By Susan Guillory
To market your business, you’ve invested in advertising. You post on social media. You’re writing content on your blog. But you’re still looking for better ways to reach more people with your brand.
Enter influencer marketing. In your industry, there are people who are tastemakers. Who are writing content, creating videos, and sharing social updates that tens of thousands of people listen to, rapt. Partner with these influencers, and you’ve tapped into a formidable marketing powerhouse.
There are infinite ways you can partner with an influencer; you’re only limited by your creativity, as well as the capabilities of the influencers you choose to work with. Here are a few ideas for how to work with influencers in your business.
1. Showcase Your Product
The most basic influencer marketing tactic is to have influencers use your product and talk about it. They can take photos or videos of your product in action, as well as provide their opinions on how well it works.
You can take this one step further: ask your influencer to come up with creative uses for your product. Or you can ask the influencer to hold a giveaway of your products to her readers or followers.
2. Invite an Influencer to a Takeover
By inviting an influencer to take over your social media accounts for the day (Instagram is particularly a good channel for this), you attract their social followers to your accounts, and you get some props for having a cool known quantity in your industry on your account.
Keep the action fluid; maybe a fashionista snaps photos of outfit ensembles at your retail store on your Instagram account, creating interest in your fall clothing line. Or have a sports influencer take over your sports apparel account during a big football game. The more action, the better.
3. Ask an Influencer to Become Your Spokesperson
While you can speak at events representing your brand, you may be an unknown quantity compared to an influencer. Someone who is known in the speaking circuit and in your field may be able to pack the house talking about a subject that relates to your brand. It doesn’t have to be hard sell; a quick mention of your company may be enough to cement the brand in the minds of potential customers at the event.
When an influencer endorses your brand, you have the potential to reach an even greater number of customers.
