Influencer marketing is basically reaching out to popular bloggers and influencers in a your niche with the goal of convincing them to promote your products or services.
In the digital marketing world, your challenge is to put your content directly in front of the movers and shakers of your industry via blogs and social media.
YOUR INFLUENCER OUTREACH PLAN
Create your influencers list: Your contact list is your raw list of a set of bloggers/influencers in your niche that you want to connect with. Create a spreadsheet and input websites, names and email addresses (this info can usually be found on the About or Contact Us pages. Sometimes you may need to direct message via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Refine the list as you go along.
Discover bloggers/influencers you’re not yet familiar with: You’ll also want to include bloggers/influencers relevant to your business that you’re not yet familiar with. Aside from simply searching for hours using Google, you can try Followerwonk, Buzzsumo or Klout.
Make yourself known: Familiarise yourself better with the content provided by the influencers on your list and start building relationships. Following are a few suggestions of how to do this:
- Share their content on a regular basis
- Respond/interact on social media
- Leave comments on their blog
- Send out a complimentary email – telling them how you enjoyed reading their blog
- Offer help in improving a resource or feature
Reach out: Your list is now warm so it’s time to reach out and emailing them is your first port of call. Craft a compelling and “personalised” message that effectively communicates your purpose for touching base.
The three main things that need to be in your message are:
- Be as clear and direct as possible
- Set some targets
- Show the value for them
A successful influencer program allows you the potential to gain social proof, testimonials, ambassadorships and puts your content in front of new and wider audiences. Definitely worth the investment!