How Can Influencers Help Grow Your Business

Partnering with influencers could get you in front of new customers and build trust at the same time. Discover how.

Have you thought about using influencers to advertise your business? Also known as content creators, influencers are people who have built up a reputation on social media. They usually have at least a few thousand followers who trust them and their recommendations.
 
Influencer marketing can be an effective way to boost your profile. Think about it: if an influencer posts about you, it could get your business in front of their followers who could turn into new customers.
 
Here’s what you need to know about partnering with influencers:
 

1. There are different types of influencers

Nano-influencers: those with 10,000 followers or less.
Micro-influencers: those with 10,000 to 100,000 followers.
Macro-influencers: those with 100,000 to 1,000,000+ followers.
 

2. You can pay in products or fees
    

In exchange for posting about your business, influencers will usually want a product or service for free. The partnership goes two ways, though, so decide what you want from them before you move forward (such as a certain number of posts) - and make sure you have a written record of the agreement. It’s also worth bearing in mind that macro-influencers might charge a fee for promoting your products due to their high number of followers.
 

3. Avoid negative posts

Whilst you’ll want influencers posts to be genuine, you also don’t want them bringing down your company. If they do have negative feedback, we recommend suggesting that you try to resolve it first before they post. This could result in a more positive review from them as you’ll have demonstrated that you’re great at customer service and putting things right, too.
 

4. You’ll need to do your research

It’s important to find an influencer that matches your brand and values. There are a couple of ways to do this:

• Do an online search of influencers that relate to your type of business (for example, home decoration influencers) and make sure they’re local to your country or region.
• Check their Instagram and TikTok accounts to see what brands or businesses they already work with to make sure there isn’t a clash.

 

5. Work out who you want to target

Think about who you want to encourage to shop with you. If it’s a particular customer base, such as new mums or dog owners, you could try looking for influencers who actively promote products or services related to these people.
 

6. Be aware of the advertising rules

Influencers posting about free products or services counts as advertising – and social channels tend to have rules in place for this. Make sure you and the influencer are both aware of these before they post anything.
 

7. Always check your results

Once influencers are out there promoting your business, track whether they’re giving you results – such as new followers on social media or increased sales. If you’re able to offer discounts, a great way to track how many sales an influencer’s driving is to give them a specific promotional code to post – that way you can track how many times it has been used.

If influencer marketing sounds like something you want to try, start by contacting a few with a direct message on one of their social channels or through an influencer agency if you have the budget - and discover whether this form of advertising works for your business.