Influencer marketing is a known practice when it comes to online marketing. There’s hardly any business that’s not engaging the audience with the help of influencers. It breaks the advertising fatigue which the audience experiences through regular promotional messages. All businesses, small or large tend to go for an effective collaborative effort to reach their target audience.
If we try to define Influencer Marketing it can be an attempt to reach the ideal target audience through collaboration with influencers that are related to one’s business offerings on various social media or online platforms.
Influencer marketing can expand the reach of a business in a short time. It is more creative than traditional ways of marketing. Also, if we consider the audience which we cater to today, it is not easy to appease them. Our target audience is tech-savvy and brand conscious. They can differentiate between genuine content and a marketing message. It will be foolish to take the consumers for granted or to underestimate them.
With a lot of platforms and adless portals, the attention span of customers is decreasing. Gone are the days when advertisers had 30secs to communicate with their audience. Today, you’ve 5 secs to grab their attention.
In such a world where effective communication has to be done with minimum time, Influencer marketing allows marketers to explore the sponsored content for such communication.
Influencer marketing is perceived as advice instead of marketing. Even the sponsored content when received with a story or as a part of regular content gives a breath of fresh air to the audience. It can work as an efficient reminder to the audience. It can increase the value and credibility of your business thus, making you distinct from your competitors.
Now when it comes to product launch with the help of influencer marketing there’s a lot at stake. As a business, you cannot gamble about a new product launch. It has to be strategic and meticulously planned. Something that makes a lasting impact resulting in higher conversion rates.
Here’s how one can plan a Product Launch with Influencer Marketing:
1. Relevant Influencers:
Remember, they represent your brand/business. Choose wisely. Create eligibility criteria starting from the category of influencers, no. of followers and it can go up to any specific requirements you may have as a business. Name a field and you will find hundreds of influencers, it is you as a business who will streamline them.
Companies even do a background check and look for past scandals regarding influencers. If there’s any which can harm the brand image or product potential that influencer is not selected. Make sure your influencers are not only cohesive but also are good to represent your business and offerings in the world outside social media.
Go for an interview. Listen to their ideas. Understand the kind of content they put up and the tone in which they communicate with their audience. Make sure both you as a business and the influencers are on the same page.
Involve legal obligations. Create contracts that will retain your influencers for a longer period. If influencers change now and then your credibility decreases. Take your time and be as specific as possible when it comes to selecting your influencers.
2. Be Transparent with them:
As your influencers don’t just ask them to promote your product. Let them experience the product before the launch. Let them have insight into what they’re promoting. Make one of the firsts to know your products and their functions.
Influencer marketing is collaboration. Influencers are not your subordinates. They’re an equal party willing to promote your product. Show them the trust and share information with them. Encourage their questions and resolve any doubts they may have.
This way, when they promote your product they will know how to resolve any questions which the followers may have. Also since they’ve used your product they can share their experience and provide a first-hand review which will reduce ambiguity on the part of the audience. This will make the audience know that they’re not looking for something random out of the blue. Rather the experience shared by the influencers will work as value and authority for your brand.
3. Don’t forget Email Marketing:
Email marketing is a known tool. Tried and tested several times to stand out amidst the chaos of all glamorous tactics. Email marketing can help you to be super specific and target even the niche of your audience.
Now, where and how do influencers fit into this equation, and how does email marketing work exactly here?
Influencers have a significant number of followers. This means they’ve acquired a good list of reliable Email-Ids. As a business, you can use this to your advantage, and the audience benefits through it as well. Email blast or blog posts can be done easily with the help of influencers. Even unboxing videos can go on social media as well as YouTube.
This allows you to reach the same person twice through two different platforms increasing the probability of conversion rates.
4. Content is the King:
The most important thing when it comes to influencer marketing is the content itself. Authenticity along with creativity can lead to an effective campaign. Influencers are experts when it comes to content creation. They know how to strike a balance between engaging and informative content. They have the knack for effective communication.
Involve your ideas along with their creativity. Let the influencers enjoy autonomy over content creation. Focus on achieving your goal as a business but enjoy the influencers’ creativity. Make sure the content is unique and well-targeted.
5. Contest and Giveaways are Enjoyed by Everyone:
Create buzz and get them talking…these are the phrases heard and repeated often when it comes to targeting the audience through social media.
You need to have top of the mind recall in the minds of your audience. That can be done effectively with help of contests, giveaways, and even discount codes which will vary as per the influencer. Create hashtags to suit the contests.
Do some pre-launch events which will entice the audience and increase contact between the influencer and the audience.
6. Deliver on the Launch:
After going through the entire process business cannot mess things in the end. It is essential to be prepared for the launch. Not only the glamourous announcements but also the delivery part of the promise. You need to be out there on every platform in ways you’ve promised the audience. You can give them incentives but underperforming is underwhelming.
Your website should work properly. If pre-orders or pre-bookings are done, deliver them on priority. Make sure your stocks are intact and your customers won’t suffer. Call-To-Action channels should function and aid should be provided immediately for customer queries.
If you’re planning for a countdown make sure there’s less probability of a tech-glitch. Also, your website should be prepared for a heavy responsibility and it should not stop working. Payment options need to be feasible and accessible for your audience. Under-promise and over-perform but make sure your audience is impressed and well satisfied by not only just the promotion or launch but also with the overall product performance.