One of the most challenging stages for any business is introducing its products to the market. As traditional marketing strategies are becoming less and less fruitful, savvy businesses now utilize influencer marketing to reach more customers, attract more of them, drive up sales, and improve the business’s public image.
So how exactly can your business attract more customers through influencer marketing?
Work with the Right Influencers
Before we dive in, it’s crucial to identify and choose the ideal influencer for your campaign. These influencers are the voice and face of your brand to their followers. If they match well with your brand values and speak the language of your target audience, it’s like speaking directly to potential customers through a trusted friend. Their authenticity matters because it builds trust – people are likelier to listen to a recommendation from someone they trust.
Working with the right influencers is not just about having a big following; it’s about having the right kind of influence. When influencers genuinely connect with your brand, their recommendations feel natural and relatable. It’s this relatability that can turn a simple post into a powerful marketing tool.
The right influencers bring a sense of authenticity and credibility to your brand, making it more likely that their audience will be interested in what you offer.
Now that you have chosen the right influencer, let’s get started!
Create a Sponsored Post
Creating a sponsored post with an influencer is the most straightforward way to partner with them for your brand. In this approach, you simply reach out to an influencer and ask them to craft a post featuring your product in exchange for payment.
This is a common and widely used method in influencer marketing. The influencer, in turn, incorporates your product into their content, whether through photos, videos, or a combination, and shares it with their audience on their social media platforms.
The influencer’s endorsement in the post adds a layer of credibility, making it more compelling for their followers. This straightforward collaboration not only facilitates brand exposure but also creates a direct link between the influencer’s recommendation and potential sales for your brand.
It’s a simple yet effective way to leverage an influencer’s reach and engagement to drive up sales and build brand awareness.
Run a Free Product Gifting Campaign
Running a free product gifting campaign, if done right, can be a successful way to drive up sales with an influencer. When influencers showcase your products to their followers, it’s like when you give a gift to a friend, and they love it so much that they tell everyone they know. People are more likely to buy when they see someone they trust using and loving a product.
A well-executed influencer product gifting campaign also creates excitement and curiosity around your brand. When influencers share their experiences with your products, it generates interest and can lead to increased website visits and, ultimately, more sales.
Product gifting campaigns usually work well with nano-influencers and micro-influencers since they have a more engaged audience. On top of that, those two kinds of influencers are usually very interested in product gifting, so they are more likely willing to work with you.
Create an Affiliate Program
Launching an influencer affiliate program can be a smart move to boost sales. When influencers promote your products and earn a commission for every sale they drive, it’s a win-win. They have an extra reason to talk about your brand, and you get more eyes on your products. It’s like having a team of partners actively working to bring in customers.
The beauty of an influencer affiliate program lies in its simplicity. Influencers share unique links, and when their followers purchase through those links, the influencer gets a cut. This incentivizes influencers to promote your products authentically and turns their loyal followers into potential customers. It’s a straightforward way to expand your reach, build trust through personal recommendations, and, in the end, increase sales as a result of these genuine connections.
Run an Influencer Brand Ambassador Program
Running an influencer ambassador program can be a smart strategy to boost sales. An ambassador is like a superfan of your brand who shares their love with their followers.
When influencers become brand ambassadors, they’re not just promoting a product for a one-time deal; they’re forming a long-term partnership with your brand. This builds trust and credibility, making their recommendations more powerful.
An influencer brand ambassador program is an ongoing relationship. Ambassadors regularly share your products, creating a consistent presence in front of their audience. This continuous exposure helps to strengthen the connection between your brand and potential customers.
Brand ambassadors are like having a group of trusted friends vouching for your products, which can significantly influence their followers to make a purchase. This sustained and genuine support can drive up sales by turning casual onlookers into loyal customers over time.
Create an Ads Campaign
Running an influencer ads campaign becomes even more potent when you collaborate with influencers to craft compelling content for your brand. You can actively involve influencers in the ad creation process by requesting them to generate engaging materials suitable for running ads across various social media platforms.
This collaboration could take the form of dynamic short or in-depth videos highlighting your product’s features or even straightforward photoshoots featuring the influencers, which can then be shared on your brand’s social media channels.
By integrating influencers into the ad creation process, you not only harness their creativity but also tap into their ability to connect authentically with their audience. The content they produce, whether through video demonstrations or visually appealing photos, carries the influencer’s genuine endorsement, adding an extra layer of credibility to your ads.
Host a Meet-and-Greet
Hosting a meet-and-greet event with influencers featuring your products can be a powerful strategy to drive up sales. In such events, influencers have the opportunity to interact directly with their audience, creating a personal connection that goes beyond what traditional advertising can achieve.
The genuine enthusiasm and personal touch that influencers bring to these events can significantly impact their followers’ perception of your products, fostering a sense of trust and authenticity.
During a meet-and-greet, influencers can showcase your products, discuss their features, and share their personal experiences with them. This firsthand engagement allows their followers to see and experience the products in a real-life context, making it more likely that they’ll be interested in making a purchase.
The event itself becomes a dynamic platform for potential customers to ask questions, seek advice, and receive direct recommendations from influencers they admire.
As a result, the meet-and-greet not only amplifies brand visibility but also creates a memorable and positive association between the influencer, your products, and the potential customers – a combination that can significantly drive up sales.
Meta Whitelisting (FaceBook and Instagram)
Meta Whitelisting basically involves authorizing specific Facebook and Instagram users, including influencers, to run ads on your behalf. If you allow influencers to create and boost sponsored content using your ad account, you can expand the reach of your products to their engaged audience.
Meta Whitelisting can also provide a level of control and transparency in influencer collaborations. As the brand, you maintain oversight of the ad creation and targeting process while benefiting from the influencers’ creativity and audience connection.
This collaborative effort creates more brand visibility and also increases the likelihood of driving up sales by reaching a broader and more receptive audience through the trusted voices of your chosen influencers.
Spark Ads (TikTok)
These ads on TikTok allow you to collaborate with influencers who resonate with your target audience. By partnering with influencers, you tap into their creativity and authenticity, as they have the knack for producing engaging content that aligns with TikTok’s energetic and trend-driven atmosphere.
Through Spark Ads, influencers can showcase your products in a way that feels natural and appealing to their followers, creating a seamless integration that goes beyond traditional advertising.
TikTok’s algorithm also prioritizes content that resonates with users, potentially leading to increased visibility for Spark Ads. The interactive and shareable nature of TikTok content can propel your products into the spotlight, generating buzz and virality.
As users engage with and share the influencer-created content, it creates a ripple effect, exposing your brand to a broader audience.
Ready to Start Collaborating with Influencers?
Finding the right influencers for your marketing campaign can be hard. And hopefully, the tips I’ve told you about will help increase sales with influencers.
Do not forget to read the rest of our blogs to learn more about working with influencers for your next influencer marketing campaign.
Book a discovery call with us to start working with the right influencers for your brand, hassle-free!
I’m Armand Manibo, an expert in influencer marketing with years of valuable experience. Through my work, I’ve partnered with hundreds of prestigious brands and thousands of influencers worldwide, generating over $500,000 in revenue for businesses. With a successful track record in influencer campaigns, I am proud to bring a wealth of insights.