If your social media marketing efforts have produced rather lackluster results −you're not alone. Rather than keeping at it and getting nowhere, or just giving up social media entirely. How about working smarter, rather than harder, and get your audience to be your biggest cheerleader.
If your social media issues include:
- Your audience not growing.
- Not investing digital/social media.
- Your engagement on social is from paid content.
- Your sales/donations are dipping.
Than Influencer marketing is for you! Influencer marketing leverages social media to identify and target thought leaders in your industry to promote your brand's message to their audience.
In 2015, nearly 85% of "marketing and communications professionals worldwide expected to launch at least one campaign involving an influencer in the next 12 months" and "over 80% of marketers who had launched marketing campaigns involving social media influencers found them to be effective for driving both engagement and awareness."
Influencers provide credibility, voice and reach.
The screenshot below is a great example of successful influencer marketing. WilmToday promotes local news, events and happenings in the city of Wilmington, Delaware. While promoting a local movie theater showing Ron Howard's film "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week." WilmToday tagged Ron Howard's Twitter account in their post. And with a little luck, Ron Howard retweeted their post taking their audience from 500 viewers to 1.5 million in a single retweet.
How to find Influencers: Hashtags
Search Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for people and brands that match the audience you are trying to connect with. Twitter is great for making specific lists of users that you have targeted and want to engage with.
Just click on the profile and settings button at the top right and scroll down to lists. You can either make them private or public depending on whether or not you want your audience to see who you are targeting. To add someone to a list go to their profile page and click on the gear button located on the right and select add to list.
Engaging with Influencers
- Start by following, liking, retweeting and mentioning them in your posts.
- Try to avoid being spammy as that comes off as being desperate.
- Most importantly tailor content to their interests. The more you strike their interest, the more likely they will be to spread your message.
Related: Create Social Media Graphics with Canva for Nonprofits
Influencer marketing is the cheapest, fastest way to grow your audience and spread your message on social media. Remember to be authentic, personable and in-the-moment with social media.
Don't be afraid to reach out to influencers with direct messages. If you have something of value to say that people should be hearing but they currently aren't, influencers are more than likely to be inclined to want to share your message.
Low event attendance got ya down? There's a workshop for that!
