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Influencer Marketing within a Budget

There’s no doubt that influencer marketing has unmatched penetration. Everybody from retailers to creatives has taken to the trend like fish to water.

The writing on the wall is pretty clear. COVID or not, this marketing channel has no shortage of takers. However, there’s one user demographic that’s still not sure how to harness influencer marketing.

Which one?

Small businesses.

Influencer marketing campaigns are more affordable than ever before. In fact, 60% of content creators are willing to work for lower than normal rates, and 87% just for product freebies of high value.

If that doesn’t motivate small businesses to jump into the fray, we have got four cost-effective influencer marketing campaign ideas below.

1. Niche Influencer Marketing

If you plan to use influencers to build your industry reputation and achieve targeted reach, niche influencers are your best bet.

These influencers are industry experts, opinion makers, and thought leaders. Most of them are micro- or nano-influencers who believe in the adage of quality over quantity – both in terms of follower count and client count.

Don’t be fooled by their modest number of followers. Research (cited before) proves that engagement is higher when influencers have fewer followers.

Niche influencers work for a select few clients who can add value to their personal brand. They rarely ever work for monetary gains. They believe in value exchange.

Why so?

Because their followers take their word for law. If they collaborate with mismatched brands just for money, their credibility suffers. They lose authenticity, which is what differentiates them from other influencers.

For all of these reasons, niche influencers are tailor made for small businesses. But identifying them is a tough task. You need to find the perfect combination of content-creation skills, topical authority, and domain expertise.

2. Product Collaboration

Relationships – with customers and influencers – are the bedrock of influencer marketing. You’ll be surprised to know that 96% of influencers are keen to cultivate relationships that go beyond sponsored content with their favourite brands.

Content-creators want a bigger say in the product development process as well. They want to help plan and develop the products/services their partner brands are offering.

But why?

Three reasons:

• They get to show off their unique voice and style.
• They deliver better value to their followers.
• They lay the foundation for entrepreneurship.

For small businesses, co-creating products with influencers is a winning strategy.

3. Sponsored Reviews

Sponsored reviews might look like a done-and-dusted tactic, but they still work, especially when they come from influencers.

Better still, use your loyal customers and employees as mouthpieces. There’s no rule that says influencers should be celebrities. In fact, relatable influencers are 2x more trust-inspiring than plastic icons.

More importantly, 88% of people trust reviews from other consumers almost as much as they trust recommendations from friends.

If you’re still inclined to use influencers to write reviews, better to opt for ones who have an affinity towards your brand. You can use social listening tools like Mention to identify influencers who are talking passionately about your products.

Then what?

Approach them with an enticing collaboration proposal, and they should be happy to promote your brand, maybe even for free!

Encourage your influencers to create reviews in varied formats to cater to audiences with different tastes. They can share user-generated content from their followers of those followers using your products and raving about them.

Video testimonials from real users can be a powerful hook for new customers. Remember, community-generated content is more compelling social proof than studio-shot creative.

Don’t forget to repurpose influencer-created reviews to enrich your content strategy. Attach them to emails and sales pitches to get instant credibility.

Small business and influencer marketing is a match made in heaven. There are many innovative ways by which small businesses can capitalize on influencer marketing, even with a limited budget. Instead of shooting in the dark with unfamiliar tactics, it’s better to use the strategies outlined in this blog to ensure you are efficiently using influencer marketing within a budget.