There are hundreds of ways to approach influencer marketing, but not all will be effective. Missing just one step can mean your hard-earned money goes to zero.
Don't overthink it—adopt this free Influencer Marketing Strategy for Small Business instead. It provides a clear roadmap for selecting the right influencers to market your product and outlines the essential steps for a partnership that can boost your sales immediately.
2. Introduction
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Influencer marketing is a powerful tool to establish your brand and generate sales in
the short term, but I've seen many people complaining that "it's not working." It's not
the tool that might not be working for you; it's your approach. This marketing tool is
pretty expensive, so you want to be very well prepared when starting to invest in
influencer marketing. Don't leave it up to chance: the success of your partnership with
influencers must be driven by smart strategies, not just luck.
By following this plan, you will be able to see tangible results in days, not months.
3. Understanding
the Target
Audience
02
01
PREPARATION
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Understand what you aim to achieve
with the partnership. You may have
different goals: drive short-term sales,
increase brand awareness, or build
your brand by association with key
people. Different influencers work for
different goals. Only when you know
what you’re looking for can you find it.
DEFINE YOUR GOALS
How do you find them? Research: there
is no other way around it! If your
product is local, you might already
have an idea of who the right
influencers in your area are, but it’s not
enough; you still need to research and
look outside your little bubble. If your
product is global, then finding the right
people can be a bit more challenging.
You should view influencer collabs as a
long-term marketing effort and plan
them long-term.
IDENTIFY THE RIGHT INFLUENCER
4. Research with your goals in focus. Does this person appeal to you or your ideal
customer? Are they interesting? Convincing? Do you want to be like them? There
are plenty of influencers around, DO NOT choose them just because they have
100k followers. Choose them because they are appealing.
If your goal is to drive more sales, influencers who share tips and advice work
best. It’s way better if an influencer has an audience who is already trained on
buying from them. For example, a beauty influencer who shares her beauty advice
and makeup tutorials in front of the camera would work better for your jewelry
brand than a fashion blogger who is just sharing beautiful pictures of her outfits
but not talking much in her stories.
Generally, more following = more sales, but once you have selected a
niche/region you want to conquer, a mix of big influencers who sell + micro
influencers for added brand awareness is a good mix. You want your customer to
feel FOMO because everyone is using your product and to buy it.
If your goal is to raise your brand value by association, then choose the
coolest/most experienced/whatever your needs are people in the space. They
might not be the ones who sell but they are respected due to the things they’ve
done. I assume you're working with budget restraints, so I would probably partner
with these influencers with free product but not buy specific ads from them. It
really depends on your goals though!
Research each person: check their followers to see if these are real people you
want to reach, check how engaged their audience is. If they are asking for advice
in the comments - that is excellent. Do not fall just for likes and view count on
their reels - analyze every measure and you can also ask the influencers you want
to work with for their audience insights.
Talk to colleagues working in your or similar niches and consult on the people
that worked best for them. You want to take every step to minimize the risk of
shooting in the dark.
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO WORK WITH:
PREPARATION
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5. 2 Types of
influencers
to avoid
PREPARATION
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Beware of those who overshare on social media without adding
much value to their followers - if they are creating 40 stories a day
about every little thing that happened to them, is your promo
really going to be seen by their followers? Or will they just get
bored scrolling through endless stories and move on to someone
else?
NARCISSISTS
Do NOT fall for pretty models who are just sharing pretty photos of
themselves in a bikini and getting thousands of likes, without any
communication or value to their followers. They tend to have huge
numbers, but their audience might be all male and they would
never really sell.
BIKINI MODELS
Useful tool:
Find TikTok influencers using
Daily Nugts
6. EXECUTION
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Outreach
strategy
Iinfluencers aim to earn, making contact generally easy. Check their bios for email
addresses, which should be visible within seconds, or DM them personally. However,
it's best to avoid DMs, as influencers receive hundreds or thousands daily. If a
manager's account is linked, contact them directly. Develop a personalized approach
for your initial contact. Remember, significant influencers can afford to be selective;
ensure your product appeals to them and their audience, sparking genuine interest in
sharing your product.
My experience consistently shows that strong relationships with influencers lead to
superior content. It’s about human connection, so it’s vital they're genuinely excited
about your product, as this enthusiasm will be reflected in their content. Be amiable
and work on building a rapport, adding personal touches to the product you're
offering them if possible.
Discuss and finalize deliverables, timelines, and compensation. Ideally, sign a contract
for each project, but if not, ensure all terms are agreed upon in writing.
7. Content plan
EXECUTION
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Provide all necessary product information and content guidelines. Since you chose an
influencer for their unique style, avoid dictating exact text for them to copy. Instead,
trust their knowledge of their audience. Offer concise guidelines on essential
information to share, aiming for an ideal match with their tone of voice.
Don’t expect them to extract the right information from your website! Since no one
knows your product and its benefits better than you, it's crucial to communicate this
directly to the influencers. Outline your product's key features and consistently
emphasize these points with every influencer you collaborate with. Encourage them
to create engaging content by sharing compelling stories about your brand. For
example, if promoting gold-plated jewelry through beauty influencers, don't limit the
content to them wearing the jewelry. They could also educate their audience on
taking care of plated jewellery, highlighting what sets your jewelry quality apart from
competitors.
8. Get even better
results
EXECUTION
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Add urgency by offering special deals to the influencer's followers,
time-limited or accessible only with a promo code/affiliate link.
This not only allows performance tracking but also motivates
immediate purchases.
Direct their followers to follow you - this is a must and absolutely
overlooked by most brands. Spend mondey once, talk to their
followers forever! Ask the influencer to encourage their followers
to give you a follow, ideally repeating it a couple times and adding
a big tag to your profile. A bigger tag converts much better than a
smaller mention.
An influx of traffic to your social media and website is expected.
Confirm your website can handle the surge (consult your hosting
service about temporarily upgrading your plan). Feature your best
deals and content prominently. Make sure your latest content is
interesting - people will come to check your profile and if they
don’t find it engaging, they are not going to follow.
Thank them for their work and if you liked working with them, try to
build a relationship from here: offer gifts for special occassions,
approach them for a second collaboration later on and engage
with their content in the meantime.
9. Pay-per-post
1.
Run this if you're: Testing the waters with influencer marketing.
How to do it right: Choose influencers who genuinely resonate with your
brand to ensure authenticity.
Affiliate marketing
2.
Run this if you're: Looking to pay for performance, ideal for subscription
models.
How to do it right: Offer attractive commissions and keep open
communication.
Paid retainer
3.
Run this if you're: Aiming for a deeper, ongoing relationship.
How to do it right: Set clear expectations and KPIs, and regularly review
performance.
Gifting
4.
Run this if you're: Looking for cost-effective brand awareness.
How to do it right: Target micro-influencers whose audience matches your
ideal customer profile.
Product Co-Creation
5.
Run this if you're: Have already tried & tested the influencer, want to generate
extra excitement around your product
How to do it right: Co-Create a unique version of a bestseller you already
have.
Revenue share
6.
Run this if you're: Interested in aligning incentives for long-term partnerships.
How to do it right: Clearly define revenue-sharing terms and support
influencers with resources.
Equity share
7.
Run this if you're: Ready to invest in influencer at a strategic level. Only do this
if you have identified the”perfect” influencer with whom you worked many
times.
How to do it right: Ensure the partnership terms are clear and mutually
beneficial.
8.. Sponsored livestreams/other events
Run this if you're: Works well for product launches.
How to do it right: Choose influencers who are charismatic, plan interactive
sessions that highlight product but also has some sort of storytelling, live Q&A.
MAIN TYPES OF BRAND/INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS
PREPARATION
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10. Just after the campaign is finished, it’s the time to deploy your arsenal of analytics
tools. Whether it's Google Analytics for web traffic, social media insights for
engagement metrics, or sales figures for conversion rates, having a set of metrics at
your fingertips allows you to gauge the true impact of your efforts. What hit big? What
was a total miss? Each campaign is a learning opportunity, preparing you to make your
next collaboration even more successful.
Influencer marketing is not a set-it-and-forget-it strategy; it's a dynamic dance of
creation, connection, and calibration. Take these insights, refine your strategy, and
step into your next influencer partnership with confidence and clarity.
MONITORING & MEASUREMENT
CLOSURE
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On average, a customer needs to hear
about your product around 7 times until
they are ready to make a purchase.
11. I help small
businesses get
more orders by
matching them
with the right
sales &
marketing
strategies.
Contact if you’re
looking for ways to
grow your business or
follow the newsletter
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to make customers
excited to buy from you.
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