In the U.K alone, there are around 5.7 million, active small businesses. With this in mind, your marketing strategies need to be strong to compete in this crowded marketplace. With the rise in mobile search, more consumers are using their mobile or tablet to browse social media and shop online; this means that you need to have a strong online and offline presence to come out on top. Nobody likes to waste money, so it’s important to find the right marketing strategy for your business before investing too much cash. Just because a technique works for one company, that doesn’t mean it will work for all. This means that not every marketing strategy will work well for your business, industry and your target audience. Today, Influencer marketing is skyrocketing in popularity. But is influencer marketing right for your business? In this article, we explore exactly that.

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is when a company collaborates with an influential person to promote a service, product or campaign. The product is usually promoted through social media. Essentially, influencer marketing uses internet ‘celebrities’ to promote your business to their followers. Known as “influencers”, these social media celebs have upwards of 10,000 followers, with many of the top influencers having over 1,000,000. As they have a dedicated following, they can promote your brand and help draw in new customers.

What Types of Influencers Can You Use?

There are several different types of influencers. Of course, some are harder to get than others and the price they charge varies dramatically. Depending on your product, you don’t necessarily need a high-profile celebrity for your brand. Often, a smaller influencer who’s credible to your niche will work just as well.

So, what are the different types of influencers that you can use? Some of the most popular include social media stars, bloggers and vloggers, authors, photographers, actors and actresses, musicians, models, entrepreneurs, TV stars and athletes. Essentially, anyone with a large social media following can be used to benefit your business. Before reaching out to an influencer, decide whether they align with your brand messaging, target audience and whether they have a credible voice in your niche. If they do, go ahead and drop their management a message.

What’s in it for the Influencer?

There are various ways to compensate an influencer. While most prefer monetary compensation, others will accept alternative methods such as free products or services. Before accepting a brand deal, the influencer will decide whether your brand will add value to them and maintain their image as an influencer. They are giving you access to their following, a following who trusts them and probably took a long time to build. As trust can be easily broken, the influencer will vet your brand before going ahead with the deal – regardless of how much compensation you offer them. Influencers are most likely to work with brands that strengthen their status as a thought leader, shape their image and improve the quality of their content. If your brand can do this, you could be in with a shot.

Is Influencer Marketing Right for You?

To determine whether influencer marketing is right for your business, you need to determine your goals, audience and budget. Below, we explore these points further.

What are Your Goals?

Decide what you want to achieve in the next six months from an influencer marketing campaign. Influencer marketing works well to increase brand awareness and find new customers, particularly if you run multiple campaigns with the same leader. That way, their followers will be exposed to your product multiple times and see that the influencer is loyal to your brand. Influencer marketing can also help you to increase your followers and boost engagement on social media.

Who is Your Audience?

Typically, influencer marketing works best for brands with a younger customer base. This is because young people are most active on social media and engage more with influencers. However, influencer marketing can still work if your target audience is older. Before deciding which social media platform to use, research the demographics of each one. While the most popular platforms are YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, that doesn’t mean they’re right for your business. Determine where your audience is and go with that platform.

Additionally, your brand should have an account on the platform that you’re using for influencer marketing. For instance, if an influencer promotes your product on Instagram, your brand should have an Instagram account. That way, the influencer can tag you in the post and allow new customers to find your business easily. If you’re unsure where your audience is, do your research before choosing a platform.

What is Your Budget?

As mentioned previously, the price of influencers varies dramatically. Depending on the size of their platform, influencers can be quite expensive to hire. Smaller influencers will be cheaper and may even accept free products or discounts as payment. Before choosing someone to work with, you need to determine your budget. From there, you can reach out to potential influencers and see how much they charge. While bigger influencers will be more expensive, their large audience can often make the payment worthwhile. Exposing your product to over 1,000,000 people can be a great move for your business, providing that the audience is your target niche. If you sell a computer part, you’ll have far more success using a gaming influencer rather than someone who talks about beauty.

Overall, influencer marketing can be an effective way to advertise your product. Depending on the person you use, it can also be relatively in-expensive – particularly if you use someone with a smaller audience. Before reaching out to potential influencers, determine your goals, audience and budget. That way, you can make an informed decision and do what’s best for your business.