The Lion's Den

Techniques to Attract And Incentivize Your Influencer Partners

Instagram Marketing

You’ve definitely heard about influencer marketing by now and how it’s taking marketing by storm. With different industries putting their services on the internet and individuals being online for most parts of the day, influencer marketing is quickly becoming an indispensable tool for promoting your products and services on the internet.

The great thing about using influencers is that it takes marketing a step further, going where traditional media can’t: one-on-one engagement at scale at the top of your clients’ social feeds. Influencers have a big impact since they have a massive reach, and they have a lower cost of activation than celebrities, social media stars, and bloggers.

As a brand, you also need to convince an influencer to be interested in your brand; this is important because your influencer is first your customer before anything else. Influencers might earn off posting on their social media pages, but the same way a brand will scrutinize to see if they are a good fit for the brand is the same way that influencers can scrutinize brands to see if they have anything to make an offer.

For this reason, brands must not only be able to attract influencer talent but should also be able to incentivize their prospective influencers.

A woman posing in front of a wall

Tips to Attract Influencer Talents 

Begin with a project that is worth promoting.

Because there will be a lot of info vying for attention against your content, you must make certain that yours stands out. After all, if your project is mediocre, you won’t attract many influencers. Begin with a fantastic idea, meticulous planning, and the assurance that your project is headed in the right path from the start. To put it another way, be inventive with your efforts.

Define your objectives

It’s pointless to engage in influencer marketing without first establishing objectives. You must understand WHY you are launching an influencer marketing strategy. This will have an impact on how you gauge the campaign’s performance, as well as what you may expect from your potential influencer. Your objectives will influence whether or not an influencer is interested in collaborating with you.

Your influencer campaign objectives could be as straightforward as:

  • Increasing the number of people who visit your website by a specific percentage.
  • Increasing the number of people who follow your brand on social media.
  • Increasing the visibility of your brand in front of a certain audience.
  • Increase product sales by a given amount or percentage.

The pitch

There is a wealth of information available on how to pitch influencers. The truth is that each pitch is unique. Whatever path you choose, tailor your pitch to the influencer in question. Begin by making the pitch more personal. “Dear blogger” or “Dear influencer” should not be the first line of your pitch letter.

Your message will be ignored by the great majority of your receivers. It’s also a poor idea to start by bragging about yourself, about how great you are, or about how important this opportunity is to them. Instead, focus on improving your connection with those who have power over you. 

Let them know what you think of their material, effort, or skills once you’ve gotten started. Keep your pitch short and sweet from there. The offer should be straightforward, and your expected result should not be hidden.

A camera and phone and perfume bottle on a table

Ways to Incentivize Your Influencer Partners

So now you’ve gotten the influencers to pay attention to your brand. Now the question is how to keep them attracted to you. You will need to offer them some incentives to choose your brand over another.

While money is a great incentive, true influencer marketing is based on a genuine connection with your brand – think of it as organic marketing on steroids. People who use and love your products, not just advertisers with an audience, are the best brand influencers. Here are a couple of ways to incentivize influencers even when money is not your priority.

#1 Give branded incentives instead of cash bonuses.

The goal of an effective influencer marketing strategy is to achieve the desired outcome. Gift cards and product samples, for example, can not only be high-perceived value rewards but can also be used to re-engage your micro-influencers throughout your customer journey. Gift cards, for example, can be applied toward a future purchase and product samples are the next thing in line. At each level, you’re adding value while creating new touch points.

#2 Access to a behind-the-scenes experience at a retail location, conference, or event.

Exclusive access is something that everyone desires. Every brand has dozens of these options accessible to them with a little imagination. Having early access lets both the brand and influencer link online personas with real-life individuals. You establish an innate loop of motivation to remain influential and strengthen their brand devotion by providing micro-influencers with direct access channels to your brand, products, or desired experiences.

#3 Assist them in expanding their audience and influence.

It’s a social world out there. While not everyone is interested in how many people follow them on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms, some individuals are active community builders. Many firms have rewarded their influencers by assisting them in growing their followings and communities. The added benefit is that as they gain more clout, they will help spread the word about your business.

#4 Provide product or service discounts.

This one may possibly not have a direct impact on your budget, but it might be a wonderful incentive for your Long Tail influencers to stay loyal. Many brands used to verify a potential influencer’s credentials before adding them to a list of people who got lifetime discounts. You can now track your influencers’ ROI and provide discounts to only the most active influencers.

Conclusion

Using influencer marketing can only help your business, and you don’t need to worry about it being too expensive and unaffordable. There are so many other ways to have a transactional relationship with your prospective individuals outside the scope of money exchange. If that is what has kept you from this new-age marketing strategy, well, now you know better.