Today’s customers no longer trust branded content…they trust word-of-mouth marketing. They don’t want you to talk about how awesome your brand is. Instead, they want to see the transparent, non-promotional, and honest side of your business. They want to know and understand what your customers have to say about you. Some recent stats say that 62 percent of customers search for online reviews before making a purchase, while almost 90 percent of them trust brand recommendations from friends. With impressive numbers like these, it’s important not to underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Your online reviews, recommendations, and product ratings will increase trust and bring you better sales. Working with Influencers An influencer can be anyone with a massive following who listens to them and trusts them. For example, this could be a Hollywood celebrity, a popular blogger, a social media star, or an authoritative figure in your industry.
And, a referral from those people can help make your brand more visible and increase your credibility. But, how do you find them? You can start by doing a manual search. Use Google or social networks to search for the most popular hashtags in your niche and see who is using them. There are also numerous influencer networks you can use. Some of these, such as Hello Society, even classify influencer Diabetes Email List profiles by their niche. Once you find an influencer to work with, you will need to check on whether they’re the right fit. Analyze their website and social media profiles to check their credibility and see whether they target the same audiences as your organization. Most importantly, these influencers should know how to engage their audiences. Just because someone has 100,000 followers doesn’t mean they qualify as an influencer, especially if their followers don’t interact with their content. The only problem with doing a manual search for influencers is they are time-consuming.
Fortunately, there are tools to help automate the search process. For example, with hashtag research tools you don’t have to research hashtags manually. You can also use a link prospecting tool to find influencers for your brand. These tools will not only do the analysis but also eliminate poor results and offer a list of the most relevant influencers. Connecting with Influencers Build connections. Before you reach out to an influencer, start following them on social networks. Like and share their content regularly. Leave meaningful comments on their site and social media profiles. Get them to remember you. Create relevant and authentic guides and cite a reputable person in your niche. Once the article is live, connect with them, let them know they’ve been mentioned, and ask them to share the article with their audience. Send your products to an influencer for free. If the product is relevant to their audience and they consider it valuable enough, they’ll post a quality photo of it on social or even review it. Work with a micro-influencer. Statistics show that consumers are more likely to purchase a product recommended by a non-celebrity influencer.