Influencer Marketing is predicted be a key focus of many businesses going into 2017, but what exactly is it and how does it help your business grow?
Influence Marketing is a focused process on developing relationships with individual people who could play a role in creating visibility and attention for your product or service. This type of marketing hinges on you being able to offer something which wows potential customers, including those who already follow your business and also the audience of your chosen influencer. It is also important to have a strong connection and rapport with the influencer so they are comfortable and happy working with your company.
The social nature of business and marketing means there are many ways an influencer can help your business and have a considerable impact on your success. The things they could do include:
- Writing on their own website about your business and products
- Sharing your links, personal endorsements and more on social media
- Allow you to guest post on their site
You will also see positive results if an influencer likes, shares or retweets your social media posts but the three things mentioned above are amongst the most effective.
Why Invest in and Embrace Influencer Marketing?
One well-known influencer can transform the fortunes of a business and spending the time to research the right people for your business really does pay. Most people considered influencers specifically have great clout on social media, whether they’re YouTubers, Twitter influencers or known of their other social media work, that’s where potential customers will find them. Below we’re looking at the benefits of embracing influencer marketing and your chosen influencers.
1. Boost your Business Credibility
Your brand’s reach will expand with an influencer’s backing but you can also establish your authority in your sector. Collaborating with someone recognised as an influencer and perhaps an expert in your sector will build your credibility much more effectively and instantly than hours of painstaking search engine optimisation and analytics work. Both are necessary for your business but influencer marketing can give you an instant reputational boost.
2. Widen your Reach
Finding appropriate influencers for your business should involve finding people who have interests like your brand but also a wider appeal themselves. In doing this you’ll find influencers who attract a broader range of people than your current following, widening your reach and attracting new potential customers who may not have been on your radar.
3. Give your SEO Efforts a Lift
When you begin to work with influencers and begin either writing content on their sites or seeing them write about you on other platforms, this helps boost your backlink list. Backlinks are key to your SERP ranking and quality backlinks really matter. Influencer marketing will definitely increase the number of links to your site and in turn you should see enhanced results from your SEO, as your SERPs improve.
4. Boost Sales
No marketing method guarantees an increase in sales but by widening your customer reach and getting your business seen by many more people, there is a significant chance you’ll see boosted sales thanks to influencer marketing. Little incentives like discount codes especially for fans of your chosen influencer or subscribers to their website can go a long way to creating hordes of new loyal customers.
Influencer marketing does involve a real time investment as you make the effort to research and identify the ideal influencers for your business. However, once you get someone enthusiastic on board you’ll begin to reap the rewards almost immediately.
