How Influencer Marketing Works

There are people talking about your type of product.

Schedule a call with kristin to discuss your influencer machine

The right influencers can significantly expand your “trust network.”

Whatever your company produces, there is someone out there—maybe even more than a million someones—blogging, podcasting, and socializing their opinions on the subject.

These are the influencers. They are trusted by those who follow them.

They can expand your “trust network,” introduce you to new potential customers, and give you their stamp of approval.

They can help you shift your marketing into a higher gear if you approach them correctly with concepts that will appeal to them and their followers.

Some of them develop such a large following that they only operate on a pay-to-play basis. When you are a small or medium company, those options can drive up the cost to a prohibitive level.

But, depending on your product, there are still plenty of influencers who will be happy to engage without receiving any compensation, or who will be satisfied with a product sample.

How it works

Influencer work is not overly complicated; it’s not as complex as SEO, digital advertising, or marketing automation. But it does have to be done right, so you end up making friends instead of irritating the very people you wish to entice. The right influencer marketing agency will make it easy for your company to benefit.

This is what “being done right” looks like:

Strategizing. Before we approach any influencers, we brainstorm with you. What we decide will be driven by the results we hope to get from the effort.

Product awareness and endorsement. If you are selling a product that could be shipped to and used by that influencer, we work out the themes, shipping logistics, and tracking methodology. We will make sure the influencer understands what makes your product special and preferred.
Subject matter expert (SME) interviews. Each client has its own unique story to tell, lessons learned that can be passed on to others, and insights into their particular area of expertise. We craft a pitch that properly showcases this knowledge and experience and present it to influencers who would appreciate having such an expert on their podcast.

Researching. We find the influencers who already cover your type of product or service or podcasters who focus on people who can bring a new and useful perspective to their followers. We understand their audience and usual content. We document the influencers, their focus, and their links for you, and get approval from you to reach out.

Reaching out. We create an email that will work for this particular campaign and our influencer specialist customizes it for each influencer. When the influencer responds positively, the conversation begins, and arrangements are made to send samples, provide more information, or book an interview. We take care of all the details.

Reminding. If we have booked you for a podcast, we remind you of the upcoming interview and make sure you have everything you need. Or we follow up and make sure that your product has been sent to the influencer and keep in touch until the product is covered.

Socializing. After an influencer covers your product or interviews you, we spread the word among your own audiences, through a variety of channels. We track and report on the results.

How It Helps Your Business

What does all this effort do for you?

It increases your reach. Influencer marketing puts your products, services, or intelligence in front of people who may never have heard of you before. Awareness leads to sales when the strategy and theme are on target, are aimed at the customers you are hoping to attract, and provide the kind of information that convinces them to check out what you’re selling. It’s a very effective way to fill the top of the funnel.
It builds trust. If someone covers your product and likes it, or chooses you to be on their podcast, they are basically endorsing you. They are willing to put their own reputation behind your product or your ideas. Association with influencers does more than increase awareness; it makes it easier for potential buyers to trust you as well.
It differentiates you from your competition. A product that has been appreciated by an influencer has a stronger chance of being tried by customers. “Endorsed by [Known Influencer]” sets you apart from the companies that compete with yours. And if you are the CEO who is interviewed, and you do a good job, not only will buyers be more inclined to check out your company, products, and services, but you will be more likely to attract the types of workers you want to hire.

We use influencer marketing to promote our own business. Kristin appears regularly on marketing and management podcasts. Clients who come to us hoping to work with us are already “sold” because of what they hear during the interview, and only have a few questions before hiring our agency.

That’s yet another benefit of this approach: It can shorten your sales cycle. Instead of coming to the “Should I hire you?” conversation with dozens of questions, interested business owners and leaders have already had most of their questions answered, and only a few questions remain, such as “Would you like to work with us?” and “How much will it cost?”

Influencer marketing is a great way to shorten the sales cycle and gain momentum in your market.

We have everything in place to provide this service for you. Our entire company comprises a number of well-managed and smoothly implemented marketing machines. We’d love to put the Influencer machine to work for you.

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