What comes to your mind when a social media star or celebrity makes mention of your brand? Of course, it is the attention and publicity it will garner from the audience. This is termed influencer marketing. Influencer marketing has disrupted marketing strategies as it has earned increased trust from clients.
What was obtained in the past was the domination of the influencer marketing arena by celebrities. However, the table has turned, with the upsurge in social media influencers. In other words, influencers are not necessarily celebrities.
Social influencers are usually individuals with high social following and have earned a high level of trust from their followers such that recommendations from them, concerning a product or service, have the drive to convince a brand’s potential clients into buying their products or service.
Influencers add credibility to any content they share about a brand, and brands that are perceived as industry leaders and known to be trustworthy. Despite the great potentials influencer strategies avail businesses, a huge chunk of them – both small and online – are yet to tap into them. The following strategies are usually employed by influencers, and the good news is that you can also become a pro at the marketing process.
Be Authentic
The increase in the demand for authenticity was a result of the increasing level of exposure of clients, especially as it regards the use of internet and the social media. Clients can easily see through the insincerity of inauthentic brands, and are quick to call out such brands on the social media. The effect is better imagined than experienced.
Being authentic and honest in your actions earn your brand significant trust, which can bring you sales and positive feedbacks. One of the ways to be authentic is by providing quality content and only rendering services on which you possess the required level of expertise and experience.
Also, capturing your brand’s behind-the-scenes operations can help you to achieve authenticity. This exposure helps to connect with your audience more effectively, thus making them to build trust with your brand. No one wants to associate with a brand that is not relatable.
Speak to them, not at them
Your clients are at the center of your brand and its marketing strategies. How you communicate with them determines how well they will be interested in dealing with you. The first approach is to get to know them. Understand their needs and make sure your responses to them revolve around those needs.
Then establish a personal connection with them. Neither you nor your clients are machines; you are both humans who share some feelings. Ask about your clients’ day, work, or family without getting intrusive. Some clients may not want to talk about your personal lives – just avoid asking them personal questions. Seek clarifications where necessary. Don’t get too emotional with criticisms from clients by being harsh at them. Remember, you are selling a product or service to them.
Be seen on platforms
Social media use is at the heart of an effective marketing strategy. Platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. are the best means through which you can meet prospective clients for your brand. Like influencers, build social credibility by establishing your brand as an independent thought leader. Social media platforms afford you the opportunity to grow as well as expand your reach and influence, and you can leverage the positive effect of social media to carve a name for your brand.
Note that relationships are complex, and can’t be built overnight. They are developed gradually. Apart from creating a social media account, you need to interact with your clients – both prospects and existing ones. Social engagement increases the performance of your branded profile. Make regular posts, request for feedbacks, and respond to inquiries. Clients love brands with whom they can establish a strong kind of connection.
In all, be sure to find the platform(s) where a significant chunk of your clients visit frequently. Decide the amount of time you want to spend online every day.
Invite them into your space
With the continuous expansion of the digital space, we also want our clients to share in our space. When clients step out of their space into yours, they are simply getting into an entirely new environment. Make your space inviting to your clients by making it comfortable and interactive.
It is always fun to share your space with your clients. This is because it is one of the platforms where you have the opportunity to share your brand story. The goal is to let them be aware of how your space is able to accommodate their needs. For physical offices, you can add some conversational pieces, such as a decorative lamp, wall pictures, among others.
All these accessories bring life into your workspace, and can ignite a profitable conversation that can make prospects to conduct business with your brand.
‘Free, free, ask’, give them a free bite of your product or service
Promoting a new product or service could be a daunting task as people do not always want to be the first to use a product or service. People tend to make purchasing decisions based on recommendations from other people who have used the same product or service and were satisfied. One of the ways of drawing people to your brand is by offering a free bite of your product or service.
Write an ebook that creates value for your prospective clients or probably solves a particular challenge. Then offer it for free on your website. People are always attracted to free things. However, when you give such powerful information for free, you should be able to get something from your clients in return. In exchange for the free book, get their emails.
If you want to expand your customer base, you may have to get over the fear of offering “too much” to your prospects. Remember that you have a lot of competition and need to stay above them to succeed.
Create the best education platform
Education is an essential aspect of customer experience. Educating your clients on how your product works or what your service entails can influence their purchasing decisions. Clients want to turn to brands that establish themselves as experts in their field of interest. Such brands are seen by them as reliable.
Creating how-to videos, tutorials, and demos can bring exceptional results, including lead generation and increased brand visibility. Once you have positioned your brand in a manner that makes your clients to stick with you, they will go nowhere else for either similar product or service. Remember you must be able to set yourself apart from other brands within your space.
However, as a brand that is established on credibility and has earned a great reputation, be sure that the information you are providing to your clients is accurate. Otherwise, you may lose your clients’ trust and loyalty. Clients who don’t get value will always hesitate to convert to the next stage of your marketing effort – a signup, download, or purchase, as the case may be.
Blog about solutions
Blogging is a great strategy to build relationships with clients. What topics do you think will appeal to your prospects and clients? Blog about solutions offered by your products or services. Only quality content can drive the needed traffic to your posts.
You can also share your expertise or experience and expand your brand by tapping into someone else’s audience. This is known as guest blogging. Doing this requires you to identify blogs that are frequently read by your prospects and seek necessary permission to guest post on them. Make sure you blog on topics that are relevant to the blog and can create value for readers.
By having clients register on your website, create a checkbox where they can register their interest in receiving weekly or bi-weekly newsletters from your brand when they read your posts. This helps you to expand your customer directory.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing strategies are here to stay, and one of the greatest hacks that can give you optimal results is to find the right influencers to partner with. In other words, if your brand deals with cosmetic products, a beauty influencer will be the perfect match for you. Influencer marketing is a very profitable strategy for your business. A statistics report in 2019 revealed that, for every $1 invested in influencer marketing, businesses generate $5.20.
It is also projected that the influencer marketing space will hit $15 billion by 2022. Thus, tap into the numerous potentials offered by influencer marketing through the strategies highlighted – being authentic, speaking professionally to your clients, creating an inviting space to them, having social media presence and engagement, providing free bite of your product or service to them, educating your prospects, and blogging about solutions.
These strategies help to improve overall customer experience, which is essential for getting positive reviews that translate into increased sales. Remember you are in a fiercely competitive market, and without doing something unique, you might not be able to beat the competition.
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