5 steps to building an influencer marketing strategy

Influencer marketing is no different to any other marketing activity – you need a clear strategy to make sure it delivers effectively against your expectations. You need to be able to set clear objectives – what are you trying to achieve – and then pave the way to hit them through a variety of tactics. For that, you need to understand what your goals are, which stage they fall at, and how you measure performance against them.

Following a strategic framework

A really simple way to make sure you’re always working towards the right objectives is to follow a framework when building out your strategy:

1. Define your goals
2. Choose a campaign “type” that meets your goal requirements
3. Define your audience – who will see the campaign
4. Identify the best partners 
5. Set measurement protocols

1. Defining your goals

Every strategy needs to have goals associated with it – what are you trying to achieve from the campaign? For example, your objective might be to drive more signups to your newsletter, so your goal could be to achieve a percentage of total signups through influencer marketing. 

To define your goals, you need to understand what the end outcome is and why, and then work backwards.

2. Choosing a campaign type

Campaign types will vary depending on what your goals are – some are better suited for driving awareness where others are better suited for driving action. Understanding the different types of campaigns available will help you choose the right one:

Action: Product

• Product placement
• Giveaways/competitions
• Unboxings

Awareness: Creative

• Sponsored social media content
• Integrated content
• “Brought to you by”
• Social media takeovers

Mixture: Personal

• Brand ambassadors/long-term partnerships
• Events
• Shoutouts
• Affiliate & discount codes

3. Defining your audience

For influencer marketing campaigns to work, you need to make sure their audience is the same or very similar to your own – if you’re working with an influencer who has a different audience base you’ll run into trouble further down the road. 

Have clear guidelines for the audience you want to reach and what you expect they will do/how they will react to the campaign. If it feels like a stretch, you might need to revisit the objectives of the campaign.

4. Identifying the best partners

It isn’t just about reach anymore; there are so many influencers at different scales from micro all the way through to mega influencers and your objectives (and budget) will determine who you can work with. 

Studies have shown previously that micro influencers tend to see the best engagement levels from their followers, and while this differs by platform and industry it’s worth keeping in mind when you’re setting your expectations and selecting your influencer shortlist.

5. Set measurement protocols

For any campaign, you need to know what you’re measuring and how that compares to expected performance. To do that, you can use either:

• Similar campaigns you’ve run before
• Industry benchmarks
• Case studies from similar companies

Knowing what you’re going to measure is the first step, but then you also need to know how to measure the campaign performance. For most campaigns, the best measurement is ROI – understanding what you got in return for your investment – but for some you’ll want to look at softer metrics as well like engagement rates, or clicks through to your website, or mentions of your brand across social media. 

Having a clear understanding of what you’re measuring, why, and how will form the final part of the strategy. If at any point one of the above doesn’t slot in then you’ll likely need to revisit the objectives you are working towards and make sure they are the right ones. 

If you want to know more about measuring the performance of influencer marketing, or how you can set the right goals or choose the right partners, download our eBook on Proving the ROI of Influencer Marketing. 
Want to take your influencer marketing campaigns to the next level? Get in touch with our team today to discuss your requirements.