A small business can benefit from influencer marketing in different ways. From creating awareness around what it does to generating demand for its products and services, there is a lot that influencers can do for small-sized businesses.
When a small business collaborates with an influencer, it can expect some of its followers to show interest in its offerings. An influencer, through its reach, can help a small business widen its consumer base and build a bigger identity for itself as a brand.
Sometimes, a small business wants to invest in influencer marketing but is not aware of the right methods, channels, or techniques through which one can connect with influencers who can propel the growth of their brand forward.
Finding and collaborating with the right influencers is key to running a successful influencer marketing campaign. As long as you partner with influencers who can add some value to your brand, you can expect to benefit substantially from the collaboration.
A lot of times, influencers give insights to brands that help them come up with campaigns that break the clutter and contribute towards making their voice reach out to a wide audience. The expertise of influencers could help brands grow at a good pace.
Whether you are willing to pay a large sum of money to collaborate with mega influencers or are planning to find micro influencers for free, you should first know where you can trace them. As the number of influencers grows, finding the right ones for your business becomes all the more difficult.
Here are some of the ways in which small businesses can connect with powerful influencer networks:
Trending Posts
Tracking trending posts related to the industry you operate in proves to be a great way to find influencers who can be of some help to your business. If a particular post has gone viral, you should check who has posted or published it. After tracing the influencer behind the post, you should check the kind of following they have.
While searching influencers through trending posts, there are two things you have to be mindful of. Apart from being sure about the platform you want to search for influencers, you must ensure they belong to the industry or niche you operate in. A company manufacturing processed food items, that wants to grow on Instagram, should look for influencers on Instagram.
Influencer Marketing Platform
Influencer marketing platforms can be best described as tools that are designed to simplify the mechanisms involved in influencer marketing campaign management. These platforms come equipped with a plethora of features. They are known for having search tools that enable brands to find the right influencers for their campaigns.
Influencer marketing tools are of different types. You should do some research on the various influencer marketing tools available out there and determine which are the ones that could prove to be of some help to you. Some of these tools can also help you put together effective influencer marketing strategies that are driven by data.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis is important for businesses of all sizes and forms. As a small business, you have to keep a tab on what your competitors are doing and the kind of tricks and techniques they are using to stay relevant. Competitor analysis proves to be extremely helpful when you are trying to connect with influencer networks.
Once you get an idea about the kind of influencers your competitors are collaborating with, you can decide whether you would want to build an association with them or not. Ideally, if a particular influencer is already associated with your competitor, it would be a good idea to collaborate with somebody else.
Immediate Network
One of the simplest ways to connect with influencer networks is to reach out to your immediate network comprising friends, colleagues, business partners, and industry contacts. You could tell them about your criteria and the kind of influencers you are looking for and see if they can help you in your search.
You have the option of putting up a post on social media about the type of influencers you are looking for and the kind of campaign you need them for. Whether you hope to find micro-influencers for free or are planning to collaborate with mega-influencers, you can expect to get some help from the people in your immediate network.
Hashtags
Hashtags prove to be as useful for businesses and brands as they are for general social media users. As a small business, you can use the search functions of social media platforms and go through hashtags and keywords that are related to the products and services you offer. This will help you find influencers who are relevant and whose content is traveling well.
If you follow the right hashtags, you will find the right influencer networks in no time. A brand that specializes in manufacturing sustainable clothing items should follow hashtags like #sustainablefashion #sustainableclothing to connect with influencers whose work aligns with the vision of their brand.
Media Coverage
When an influencer reaches a certain number of followers or gets to a particular level, they get spoken or written about in the media. Once an influencer is covered by the media, you can find articles featuring them on different platforms. Apart from print articles, you can also expect to see their video interviews online.
Going through articles, videos, and other material on different media platforms can expose you to several influencers and the work they do. Many publications give one an elaborate idea about the number of followers and influencer has and the reasons why their followers look up to them. This will help you significantly in connecting with influencers who can help your brand.
Industry Events
Attending industry events is one of the most effective ways to connect with influencer networks. These days, most industry events and conferences are marked by the presence of influencers. These events and conferences, in fact, serve as a wonderful meeting ground for industry experts, entrepreneurs, and influencers.
By following certain pages or groups on social media, you can stay updated about such events. Attending every random event would not help. Therefore, you need to be discerning enough to figure out which are the events that can help you connect with people who can add value to your business.
Conclusion
For a small business, which has limited marketing funds at its disposal, accessing powerful influencer networks, proves to be a masterstroke. When you manage to build a strong association with a group of influencers, it helps your business tremendously in the long run. Reaching out to the right networks or groups and collaborating with the right influencers is key to growing your small business exponentially through influencer marketing.
