencer. Profiling the right influencer begins when you start tracking them by what you are looking for. Social listening tools can help you here. Tracking influencers becomes easy when you have access to the influence scores of every person who engages with your industry chatter. Since you are tracking industry keywords, you will automatically find people who speak to your niche audience. Now all you need to do is decide whether you want a macro or micro-influencer. Sort the influence scores accordingly and you will have found your ideal match.
Communicating Your Goals
If you have gone through all the above steps, you already know your goals and have an influencer in mind. As a startup, you will have to decide how much creative decision you want to hold. Be clear about the message you want to convey, your primary goals, and how much control you want over the content/language.
Once your campaign is running, you are left with only one job, giving it as much visibility as possible so keep re-sharing the content on all your online channels. Monitor and measure the metrics. Take note of any discrepancy that might crop up, discuss it with your collaborator. Hopefully, you will gain some long-term collaborations and improved brand sentiment and awareness.