Influencer marketing has become a major trend over the last few years. While a lot of nonprofit organizations and small businesses dismiss it as irrelevant to industries that rely on real world interactions and have very little chance of going viral, there are benefits worth considering: building awareness for your brand or cause, attracting support or volunteers for fundraising events, getting your messaging in front of an audience with a high conversion rate, and improving search rankings by increasing engagement, shares, and backlinks. Whether you should work with an influencer depends on your overall marketing goals and the specifics of your organization. If you decide it’s right for you, here are some steps to make it work well:
- Decide what kind of audience you need to reach. Ideally, the audience you are looking to reach is the same audience the influencer already has. If they’re not the same, there should be enough overlap and/or psychological similarities to make the relationship make sense. If you are looking to promote environmentalism, for example, you want an influencer who makes environmentalist content. People who talk about specific environmental issues, meteorologists, park employees, and nature photographers might also be a good fit. You can also make certain assumptions based on audience personas you have researched and created. Most people who care deeply about the environment also tend to care about social justice issues, so influencers in that space likely have an audience that overlaps with your own. If you’re selling a product, you may have to be more creative when it comes to finding someone whose audience is right. If you’re selling in an already popular niche for influencers (health and wellness, tech, beauty and fashion, etc.) you will quickly identify influencers, but have a harder time standing out. If you’re not in a popular niche, you may be able to stand out but it will be harder to find popular personalities to promote your goods. Look at your customer personas and find their interests. Look at your competition and who they successfully market to. Check out the people following your own brand on social media and what their other interests are. Another approach if you have a brick and mortar is to look for influencers who are popular in your area. The web is worldwide, but there are still plenty of geographically specific accounts out there.
- Find the right audience size. Your first instinct may be to go after the most amount of people possible, but influencers with a large following generally charge more than most small businesses and nonprofits can afford to pay. Aside from cost, there are other benefits to a smaller audience: Nano and Micro-influencers (definitions vary, but generally anyone with 1,000-50,000 followers) tend to engage with their audiences more deeply than people with over 50,000 followers. This level of engagement creates trust with their audience, which translates to high conversion rates. Getting in front of even 1,000 people with a high conversion rate is more meaningful to your bottom line than getting in front of 1,000,000 people who don’t care. Another benefit to working with influencers with fewer than 50,000 followers is that you’ll have a much easier time getting a yes from them.
- Choose the medium and platform. Before you approach influencers, you should already be thinking about the outcome you want from the marketing campaign. You should know if it’s going to work better as a picture, a video, or a social post. Do you need someone with clout to wear a shirt about your cause, link to your store, review your product, or make an appeal for donations? Remember that typical influencer rates are higher for video because video takes more work, so keep that in mind when figuring out your budget or crafting an appeal for pro-bono work.
- Find the right person. Now it’s time to think about who to approach. Do not rush this step. It’s important for everyone involved that it be a good fit. When you’re starting your search, look at the influencers you already follow (presumably your interests overlap with those of your target audience). Follow relevant hashtags and see what content the community you’re looking to reach is already consuming (you should be doing this regardless of whether you want to work with influencers). There are also plenty of paid services, software solutions, and marketing agencies that specialize in pairing brands with influencers if free options aren’t working for you.
Once you have a list of potential influencers, follow each of them. Interact with their content, share their posts, and do a deep dive on their interests and opinions. It’s critical that their values align with yours and those of your customers or audience. Check out their follower list, what kind of engagement they get, and what brand they have worked with in the past. Make sure you dig their vibe, as it were, since they will likely expect a certain degree of creative freedom if they are making content centered around your cause or brand. If you are the least bit a control freak, you need to decide up front if influencer marketing is even for you. The relationship will not work without trust. - Figure out how to make the relationship mutually beneficial. Before you approach the person or people you have chosen, think about what both parties can gain from the relationship. First, think about what you want their audience to do. What will be the call to action that will make the partnership beneficial to you? Next, consider what possible benefits you can bring to them. Are you working for a cause that matters deeply to them? Do you have access to an audience they don’t typically reach and are you able to promote them in that area? Is there anything else you can bring to the table that would make them want to work with you?
- Decide your budget. Rates will vary, and most people don’t post them publicly, so you will likely approach them before knowing if the partnership makes financial sense for either party. That said, if you have established what you can afford and you have an idea of average rates going in, you’re in a good position for negotiations. According to Shopify’s 2023 Guide to Influencer pricing (click here for source article), a baseline cost for promoted Instagram ads is $100 per post for every 10,000 followers. For TikTok, the average is $800 for an audience of 1,000-10,000 and $1,500 for an audience of 10,000-50,000. Expect to pay extra for rush jobs, exclusivity clauses, and usage rights. Influencers that are represented by agencies will also usually charge extra to cover the agent’s fees.
- Give some real thought to what it means if your budget is zero. It’s not uncommon to ask for pro-bono posts, but please remember that when you do so, you’re asking someone to do their job for free. It is seldom appropriate to do so unless you’re a nonprofit organization with a mission that is near and dear to the influencer. If you do decide to reach out for an in-kind donation of this sort, please be thoughtful enough to supply your EIN, proof of your nonprofit status, a link to your organization’s website, and an ask that will take up no more than an hour or two of the person’s time.
- Reach out. In some cases, an influencer will provide clear instructions on how to reach out (usually by email). Follow any posted instructions to a tee. Send a short message that outlines how you found them, why you think you’re a good fit for working together, how the relationship will benefit you both, and what you would like them to do. Be respectful of their time and demonstrate knowledge of their brand. Don’t copy/paste the same letter to every influencer. Just as you would adapt a resume and cover letter for different jobs, you should adapt your letter to each influencer you approach.
- Be professional throughout, and thankful afterward. Once they accept the offer, clearly communicate your expectations and brand guidelines through a creative brief. Have a conversation with them about how to maximize your ROI while minimizing their effort and making the experience the best it can be for both of you. Thank them and pay them on time. Continue to engage with them and share their content in case you want to work together in the future.
- As always, analyze your data and measure your success.
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