9 Steps to Grow your Paid Influencer Marketing Business

When you look around, you see people online, looking at their phones and interacting on different social media platforms. If you haven’t noticed, we are all surrounded by influence and marketing.  The very foundation of influencer marketing rests on the fact that it is easier to influence people who are already influenced by someone or something.

Influencer marketing is more than just exposure. In the post-pandemic world, influencers, social media, and digital marketing have become integral to promote and market business. Despite a heavy barrage of advertising, most consumers say that their purchase decisions are heavily influenced by the recommendations of others.

What is influencer marketing?

In this method of marketing, you have to identify individuals who influence potential buyers. You have to orient your marketing activities around these influences. These leaders or influencers drive the brand’s message to the targeted market. Influencer marketing is the fastest-growing online customer acquisition method.

One of the biggest advantages of a social media influencer is the high level of relatability and relevance that he or she brings to a product or service. Today, every individual, whether in urban or rural areas, has a smartphone and internet connection. If they have created, they can produce content without any supervision.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of starting an influencer marketing business, and growing it gradually.

1. Just Start

If you think that you can make an impact and influence people positively, then just do it.  Not only do you have to be creative and passionate, but you must have the power to build a considerable number of following or audience within a distinct niche. The size of your following will depend on the size of the topic of your niche.

Develop the power to influence the purchasing decisions of others by gaining authority, knowledge, and position concerning your audience.

Try to become a credible and legitimate source, so that when you certify any product, the effort becomes effective and impactful.

2. Choose your niche

Start with a niche, and invest lots of time in it. Decide what your target audience is, and what kind of content you want to focus on. Choose one main topic; if you have a wide range of topics like beauty, fashion, wellness, etc., the brands might think that you are too diversified, and their message won’t reach their target audience.

You can be a blogger, Instagrammer, or YouTuber. Start posting good quality posts, relevant stories, or videos on your social media page.

You can have a niche that is not directly related to the product. For example, you can publish a travel vlog to exotic destinations. Amid the program, you can promote a sun-screen lotion. Make it discreet, so that it goes with the flow of the program.

3. Build your portfolio

The first thing that people will notice about you is your aesthetics, the quality of your content. To get the press, brands, or businesses to notice you, you have to create a media kit. It will contain a description of what you do, and the demographics of your target audience-their age, gender, location, etc. You have to constantly create new content to stay current and relevant to your audience.

4. Target the right people

The right target audience can make or break a business. If you know who will be interested in the products of your sponsor brand, you will be able to create a large customer base for them. One way to check if whether you have a large and loyal fan following, is to see whether your posts have a good engagement rate.

5. Create your brand

If you are starting from zero, you cannot expect to get paid right away, because you would not have anything to offer to the brands. Without rushing the process, try to attract more people.  Only then, will the brands be attracted to you? So, you have to love to do this work for free, until you no longer have to do it for free.

The brands will approach you if they know that your following is their target audience. You have to give a friendly review of a product and recommend your audience to purchase it. Do it like a word-of-mouth promotion, but on a larger scale.

You can focus on one country, or be an international influencer, with followings in different countries. This is important, because based on this, either a local brand may contact you, or a multi-national one.

A humanised and personalised approach can help drive the call to action that will trigger real-time conversions and successfully fulfil the specific brand agendas. The trick is to act as brand ambassadors without making it very obvious.

6. Make deals with brands

You can either approach the brand, or the brand can contact you. You then have to sign a contract for promoting their products. You create content about these products and put it online. Then you get paid. Sometimes the brands give you a referral link so that you get a commission out of a sale. Or, you can work out a fixed amount.

Remember, that when you are promoting a product on social media, you have to wear many hats - you have to be the model, the photographer, the stylist, and the advertiser. This is a lot of work, so work out your remuneration carefully. Treat it like any other business or job.

7. Be present on Instagram

As per Buzzoka, an influencer marketing company, 82% of marketers in India preferred Instagram as their choice for influencer marketing platform in 2020. Beauty and fashion brands get the most exposure on Instagram. So, if your niche is any one of these, you know where you have to be.

8. Learn to use Technology

Make your Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube profile attractive by using AI tools and the latest technologies. These will induce brands to promote their products on your page. There are several tools that you can use to monitor your influencer marketing campaigns. These will help you to tell the most profitable businesses how much leads and conversions are coming from your social media marketing efforts.

9. Why not be a micro-influencer?

Micro-influencers are people who have an audience of between a thousand to a million people. In India, they account for around 40 per cent of the online influencer market. If you are an expert in a particular niche like food, fashion, or travel, you can become one. Since you will have a small and focused group, you will be able to connect with your audience at a deeper level.

…But all is not hunky-dory!

The industry watchdog the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has recently labelled it mandatory for online influencers to label promotional content. They should display it prominently on all media like phones, tablets, etc. Experts believe that this step by the ASCI will cause the social media influencer market to shift by 20%.

Influencer marketing is versatile and can cover all marketing objectives. By 2022, marketers are expected to spend $ 15 billion on influencer marketing globally. An influencer has the trust of his or her followers and can transfer this trust to other brands. We hope that this article will help you to develop your strategy and get ahead in the influencer game!

Also read:

1) How Small Businesses Afford Digital Marketing?
2) How to Use Google Adwords for Digital Marketing?
3) What is Digital Marketing? Scope, Opportunities & more
4) Digitalisation - The next step in the evolution of Digital India
5) OkCredit: Simple, Paperless & Secure solution for businesses

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FAQs

Q. Many influencers show a large following fraudulently?  How do they do it?

Ans. They take the help of bots or false accounts to boost the numbers.

Q. How can I make my stories interesting and unique?

Ans. Try to use different emotions in different stories. This will make the page exciting and impactful for the audience.

Q. Why is it important to be honest and transparent about a brand in your posts?

Ans. This will create trust in the audience.

Q. Why should you be consistent about uploading interesting products?

Ans. This will create recall value in the minds of your audience. Your followers expect you to post quality content regularly, otherwise, they will stop following your posts.

Q. Is there any way I can reward my audience?

Ans. By coordinating with the sponsoring company, you can offer discount codes or special offers. It will be a win-win situation for all the concerned parties.