Best Ways to Build a Business Brand through Influencer Marketing

Back in 2015, we’ve seen one of the first and probably the most prominent influencer marketing successes – Daniel Wellington’s influencer marketing campaign.

Basically, the brand involved influencers of the highest caliber to promote its watches on Instagram. The goal was to increase awareness and exposure. As a result, Daniel Wellington, which was a $15,000 startup, managed to earn $220 million just from its influencer marketing efforts.

Today, you can hardly impress anyone with influencer marketing. It’s a very popular strategy, and more and more brands try to tap into it. According to Oberlo:

• 93% of brands use influencer marketing
• 9 out of 10 marketers confirm that influencer marketing is effective
• 57% of marketers also confirm they are planning to increase their influencer marketing budgets

Indeed, influencer marketing can bring really good results. But its biggest perk is that it can help young brands and small businesses gain popularity and recognition.

Basically, a collaboration with an influencer allows small businesses to take advantage of the influencer’s audience, which trusts their opinion and recommendations. As a result, it’s a quick way to get more customers and let more people know about your brand and product.

But what are the most effective ways to build a business brand through influencer marketing? How to make sure that you don’t waste this opportunity?

Let’s take a look.

1. Involve an Influencer into Creating Educational Content

More often than not, brands collaborate with influencers on the content that doesn’t really bring any value. Usually, it’s a post where an influencer simply showcases a product and tells a short story about a brand, similar to this example below:

Such content rarely offers something truly valuable, except for the discount code that an influencer shares with their audience.

However, if you own a young business new to its niche, your influencer marketing campaign needs to contribute something meaningful. For example, you could partner with an influencer to create a series of educational content.

A good example this strategy in action is NYX Cosmetics. When the brand was still growing, NYX invited Nikki Tutorials, a popular YouTube beauty guru, who filmed a few videos teaching the brand’s audience different makeup techniques:

NYX Cosmetics also invited other influencers related to the industry to film various tutorials. As a result, the brand created a whole set of videos on how its audience can use its products.

Why invest in educational content featuring influencers?

The answer is simple – such content is not only entertaining, but the audience can actually get real knowledge out of it. As a result, such content is more memorable and will represent you as an authoritative brand.

#2. Collaborate with an Influencer Who’s a Fan of Your Brand

If your business has been around for a while and you’ve gained some loyal customers, try to find out whether there are influencers among them.

Partnering with an influencer, in this case, is very beneficial – if they are your fan, they’ve probably cast a light on your brand already. As a result, such promotion will look more natural and not forced.

A good example of such a partnership is the collaboration between Roots Canada and Simplynailogical, a Canadian YouTuber. The brand learned about the influencer’s love for its products launched an affiliate campaign. As a result, the influencer’s followers could shop the brand’s products with a discount:

However, even if you happen to find an influencer who’s also a long-time supporter of your brand, you still need to verify whether they are a good fit for a partnership.

It’s important to find an influencer within your niche. For instance, if you own a foreign language school where people learn Italian, it would be more fitting to find an influencer who’s not just from the industry of education but is also connected to teaching this language.

Also, it’s important to check whether the influencer’s audience is interested in offers from your brand. These people need to fit your target buyer profile and fall under the same demographic criteria. Otherwise, you risk wasting your money on targeting people who won’t benefit from your product.

#3. Partner with an Influencer to Support a Good Cause

If your goal is to boost brand recognition, you might want to focus on something other than content that only generates revenue. Money is good, but it’s not always connected to brand awareness.

In this case, you might want to collaborate with an influencer to support a good cause. For instance, Vessi, a footwear company, partnered with a bunch of influencers to announce a giveaway:

In this giveaway, the brand gifts free pairs of shoes to all frontline workers, teachers, restaurant workers, and others who continue supporting our society during the pandemic.

Such content can be a great addition to your influencer marketing strategy. But, keep in mind that partnering with an influencer who has a big audience is not always a good idea. Here, it’s more important to find someone who’s a passionate supporter of the cause you want to promote. Otherwise, your audience might consider such a campaign a fraud.

Final Thoughts

Influencer marketing has immense power. It can help small businesses grow overnight just by giving them access to their audiences.

If you want to get the most out of a partnership with an influencer, try co-creating a series of educational content that would feature your product but also teach your audience something valuable.

Another option is partnering with someone who’s been a dedicated supporter of your brand. This is a natural and organic way to promote your content without forcing it.

And lastly, collaborate with an influencer to promote a good cause. But make sure you find someone who’s been involved in the same cause and has a history of participating in charities.

About the Author!

Ryan is a passionate blogger and writer who likes sharing his thoughts and. Now he works as a content editor and internet researcher, you can check his site. He likes to travel and explore new countries.