How to Start an Influencer Marketing Program

Influencer marketing has been gaining ground as an effective strategy for businesses of all sizes to support brand equity building, market penetration and ROI. In fact, 61% of consumers say they trust influencer recommendations — and businesses report generating an average of $5.78 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.* However, getting started can feel intimidating for companies that are new to this space, so we asked Alyssa Zipperer of Anthologic to share a few tips.

What is influencer marketing and why should a company use it?
Influencer marketing involves working with individuals who have a large following on social media to promote products or services. These individuals can help businesses reach a wider audience, build brand awareness, drive sales and foster long-term relationships with customers. For companies new to the concept, we know influencer marketing may seem risky, hard and expensive. And to be honest, it can be. But it’s also impactful, trackable and necessary if a brand is looking to evolve and stay current.

What does it take to be successful with influencer marketing?
Successful influencer marketing involves more than just finding an influencer with a large following and paying them to promote your brand. It takes time to build long-term relationships with influencer partners based on trust. It also requires products and budget resources to compensate influencers for their time and effort. On top of that, you must be willing to allow influencers to create content in their own style and voice to ensure it feels authentic to their audience. A lot of care goes into vetting, negotiating, contracting and developing rapport to ensure the best results.

How do you recommend getting started?
Starting an influencer marketing program can be daunting because it involves facing the unknown. Here are three practical ways to ease into it.

1. Explore different social media channels. See who’s using your products or competitive products, as well as what type of influencer content is being created in your space. This will help you identify potential influencers who have already expressed an interest in your industry. It will also help you stay on top of the latest trends and adjust your influencer marketing strategy accordingly.

2. Use industry trade shows for relationship-building. Before the event, research the influencers scheduled to attend and reach out to ask the ones you’re interested in if they would meet with you for a quick chat. You can also attend sessions where influencers are speaking and introduce yourself afterward (be genuine and interested in their work; don’t just pitch your business). After the trade show, follow up to thank the influencers you met and offer to send them more information.

3. Start small, test and learn. Try different strategies and see what works before committing to larger influencer partnerships or campaigns.

• Looking for a cost effective approach? Consider starting with nano- or micro-influencers in a specific industry. Nano-influencers (<10K followers) and micro-influencers (10K – 50K followers) may be more open to working with smaller budgets. While their audiences may be more modest, they may also have a more engaged and loyal following, which can result in higher conversion rates for your brand.

• Send a PR package with a sample of your product. If the influencer shares positive content about it, consider engaging them for a larger partnership. If your product has a higher price point, try a temporary arrangement like a seasonal product loan. Both options allow you to test the waters without committing to a long-term partnership or significant financial investment.

• If you’re not quite ready to work directly with an influencer, explore influencer-adjacent opportunities. This includes placing ads on specific influencers’ content, which allows you to piggyback on their existing network and reach. Plus, analyzing the performance of these ads can help you determine which influencers would be the best fit to potentially work with directly.

How do you approach influencer marketing at Anthologic?
We create opportunities for influencers to integrate our clients’ products and solutions into their content in a natural way. This can be done in exchange for product only or in exchange for payment, depending on the influencer’s following and our campaign objectives. At the end of the day, our goal is to curate a bank of content with robust messaging validating our client's products. Our process looks like this:

• Planning comes first. Determine milestones and metrics for success before you begin. For example, will total video views be the primary KPI? Is one platform more important than another?

• Next, identify influencers. Put yourself in your target audience’s shoes and immerse yourself in industry content to see which key players emerge.

• Reach out and build relationships. Figure out what’s needed to make the partnership a win-win for both the influencer and the brand. It may be as simple as sending product in exchange for content, but depending on the industry and influencer popularity, it might also involve payment.

• Create content. Once we’ve negotiated terms, we may provide some talking points, but we tend to take a hands-off approach. We want to make sure our content creator partners have creative freedom to ensure their content resonates with their audiences.

• Track and report. We meticulously comb through the influencer’s content to ensure it’s in line with agreed-upon terms and continually track it for real-time data that we incorporate into a comprehensive report.

Is influencer marketing worth the investment?
In our experience, yes. Influencers give your brand a power that is unmatched. Their broad reach, authentic voice, and loyal followings create a combination that’s nearly impossible to replicate. As with any new marketing tactic, though, you have to look at the time you spend versus the return it provides to decide if it’s a good fit.

By working with influencers, you’re essentially creating additional touchpoints for your audience — and if done right, it can lead to impressive conversion figures. The real value of influencer marketing is less about the individual tactic, and more about how it contributes to a comprehensive marketing strategy and ultimately gets your prospective customers over the finish line.