And of course, we need to start at the beginning: creating your influencer strategy<\/a>.<\/strong>To have a full influencer marketing strategy by the end of next week, enroll in our free 1-week ecourse.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before designing your campaign, you\u2019ll need to figure out what you want to get out of it. There are a lot of ways to use influencers across different areas of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you want to drum up awareness for your company\u2019s latest product? Drive traffic to a certain web page? Make sales? Secure certain types of media coverage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Tweet “Choosing your goal upfront will help you design the rest of your influencer strategy.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Choosing your final goal upfront ensures that it\u2019s kept in mind throughout every stage of the planning process. Your specific goal will determine where you look for influencers, what niches or communities you look in, what their involvement with your company will be, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, let\u2019s say you work at a video game company. You could use influencers in a number of ways to meet different goals. If your end goal was brand awareness, you might reach out to as many influential gamers as possible to talk about any of your games online. However, if your goal is to sell your latest release, you might want to focus more on finding gamers to write in-depth reviews:<\/p>\n\n\n (image source<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now I\u2019m no gamer, but that review is pretty persuasive. Much better for driving sales than a tweet to the info page. However, sales won\u2019t be everyone\u2019s goal every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ve picked a goal. How do you determine whether or not you\u2019ve meet it by the end of the campaign? That\u2019s right, we\u2019re going to talk about KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to measuring the success of your influencer strategy, pick both qualitative and quantitative goals. Why? Because qualitative data adds context to hard numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Tweet “Collect both quantitative and qualitative data for your influencer campaign.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n For each piece of quantitative data you\u2019re collecting, select one or two ways you can add context to that number. To continue the above example, let\u2019s say your gaming company is focusing on a review campaign right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One piece of quantitative data you\u2019ll keep track of is the rating your game was given. But in addition to that, describe how positive or negative the review is, which parts of the game the review focused on, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Congratulations! Now that you\u2019ve decided your goal and how to measure it, you\u2019re ready to start nailing down details. (If you think it\u2019s weird that we still haven\u2019t actually found influencers, don\u2019t worry. They\u2019re coming up soon.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why do you want to plan out everything before reaching out to anyone?<\/strong> Because when you do make contact, you want to have everything ready to go. One of them could contact you 5 minutes after your original outreach, ready to get started. You want to have instructions, collateral, etc. ready for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What kind of prep material is required will depend on your specific campaign, but here are a few things you might need to plan out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Tweet “Aim to have every detail planned out before you begin influencer outreach.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, you need to have every detail decided on by the time your outreach begins. Because if someone is replying immediately, they\u2019re enthusiastic about your offer – capitalize on that<\/a>. Don\u2019t wait until they\u2019ve cooled off to get the partnership off the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Tweet “Use tools like @Mention, @BuzzSumo, and @BuzzStream to find influencers for your campaign.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aha! Now it\u2019s time to start finding people to actually participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tools like BuzzSumo<\/a>, BuzzStream<\/a>, and Mention Influencer Score<\/a> can tell you all you need to know about influencers in your target space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, you could find reviewers for your video game by setting up a Mention alert for a recent game release similar to yours. Make a list of any gaming reviewers about the game with an influencer score over 65. Then use BuzzSumo to find out which ones are getting shared the most on social. Start looking for their contact information and keep track of it all in BuzzStream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Tweet “In your pitch, give influencers everything they need to say “yes” to your campaign.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the somewhat nerve-wracking part: making contact. You\u2019re finally ready to pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First of all, make sure you\u2019re contacting them through their preferred channel. Unless there\u2019s public proof they accept pitches via social, always try contacting via email first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Right off the bat, show some personalization. Avoid sending \u201cBCC\u201d mass emails and always use the recipient\u2019s first name somewhere (if you don\u2019t know it, find it). A personalized intro also helps display that you want them<\/i>, not just any random person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep your email as brief as possible, but be clear on what any influencer participation involves. Sum up what you\u2019ll be expecting of them, and what you\u2019ll offer in return. Give them everything they need to say \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most important part of preparing an influencer strategy is that your prepare it before anything else. Start at the beginning to figure out the ideal outcome, then work your way backwards: What do you need to do to get to that goal and who will help you get there?<\/strong>Step 1: Choose Your Primary Goal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"influencer](\"https:\/\/mention.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/video-game-review.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nStep 2: Determine Your KPIs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 3: Build Your Campaign<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Step 4: Conduct Your Research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 5: Make a Connection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"influencer](\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/1896803\/ef0fae38-750f-427d-974f-d8b8c014da3c.png\")
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