How to Develop an Influencer Marketing Plan in 5 Steps

8/11/2016 How to Develop an Influencer Marketing Plan in 5 Steps

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John Connolly 23 hours ago

How to Develop an Influencer Marketing Plan in 5 Steps

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Admit it: you’re getting downright cynical towards ads and advertising, aren’t you? Well, who can blame you?

Ads rear their heads in every facet of our lives, make farcical claims and crowd everything else out. But

endorsements from friends and family can reverse those feelings. This is why advertisers have begun using

social media to peddle their wares. The ad world has discovered that when they can encourage folks to

recommend their products online they gain a unique advantage over their competitors.

“Influence marketing isn’t just about having followers,” says Kyle Wong, CEO of Pixlee, Inc., and a member of

Forbes 30 under 30. “It’s also driven by expertise and credibility on subject matter and the relationship between

the influencer and his or her followers. A deal is arranged – some form of payment – and the influencer uses

their various properties to release media in favor of a specific brand message. They’re not brand advocates and

ambassadors. Influencers are at the top of the hierarchy, and in the past this usually included niche celebrities,

personalities and well-known stars. But today there is a wave of everyday consumers that can have just as large

an impact.”

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5 Steps: How to Develop an Influencer Marketing Plan

Building a high-quality influencer marketing program is no mean feat. I’ve broken the process down into five

straightforward steps so you can use some or all of them as you build your company’s template depending on

where your marketing objectives, priorities and resources lie:

Remember to first define your online audience: Influencer marketing begins with identifying your target

customer and understanding who impacts how they’re discovering, evaluating and deciding to buy

merchandise.

Find the right influencers: Influence is subjective, so you’ll need to search for people who produce and

share content that impacts your business or your customer’s decision-making.

Monitor influencers for opportunities: Listen to your specific influencers and track their content. Ask the

questions—what topics do they write about, what are they sharing, what questions are their audience

members asking?

Take action and engage: Start building relationships through simple actions like following and sharing their

links, get to know them, build trust, then plan actions that will enable you to work together.

Measure your outcomes: Keep track of the relationships you’re building and how they’re converting into

concrete events like visits, introductions, mentions and eventually leads.

In the last few years, increasing numbers of brands and agencies have brought their influencer marketing in-

house, including Nokia, Jaguar and Abertis Infrastructure.

There are benefits—building an internal team to run your influencer campaign means an increased number of

influencer relationships, transparent pricing and a company structure that yields better content and returns. But

running campaigns in-house can be hard.

A report by eMarketer says 75 percent of influencer marketers struggle to find the right influencer, and another

25 percent have a hard time automating their campaign management. While this is true to an extent, the

benefits outweigh the risks. By building their own expertise and relationships today, these buyers will ultimately

earn the greatest ROI.

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Influencer Marketing SaaS Companies

Influencer marketing SaaS companies can help buyers run their own influencer campaigns. In a nutshell, they’re

software firms that charge a software license and offer companies an alternative. These companies focus on

building software for brands and agencies to run their own influencer programs.

Some SaaS platforms provide one application while others provide an end-to-end solution. Specifically, we can

break up the different applications into several categories:

Influencer discovery: Finding, vetting and connecting with influencers.

Campaign management: Creating campaigns, approving posts, signing contracts, issuing payments, etc.

Performance tracking: Tracking campaign performance and measuring ROI.

Influencer relationship management: Tracking, nurturing, and sharing your influencer relationships.

“We expect that the entry of SaaS influencer marketing companies will help brands improve these coveted

conversions they need to achieve string results across the social properties and within their respective sales

funnels,” Wong said. “When a brand can acquire and convert individuals into brand advocates and ambassadors,

it accelerates their growth. With this kind of optimized software, a brand’s social metrics capabilities are

advanced, their content burden is reduced and all social promotion becomes more powerful as a collective

whole.”

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Content Marketing

John Connolly

In the last few years, increasing numbers of brands and agencies have brought their influencer marketing in-

house, including Nokia, Jaguar and Abertis Infrastructure. There are benefits – building an internal team to run

your influencer campaigns means an increased number of influencer relationships, transparent pricing and a

company structure that yields better content and returns.

“More directly, this means a decrease in the barrier to influencer marketing, larger active communities for the

brand, better sales and reliable promotional strategies that have a fairly predictable dollar outcome for accurate

marketing budget management,” Wong said.

YouTube and Influencer Marketing

YouTube is the second largest search engine and has a monthly user base of just over one billion. Studies

indicate that the video platform has the best ROI when compared to other social media platforms.

YouTube sponsorships are one of the top-ranked customer acquisition tools. YouTube has always been the gold

standard when it comes to persuasive messages and achieving high conversion rates. Couple this with powerful

messages delivered to existing audiences by much-loved influencers and you have a recipe for success.

For example, Marriott many other travel brands are integrating top YouTubers into their marketing campaigns.

Marriott’s “#itpaystobookdirect” campaign was one of many such influencer marketing campaigns that proved

successful in educating travelers on the benefits of booking directly on Marriott.com versus third party sites.

“YouTube is the most effective platform for influencer marketing as it emulates face-to-face influence, enhances

storytelling for sales and is better at prompting action from viewers,” says Wong. “I find that YouTube as an

influence marketing platform works really well for products and services that require a little more education and

explanation. The impact has been higher reach, stronger sales returns and a ‘video influencer grab’ by brands.”

Influencer marketing gives folks an end-to-end solution that enables a company’s marketing team to deliver on

its revenue goals while simultaneously enhancing the relationship with your patrons. Shoppers are out there

asking questions and collecting information through avenues of their own choosing. At this moment millions of

shoppers are forming their own opinions and if you’re not there in the conversation you’re gonna lose—and

many do.

Has your brand embraced influencer marketing yet? Do you plan to do so? Let us know in the comments!

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How to Develop an Influencer Marketing Plan in 5 Steps

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