Successful influencer outreach tactics for eCommerce sellers

In today’s social media age, influencer marketing appears to be ubiquitous. As 80% of consumers enjoy purchasing the product via their influencer recommendations, more and more online sellers invest millions of annual marketing budgets in their influencer marketing campaigns for brand awareness, conversion efforts, and impressive returns.

However, have eCommerce sellers know the best influencer outreach tactics to make the most out of it and how to bring massive returns for your store with influencer marketing.

No worries, this article will help you figure out effective influencer approach strategies for your brand success in 2021.

Let get started!

I. Influencer Marketing: What it is & how it works

1. What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing when a brand works with an online influencer who has a large social following to promote and engage with your brand’s message.

2. How does influencer marketing work?

While giving monetary incentives to an influencer is the simplest method to persuade them to promote your brand, it is not always the most successful technique.

Paying a huge amount of money for the influencer is not equivalent to the returns you get later; the results might not meet your expectations.

3. So what makes influencer marketing work?

Reaching out to influencers and persuading them to raise their voice for your brand is an effort-taking process. When done effectively, it can provide your online business access to many audiences willing to use your product or service.

Influencer outreach must be done carefully and carefully, from selecting the right individuals to appropriately contacting them.

Before jumping to figure out the most successful tactics for influencer marketing. Let’s look at the current state of influencer marketing and why your online business needs it.

II. The 2021 state of influencer marketing

1. The rise of influencer marketing

In 2020, a year like no other, influencer marketing has blossomed. Lockdowns resulted in increasing social media usage, a shift in customer behavior from Covid-19, production problems with traditional advertising, and audiences changing toward authenticity and curated content more than ever before. That’s when many online businesses tend to leverage influencer marketing.

In 2021, the influencer marketing business is expected to be worth $13.8 billion. The market has risen gradually yearly, but this year has seen the largest increase in influencer marketing.

Moreover, according to Google Trends, monthly searches for the keyword “influencer marketing” have increased by 5000% in this year.

What an enormous rise!

2. Why your brand needs influencer marketing?

All of the concerns above prompted several online retailers to collaborate with influencers to spread the message in a relevant and thoughtful manner. 

All the numbers that have counted show that influencer marketing is a fantastic marketing type that your brand should not miss. This is one of the most excellent ways to increase traffic to your online store. 

So what should I be waiting for more? It’s the right time that your brand should take advantage of it to broaden your reach and leverage huge revenue.

Coming up next, together, let’s figure out strategies for effective influencer outreach to bring success to your online business.

III. Step by Step: Successful strategies for influencer outreach

#1 Setup brand goals

First, setting achievable goals is the most crucial stage in developing an influencer outreach plan.

To obtain a clear image of what you want to achieve, you need to do preliminary research to understand your clients better and choose which suitable influencers for your brand’s representative.

An example of a realistic goal is to start with establishing how many audiences you want to reach is. These objectives will include establishing the amount of traffic you want to create and the number of leads or conversions you want to achieve through your influencers.

#2 Make sure it’s a match between your brand and your influencers

• It’s time to find your appropriate influencer

Your influencer marketing campaign‘s success is determined by the influencers you choose. Make sure the influencer is a good fit for the brand’s niche, target audience, and business goals.

After taking the time to learn everything about your target audience. Make a persona for the influencer you are trying to offer the service. This will assist you in picking up the one currently successfully marketing to this demographic and catching their attention.

• How to make sure it’s a match?

Influencers sharing the passion for your niche and message are the ones you’re looking for. You can also look for those establishing themselves as experts on a certain subject. These generate widely shared material and have a significant number of social media followers and a high level of engagement on their site.

Also never cease asking yourself some questions:

• Will the influencer use and enjoy my product?
• Is their target audience similar to mine?
• Is the content of this influencer in line with my objectives?
• Do I perceive this influencer as a good fit for my brand?
• Is it feasible to collaborate with this influencer?

Only contact influencers that have a connection to your brand. If you have trouble finding ones, go to Buzzsumo and enter the keywords that your brand targets.

With a clear aim in mind, it’s much easier to figure out which influencers are the most excellent fit for your approach and who are most likely to assist you in achieving your marketing objectives if they agree to promote your business.

#3 Build a relationship with the influencer

Influencer outreach means building a relationship with them. Begin getting to know the proper influencer once you’ve determined who they are.

Influencers receive hundreds of letters requesting collaborations; the best are picky about who they will work with. Before approaching them, follow their posts on Instagram and Twitter, Blog, etc. Like, comment or share whenever possible.

When you send a personal collaborating message, you should make them feel special and let them know why they are chosen so that they see that you actually care about them, conversations will become more natural and enjoyable.

Moreover, they will also notice that you’ve been engaging with them in a non-obtrusive, friendly manner and that your business has something to offer their target market.

Tips to build an effective relationship with influencers:

• Introduce them your brands and products

Share your own opinion and brand values. Talk about your rivals and what set your brand apart from them. If you want influencers to promote a new product line, emphasize the “significant advantage” of it. So that they can create unique content for your product on their social media.

• Let them know the campaign

To avoid future misunderstandings, carefully iron out the specifics from the start. Talk about everything you expect from the campaign, and don’t hesitate to tell them. More, allowing influencers to express themselves creatively is a wonderful idea. 

• Offer fair compensation

Due to deciding variables such as engagement rate, follower numbers, content kind, specialty, and others, influencers are compensated at a varied rate.

So make sure to pay the monetary compensation relevantly.

#4 Measuring goals & returns

With the goals you set early on, determine if it has achieved the initial outcome. As you can ensure you know what you want earlier, it’s easy to calculate your return on investment. Here are some metrics to see after the whole campaign:

• Numbers of sales made as a result of affiliate links
• How many people follow your brand on social media
• Numbers of people have signed up for a newsletter
• Campaign hashtag engagement 

Track the effectiveness of your campaign is the essential approach to determining which influencers assist you in reaching your goals and who you should say goodbye to. The goal is to build long-term relationships with influencers through a series of mutually advantageous and effective partnerships, resulting in time and effort savings.

#5 Nurture the relationship with influencers

Maintaining a good relationship with influencers that give value to your business delivers benefits for successful future campaigns, gaining referrals to your brand from the influencers’ network, and continuing to boost brand awareness and sales.

So make sure high-performing influencers are appreciated by doing things including:

• Compensate added money for them
• Interact with them regularly: take time to know brand ambassadors’ interests and create personal and friendly connections
• Offer complimentary holidays or invite influencers to brand exhibitions and events to make them feel appreciated
• Sending exclusive gifts also makes them feel special
• Crafting communications and addressing influencers by their names will set your business apart from the competition

A successful influencer marketing approach necessitates long-term partnerships with influencers. Authenticity, brand loyalty, high-quality content, and long-term value are all outcomes of strong influencer relationships.

Wrapping up

Influencer marketing is the most profitable type of digital word-of-mouth in the digital age. When done correctly, influencer marketing is a powerful tool to raise brand awareness, nurture audiences, and drive crazy eCommerce sales.

You now have sufficient knowledge of influencer outreach to ensure the success of your next campaign. It’s crucial to remember that selecting the appropriate influencer takes time, so don’t rush things.

You will certainly discover an excellent partner to tell the world about your business in a way that your customers adore with adequate preparation and a little patience.

Good luck to you all!