“Influencer Marketing” can be a practical way to spread the word about your creative business and make it easier for customers to find you. Simply put, when you can garner recommendations from influential people in your niche, it can be a huge boost.
When a less-well-known author publishes a book and gets bestselling authors to write recommendations in the front of the book, that’s influencer marketing. If Stephen King says this book kept him awake all night, it must be good. If this book teach me fantastic cooking techniques that Mario Batalli didn’t even know about, it’ll surely help me. It works in other markets too; if this album has Jimmy Buffet’s toes tapping, sure, I’ll buy it! And commercials and ads featuring celebrity endorsements are an old favorite.
Influencer marketing can be used in pretty much any industry or niche, especially creative and artistic. People at the top have likely earned their reputations by struggling and proving themselves. No one “makes it” alone.
So what does influencer marketing look like, and how do you get the attention of influencers? Why should they help you? Are they actually that altruistic?
Start by looking for influencers who write great, valuable articles and blog posts that are related to your niche. An influencer is one who has a large following and high engagement on their posts. You can tell by how large their social media following is and how many people leave comments. These factors alone should be only one factor in choosing influencers to work with. Would your ideal customer be their follower?
When you reach out to influencers, it must be personal and one-on-one. You have to let them how what’s in it for them. It’s a good idea to have a contract between you, so you each know what is expected of the other. Influencers expect to be paid….usually. If you have a mentor who is an influencer, they may decide to take you under their wing and bring you along, but this isn’t the norm. Paying someone to talk up your business might seem shady, but it’s acceptable. The influencer’s reputation is on the line, so everyone knows they won’t endorse just any business, no matter how much compensation.
A word of caution: the Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on deceptive marketing, so be sure to disclose that the influencer is a compensated endorser for you. Just as you need to disclose affiliates you advertise on your site. The FTC monitors against deceptive practices such as not disclosing paid advertisers and affiliates.
For more info about influencer marketing, click here.
One more step forward on your path to success!
Photo by Alexander Solodukhin on Unsplash
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