How to Get Your Small Business Started on Instagram Influencer Marketing

Instagram Influencer Marketing sure is a powerful tool — one that small businesses can leverage for success. Social Media Today’s list of ways Instagram has transformed society notes how successful brands have leveraged the platform’s army of popular accounts to launch and market their business on a global scale. Choosing to follow in their footsteps on this non-traditional route for advertising can do wonders for your small business, too.

But First, What is Instagram Influencer Marketing?

Instagram influencer marketing is a digital marketing strategy that entails collaboration between a brand and an Instagram influencer. The details of their partnership can vary, but it is most often in the form of product mentions in their posts, cross-promotion, sponsorship’s, and referrals. It is similar to celebrity endorsements of the past.

What are Influencers?

For this type of marketing to work, small businesses turn to Instagram influencers expressly. These are people who have built up a social following based on the type of content that they post. Many belong to specific markets like fitness, or more specialized niches like fitness for post-partum women.

Influencers who have a more general tone and content naturally have a bigger follower count. Those who are more niche are considered micro-influencers, but they are still highly influential in their segment and are not to ignore either. In this regard, petal Card’s guide to Instagram Influencers identifies three rungs on the influencer ladder based on follower count, which determines how much each influencer gets paid per post. The micro-influencers above have follower counts between 6,000 and 10,000 users, middle-tier influencers enjoy audiences just under 100,000, while the highest rank includes those with 200,000 followers or more. The more extensive an influencer’s reach, the more opportunities for them to monetize — and the more it will benefit (and cost) you.

Why are they useful for Small Businesses?

Other than their follower count and reputation, one thing that influencers work hard at a building is trust. Compared to Hollywood celebrities and other bigwigs, they’re more relatable, and their audience highly values their recommendations. If they share an opinion on a product they like, chances are, their followers’ interests will pique into purchasing and trying that product out for themselves.

Getting started on Instagram Influencer Marketing

Small businesses can hire a digital marketing agency for planning out an influencer marketing campaign, or they can also reach out to influencers for a possible collaboration themselves. These three tips should help you in doing that:

Identify your Niche

At this stage, you should already know your business’ target market. Knowing this helps you to scale down your search for the right influencer based on interest, age, location, and aspiration.

Also Read: Email Security: How to Protect your Business from Threats?

Find the right Influencer

Using hashtags or geotags can help you search for relevant influencers. For example, if you’re selling workout supplements, you can use hashtags like #fitness and pick the location to search for influencers within your area.

Go through the kind of content they post and how that aligns with your overall branding. Don’t choose an influencer based solely on their following, as they might not be the right fit for your brand. Focus on micro-influencers who are in your niche or are related to it. The more organic the partnership, the more successful they’ll have when inciting interest in your product.

Don’t forget to cross-check the engagement they have versus their follower count. As we’ve mentioned before, Instagram’s algorithm is based on engagement, which bodes well for your brand if an influencer gets more likes and comments even with a low follower count.

Court them and maintain the Relationship

Business 2 Community’s article on contacting influencers recommends starting with the most straightforward approach: through Instagram direct messages (DM). Given the lack of formal, try to be quick, straight to the point, and friendly. But prepare a back-up email in case your direct message gets lost in the many messages they probably receive.