Diving head first into the world of Instagram influencer marketing can be scary at the best of times. So, how can you get your feet wet and be prepared enough to know how to swim when the waves get rough?
Well, this blog is a fantastic start.
Today I’m going to give you some insight into how you can get started with influencer marketing and make sure that you are contacting Instagram influencers the right way so that you truly get noticed.
Ready to get started? Pop on your swimming cap and let’s get in!
Instagram Influencer Marketing Prep
Before you start contacting Instagram influencers all willy nilly, you’ll need to make sure that they are…
1. A good brand fit (personality, content, views)
2. Have a high engagement rate (above 3% on Instagram)
3. Have an audience with your ideal demographics (location, age range)
To find the answers to these questions, here are the things that you must do:
1. A good brand fit
If you want to create an effective strategy, you need to invest time in research. Have someone in your team go through a few of their Instagram posts, blog posts (if they have them). Then do a quick google search of their name or blog name. It’s best to do your research here to make sure the influencer hasn’t been caught up in any recent scandals that could damage your brand by association.
2. Have a high engagement rate
To find out the engagement rate of the influencer you are looking to work with, download the Plann app and go to the analytics section. From here, tap on the mask icon in the top right hand corner and search up that influencer’s username. Here you will discover their engagement rate as well as best performing posts, best times of day to post, best color scheme and best hashtags which will all help you with ensuring that your influencer brief is going to help you get the best results possible.
3. An audience with your ideal demographics
The last part of your Instagram Influencer marketing prep does require some digging if you plan on doing it manually. If you can to make this easier you should try and contact the influencer via email and request a media kit. Usually, an influencer’s media kit will include a breakdown of their audience. If they don’t have this, I would be hesitant to recommend working with them!
You can store all the information that you learn about potential influencers in an excel spreadsheet so that it is quick and easy for you to review all of them at once and decide at a glance which ones would be worth working with for particular projects.
Depending on your business size it can be worth having a section in your spreadsheet dedicated to the influencer’s pricing for sponsored Instagram posts VS sponsored blog posts and sponsored Instagram Stories.
PSST -> Here’s how you can edit your Instagram photos like a pro
Instagram Influencer Marketing Tools
As part of your Instagram Influencer research, we would highly recommend downloading the Plann app and using it for the sneaky peek feature, as mentioned earlier.
Other than that, we really love the Mailshake software for adding some automation to your Instagram Influencer outreach.
With this software you will be able to craft your initial outreach email, introducing your brand to the influencer and suggesting the collaboration, as well as follow-up emails if the influencer does not respond to that first email.
The way the software works is if the Influencer does respond, the follow-up emails will stop being sent out. You can personalise the first outreach email for each influencer before sending them all out and you can have as many or as little follow-up emails as you’d like.
If you are a small brand or have a small marketing team, this software really helps you to cut down on manual time and will ensure that you are only spending time on chatting to the influencers that are truly interested in collaborating with you. And for $29 a month? Totes worth it.
PSST -> Here is how you can prioritize your business growth this year.
Instagram Influencer Marketing Insights
Here are some interesting facts about influencer marketing that have caught our attention recently.
*70% of Teens Trust Influencers More than Traditional Celebrities
*On Average, Influencer Marketing Campaigns Earn $6.50 for Every Dollar Spent
*57% of Fashion and Beauty Companies Participate in Influencer Marketing
We’ve also seen some fantastic success stories from small brands with big visions who’ve started working with Instagram influencers on different campaigns.
“Sales spiked 700% by Tash Oakley posting in my scarves – my followers increased by about 3000 too! Instagram is a very powerful tool.” – Sophie Robertson
For more Instagram influencer marketing inspiration be sure to follow @sophierobertsonscarves.
PSST -> Did you know that Instagram influencers should have business profiles on Instagram?
Phew! That was a lot of Instagram influencer marketing inspo, hey?
Finally…
If you are feeling excited and inspired NOW is the time to sit down and map out your Instagram influencer marketing campaigns for 2019.
Good Practice
It’s always good practice to contact influencers using their business email address. Be extremely clear with your campaign brief so that there is no confusion. Better yet, organize an influencer marketing contract to ensure everything is handled professionally.
Just Getting Started?
If you’re just getting started with influencer marketing and don’t have a big budget to spare, you can offer product for free in exchange for exposure. This doesn’t always go down well. Even if you can offer $50 to a micro-influencer with 20,000 followers, this will give your brand a better reputation than simply asking for free exposure.
We all start somewhere, don’t we?
For more tips on Influencer marketing come back to our Plann blog again and again.
