Influencer Marketing Strategy Template

Influencer Marketing Strategy Template

Many marketers find it difficult to develop an effective influencer marketing strategy. You may benefit from using an influencer marketing strategy template that walks you through the process of developing your brand’s strategy. Alternatively, you can refer to an influencer marketing strategy example to get some ideas. 

Either way, your influencer marketing strategy will be a key part of your campaign. Any brand interested in trying influencer marketing must take the time to develop a smart and effective strategy. The first step is defining your goals for the campaign. 

What Are The Main Goals Of Using Influencer Marketing?

Brands implement influencer marketing strategies with a variety of goals in mind. Some brands are trying to build brand awareness, for example, while others are focused on increasing conversions. Since influencer marketing can help brands in many different ways, it’s important to think carefully about your goals for your campaigns. 

So, what are the three main goals of influencer marketing? Of the goals brands have for their influencer marketing campaigns, these are likely the top three:

Building Brand Awareness

Influencer marketing campaigns are a great way to make more consumers aware of your brand’s products or services. By working with influencers in your niche, you can get your brand out in front of your target audiences. And since social media users already follow and trust your influencers, the positive messages about your brand are much more impactful. 

Increasing Social Engagement

Brands often use social media influencer campaigns to increase engagement on their own social media pages as well. Engagement on social media includes likes, comments, and shares. Influencer marketing campaigns can help you boost these metrics for your brand by putting your brand’s social media pages in front of more people. 

Not only does higher engagement show that audiences are more invested in your brand, but it also improves your standing in most social media algorithms. Choose influencers with high engagement rates to have the best chance of increasing your brand’s social engagement with an influencer campaign. 

Driving Conversions

At the end of the day, driving conversions is typically one of the main goals of any marketing campaign. A conversion occurs when someone in the audience of your marketing campaign completes an intended action. Depending on your goals, the intended action might be signing up for an email list, downloading an ebook, or simply making a purchase.   

Influencer social media campaigns can increase conversions for your brand by tapping into an engaged, interested audience. When an influencer speaks positively about your product or even just posts content of them using it, their audience will be motivated to take your intended action.  

Other goals you may consider for your influencer marketing campaign include:

• Improving brand loyalty- Influencer campaigns aren’t all about attracting new customers. You can also use influencer marketing to accomplish the goal of better brand loyalty from your existing customers. In particular, working with influencers who act as your brand ambassadors is a great way to improve brand loyalty to your company. 
• Driving traffic- You can use influencer marketing campaigns to drive traffic to your brand website or social media pages. Your influencers will include a link to your socials or website (or both) to help direct their audiences and drive traffic there. 
• Reaching new markets- Influencer marketing campaigns can also help you break into new markets that you haven’t previously targeted. By working with influencers established in those niches, you can present your brand as a strong option for those new consumers. 

What Are Good KPIs For Influencer Marketing?

Once you know what goals you want to focus on during your influencer marketing campaign, you should tie those goals to key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are concrete measurements of how well your campaign is progressing toward your goals. These are some of the KPIs that you should consider tracking:

• Number of impressions- The number of times your campaign content showed up in people’s social media feeds.
• Engagement rate- The ratio of engagements (likes, shares, comments, etc.) that your campaign posts get compared to your influencers’ follower count. 
• Follower growth- The increase in your brand’s social media follower count. 
• Conversions- The number of times audience members of your campaign take a specific action (e.g. completing a sale, signing up for something, downloading a resource). 
• Web traffic- The increase in traffic to your brand’s website. 

All of these are quantifiable metrics that offer insights into how well your campaign is performing. You can track them manually, but the better option is to use tracking software. Most influencer marketing platforms like Lionize automatically track key metrics like these and display them in a convenient dashboard. 

What Are The Most Effective Strategies For Influencer Marketing Campaigns? 

To achieve your influencer marketing goals, you need a strong influencer marketing strategy. But where do you start? The first step in developing an effective influencer strategy is doing some research.

Step #1- Research

Research to determine which social media platforms your ideal audience uses most often. For example, if you’re trying to reach a Gen Z audience, TikTok is probably the best platform for your campaign. You should also do research on how much influencers charge in your niche and start thinking about what types of influencers you want to work with. 

But what are the 4 types of influencers? They are:

• Nano influencers- 1,000 to 10,000 followers
• Micro influencers- 10,000 to 100,000 followers
• Macro influencers- 100,000 to 1 million followers
• Mega influencers- Over 1 million followers

More and more brands are working with nano and micro influencers. Though it’s somewhat counterintuitive, working with influencers with fewer followers can actually be a more effective influencer marketing strategy. They offer higher engagement rates on average compared to influencers with more followers and typically charge lower prices. 

Step #2- Set a budget

Once you know approximately how much influencers charge, you can set the budget for your campaign. Keep in mind that if you work with an influencer marketing agency or platform, you will need to pay additional fees. Your budget will be an important factor in your influencer marketing strategy. With a larger budget, for instance, you may be able to run concurrent campaigns across multiple social media platforms if that fits your goals. 

Step #3- Choose your influencers

The stars of your influencer marketing campaign are the influencers who participate. Carefully select influencers who fit in your budget, post content in your niche, and generally fit well with your brand. Consider not just the influencers themselves but also their audiences. The best influencers largely have followers in the demographics you’re targeting. So, if you want to reach men aged 30 to 55, for example, don’t choose an influencer with mostly female followers in their 20s. 

If you run an influencer campaign and don’t get the results you were looking for, what then? The best way to improve influencer marketing campaigns is to revisit your strategy. Look over your influencer marketing strategy deck or strategy presentation and try to find weak points to improve upon. 

What Are Some Influencer Business Plan Examples?

When you recruit influencers to participate in a campaign, that means entering a business agreement between your brand and the participating influencers. Don’t forget that the influencers are running their own businesses too. You have to convince them that working with your brand is the right move for their businesses. 

You may also need to convince stakeholders of your company that an influencer marketing campaign is worthwhile. That’s what an influencer marketing proposal is for. This proposal should include an explanation of your strategy and show how working with influencers can help you reach your marketing goals. If you get stuck while drafting the proposal, you can use an influencer marketing proposal template. Search “influencer marketing proposal pdf” to find some examples online. 

How Lionize Can Help With Your Influencer Marketing Campaign

Developing an influencer marketing strategy for the first time can be intimidating. Luckily you don’t have to do it by yourself — Lionize can help. 

Lionize is an innovative, AI-powered influencer marketing platform that simplifies influencer marketing for brands. From finding and recruiting the right influencers for your campaign, to building influencer relationships, to tracking and reporting your results, Lionize is the tool you need to tackle influencer marketing and start increasing brand awareness.

When you work with Lionize, we’ll provide a dedicated Account Manager who will help you develop your influencer marketing strategies. You don’t have to be an expert — we’ll help you build and execute a successful influencer marketing campaign for your brand. Just select the influencers you like best and watch the success of your campaign through our convenient dashboard interface.

Don’t just take our word for it, though. You can see the power of the Lionize influencer marketing platform for yourself by booking a Discovery Call today.