On a daily basis, can you count how many digital contents you are consuming? Counting it all is tough. Well, here’s a tougher question for you: out of all the digital contents you see online, how many do you trust? When you look at a product or a service, do you trust the one promoting it?
Well, according to Twitter, a lot of people only trust their family and friends when it comes to products and services. However, if you also trust the influencers you are following, you are not alone. From a recent survey, it is found that as many as 49% of the respondents agree with you.
What is an influencer?
Before we go deeper into this guide, let’s define first what an influencer is. An influencer is someone with an online presence who can influence the behaviors and opinions of your target audience. These are social media personalities and bloggers who have produced quality and exciting content over time which lead to them gaining the trust of people. What makes them different from celebrities is that they are relatable and their opinions are much respected.
Below are seven ways on how to work with influencers and do a blogger outreach quality process.
Gifting
One of the easiest ways for your potential customers to get exposed to your brand is by collaborating and partnering with influencers. Choose the bloggers who mostly share the same vision and aesthetic as your brand. Then, gift them services and goods. If they like them, they will most likely share your products with their audience.
As such, it is essential that you look for an influencer who has an audience that resonates with your brand. Also, it is important to find ones who can make high-quality content.
Sponsored Posts
A sponsored post is one wherein you pay a blogger to publish a post about your brand, product or services on his/her blog with his/her voice. You can help the influencer in what to put on his/her post but give him or her the creative freedom to add his/her voice to appeal to his or her audience.
Partnering with these influencers helps your brand gain awareness as well as high-quality backlinks to your site.
Product Reviews
Reviews are often the result of giving influencers one of your products or services. When they post their review of your product, it helps convince their audience and your potential customers to buy from you. Know that influencers have become one of the trusted online resources when it comes to products.
It especially helps with how shoppers nowadays read reviews and conduct online research before making any big purchase. When they read the reviews from an influencer, you get to influence their decisions.
It is important to know that sending your product to an influencer doesn’t guarantee that your product will be reviewed. To ensure that it will, you have to nurture a relationship with the influencer and build communication. This way, the influencer will portray your brand in a positive light.
Giveaways
Aside from gifting influencers your products and services, you can also work with them to do a giveaway. It helps build excitement about your product. Plus, who doesn’t want free stuff? Right?
For the giveaway to be successful, it is essential that you partner with an influencer who aligns with your brand. If your product is not fit for the influencer’s audience, you risk having a less enthusiastic crowd. You wouldn’t want that.
Here are some things to remember when doing a giveaway.
- Provide something valuable and make it worth the audience’s time.
- Make sure you can afford the giveaway.
- Ask the influencer for feedback on what he or she thinks about the giveaway. After all, they know their audience best.
Influencer Competitions
Aside from giveaways, you can also hold an influencer competition – the kind that invites influencers to participate. And what of the prize? It can range from a chance to travel to brand features on your channels. It is important to remember, however, that the best influencers usually get approached a lot. Be prepared to give them a proper answer as to what’s in it for them. Give them information about your reach, audience and the benefits of winning.
Guest Posts
With influential bloggers, one of the best ways to get in touch with their audience is by contributing a guest post to their blog. It helps establish you and your brand as an expert in the industry. Plus, you also get quality backlinks.
This approach will require you to do some research, and a lot of bloggers might not reply to your emails or even accept your guest post, so you have to be prepared for that. The ones who do accept guest posts may have editorial guidelines so read those very carefully.
Also read: The Top 11 Benefits of Guest Blogging
Affiliate Marketing Programs
Lastly, you can do affiliate marketing programs. What are these? These are programs that connect advertisers with publishers so they can reach and influence audiences. In simpler terms, they help brands connect with influencers.
You can sign up for one, but it can cost you when you earn a bit of coverage from influencers. Most programs work on a cost per acquisition or cost per sale model. Each of the networks you find online is different. Take the time to explore and see which one fits your brand.
With the rise of social media and blogging, there is a shift in how brands can reach consumers. For some, traditional advertising may not work anymore. That’s why a lot of companies work with influencers to expand their brand awareness and exposure.
Consumers are also turning to people they know like influencers especially when it comes to service and product recommendations. As such, it is imperative that you invest in partnering with influencers, bloggers and content creators who resonate with your brand. You have a lot to choose from so be sure to select the right one.
