Sponsored in collaboration with all-in-one influencer marketing platform, Intellifluence.
As of February 2022, I’ve been working as an influencer for 7 years. Holy moly! In that time I’ve had the pleasure of working with dozens of small business owners as well as international conglomerates alike.
Previously, I’ve written posts to celebrate my first year blogging (it’s an oldie, but here if you’d like to read it), a two-year post reflecting on what I’ve learned, and more recently a post sharing the behind-the-scenes of blogging when my 5 year anniversary rolled around.
From left to right: Working as an influencer has allowed me to do and experience some pretty incredible things! Like styling and modelling for local Kingston brand, Amelia Rose the Label, creating content for Neutrogena Canada, attending Toronto Fashion Week, working with Procter & Gamble on multiple campaigns, including for Febreze, as well as writing articles for over 3 years with ReFINEd Kingston Magazine.
But it wasn’t until this past year or so that I officially took this blog beyond the STRUCKBLOG brand and began providing digital marketing content and consulting services under the SocialSTRUCK arm of my business. On top of doing influencer work, I now provide businesses with photography, video, and writing services, as well as meet with folks virtually to provide consulting about social media and online marketing.
On top of doing influencer work, I now provide businesses with photography, video, and writing services, as well as meet with folks virtually to provide consulting about social media and online marketing.
During my consulting sessions, I realized many entrepreneurs and marketers are confused about influencer marketing. I often hear questions like “how do bloggers and influencers make money?” “how do I hire an influencer?” or “how does influencer marketing work anyway?” It’s like this mysterious thing that no one talks about, shrouded in secrecy. But mainly, it’s still relatively new, which means that most people don’t know how to go about doing influencer marketing.
Many entrepreneurs and marketers are confused about influencer marketing. I often hear questions like “how do bloggers and influencers make money?” “how do I hire an influencer?” or “how does influencer marketing work anyway?” It’s like this mysterious thing that no one talks about, shrouded in secrecy. But mainly, it’s still relatively new, which means that most people don’t know how to go about doing influencer marketing.
If this sounds like you, here’s your quick start guide to dipping your toe into the land of influencer marketing, which in 2022 is set to take over the entire marketing funnel, with brands dedicating as much as $15 billion dollars to influencer marketing.
So yes, I’d say influencer marketing is worth learning a thing or two about, for big brands and small businesses alike!
My experience working on large campaigns with big businesses like Joico Canada (where I made this GIF), McDonald’s Canada, and CeraVe, has informed my social media and digital marketing consulting work. I now apply this knowledge and experience when helping small businesses create content and improve their presence online via SocialSTRUCK services.
Here’s Your Quick Start Guide to Influencer Marketing
How to Find an Influencer
This is largely dependent on whether you’re a large brand or a small business. Many national and international brands outsource their marketing and public relations efforts to third parties who handle influencer management. Some use third-party software and influencer marketing agencies that match influencers with brands for an ideal pairing.
But if you’re a small business owner, what is the best way to find an influencer? Well, follow them! It will allow you to gain a sense of their style and tell you what they typically talk about. You’ll be able to determine their niche, see what their collaborations look like and decide if what they do aligns with your business.
The best way to find an influencer is to follow them for quite some time before you consider working with them. It will allow you to gain a sense of their style, determine their niche, see what their collaborations look like, and decide if what they do aligns with your business.
My advice would be to find influencers within your industry on social media and to follow them for quite some time before you even consider getting in touch with them. You can do this by just typing in a keyword such as “fitness” in Instagram’s search tool and seeing who pops up within your niche.
Who can you consider an influencer? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a blogger. Some influencers are simply experts in their field, and others were initially actors or dancers and even athletes before getting into content creation.
Consider an influencer anyone who has an engaged following and well, influence over their audience. They don’t have to have a large following as long as their following is buying what their selling and engaging in their content, that’s what you’re looking for.
Who can you consider an influencer? It doesn’t necessarily have to be a blogger. Consider an influencer anyone who has an engaged following and well, influence over their audience. They don’t have to have a large following as long as their following is buying what their selling and engaging in their content, that’s what you’re looking for.
What you want to avoid is the shotty and sketchy influencer, which is why I recommend that you follow and engage with whomever you’re considering for at least a few months. Some will promote any product that a business sends their way, even competing brands. I’ve sadly witnessed this time and time again, where an influencer will share that they love Toyota, only to roll up in a Nissan a week later. Or they’ll pop onto their Stories touting their favourite moisturizer, which they only unboxed the day before.
Above all else, you want to make sure that the influencer you consider partnering with has integrity. And the best way to do that is to follow and watch.
Above all else, you want to make sure that the influencer you consider partnering with has integrity. After all, you don’t want your business to be associated with someone who doesn’t! And the best way to do that is to follow and watch.
From left to right: Shot for watch brand Daniel Wellington. Fall fashion campaign for Le Chateau, where I got to style myself and a friend and create content for their marketing campaign, both shot by Ashlee Mueller. Third, an outfit I created for under $50 for TJX Marshalls Canada. And lastly, styling a floral maternity piece for Pink Blush Maternity, shot by Four/19 Photography.
How to Hire an Influencer
You’ve got your eye on someone (or a few someone’s) and you are wondering how to approach them and start a conversation around working together. How do you solicit and hire an influencer? Well, you can send them a message via their direct messages, email, or fill out a contact form on their website if they have one. And when you do so, here are a few ground rules to keep in mind:
The best way to solicit a response is to use the influencer’s name and tell them why you enjoyed or related to a particular piece of content that they shared. You want to grab their attention and create a personal connection.
- Do not send a canned message: do not refer to the person as “hun” or “dear” or anything else that’s a catch-all for everyone. Use their name!
- Make it obvious that you have engaged with their content: tell them how long you’ve been following them, or why you enjoyed or related to a particular piece of content that they shared. You want to grab their attention and create a personal connection.
- Mention that you’d love to explore the idea of working together and ask them if they have a media kit or rate card that they would be able to provide you with so that you can review their pricing and see if it aligns with your budget.
That third point there is important because it acknowledges that you as a marketer understand the influencer’s value. Don’t ask them to work for nothing in return, or tell them that it will be a good experience or exposure for them. Creating content is a heck of a lot of work and many influencers (like me) do this work full time. Creating content is their work, and they also have mouths to feed and bills to pay, just like you do.
Make it obvious that you understand the influencer’s value. Don’t ask them to work for nothing in return, or tell them that it will be a good experience or exposure for them. Creating content is their work, and they also have mouths to feed and bills to pay, just like you do.
If you have a budget in mind, make that known. Or ask if they would consider accepting gifted product, specifically mentioning what you’d like to send them. Whatever it is should fit what they create content around of course!
So now that you’ve started a conversation, how does payment and/or compensation work? And what if you’re a small business owner and don’t necessarily have a big marketing budget to spend, is influencer marketing still an option? The short answer is yes!
Some larger brands use third-party software that helps find influencers who are a good match, others will have in-house staff that manage influencer collaborations. Most influencers are accustomed to working with a mix, as has become the case for me working on campaigns with Philips Avent, Delta Hotels by Marriot, and Smart Sweets.
How to Negotiate with an Influencer
Once you’ve established that working with this particular influencer is a good match, that your audiences align, and that their following would be interested in your product/service, how do you go about negotiating compensation?
Well, this is dependent on the calibre of influencer you’re hoping to work with.
Some influencers who are just starting out or have small followings may be agreeable to working in exchange for gifted product alone, as they’re still trying to grow their portfolio and gain experience. That being said, please keep in mind what I mentioned above. Don’t expect the world when you’re simply gifting someone a $14 product. You often get what you pay for!
Don’t expect the world when you’re simply gifting someone a $14 product. You often get what you pay for! If you want to make sure your product reaches an influencer’s audience and that quality engaging content is created featuring your brand, you need to negotiate a rate for this work and monetarily compensate your influencer just as you would any other creative professional.
Others may be more agreeable to sharing gifted product in their Stories, or may include a product feature in their feed should they like and find a need for it, but with no guarantees.
If you want to make sure your product reaches an influencer’s audience and that quality engaging content is created featuring your brand, you need to negotiate a rate for this work and monetarily compensate your influencer just as you would any other creative professional.
You’ll find what an influencer typically charges in what is called their media kit, or rate card. This is usually an all-encompassing document that will have their social media account handles, following stats, and perhaps links to previous work they have created.
You’ll find what an influencer typically charges in what is called their media kit, or rate card. This is usually an all-encompassing document that will have their social media account handles, following stats, and perhaps links to previous work they have created.
Once you review their rates, determine whether this aligns with your budget. When doing so consider the value overall, beyond just a post on the influencer’s social media feed. What is this particular influencer able to offer? Here are some things to look out for:
- In addition to a dedicated post on their social media feeds, some influencers will give you digital use of any created imagery or video. Meaning you can use these photos and videos on your own social media accounts and/or website with credit.
- Some influencers have discount code pages or storefronts on their websites and will offer product placement here as part of the package. For example, I have the STRUCKBLOG Shop and an Amazon Storefront, making direct shopping links accessible to my followers beyond the life of a 24-hour Instagram Story.
- If said influencer has a blog and creates blog posts for brands, links can be placed from their blog post directly to your website. This is incredibly valuable if search engine optimization and keyword research has been done correctly, because this will help your website to rank on Google, creating value for years to come.
If the influencer you’re considering offers these types of services, beyond just a post on their social media feed, you as a business are ostensibly getting advertising/press, photography, and videography rolled into one. Just think about what that would cost if you wanted to traditionally advertise in a magazine or billboard somewhere, then hire a photographer and videographer, and have someone write articles with links for you online. You’d likely spend more than what this influencer is charging so, I’d say it’s a worthwhile investment!
If the influencer you’re considering offers these creative services, beyond a post on their social media feed, you as a business are ostensibly getting advertising/press, photography, and videography rolled into one. Just think about what that would cost if you wanted to traditionally advertise in a magazine or billboard somewhere, then hire a photographer and videographer, and have someone write articles with links for you online. You’d likely spend more than what this influencer is charging.
These were all large big-budget campaigns with well-known brands that I got to be a part of after years of gaining experience as an influencer. In all of these cases these brands, including Metro Ontario, Dawn Dish Soap, Reebok x Sport Chek, and Bounty Paper Towels opted to have me create both social media posts and blog posts, making their products directly shoppable and more likely to be found via a Google search.
Offering Influencers Promo Codes & Affiliate Marketing Opportunities
When you’re discussing compensation with an influencer and considering extending your partnership beyond just a single campaign, you can also offer an affiliate promo/discount code as a way of making your partnership long-lasting. This is akin to hiring a spokesperson or brand ambassador, like Jennifer Aniston for Aveeno. Multiple pieces of advertising are created and posted over a longer period of time.
To arrange this, you can create a promo code that the influencer can share whenever they like, repromoting your brand to their audience whenever fitting. It can be a code a customer types into your website, such as “STRUCKBLOG10” for 10 percent off, a simple mention such as “I saw it on STRUCKBLOG” at the time of purchase, or a separate link entirely that you can track sales through.
This type of affiliate marketing is a smart way of building trust and authority with an audience, while also incentivizing purchases via a discount of some kind. The influencer receives a cut of the profits, typically anywhere from 5% to 20% depending on the product/service, and you become a part of the influencer’s community. It’s a win-win!
This type of affiliate marketing is a smart way of building trust and authority with an audience, while also incentivizing purchases via a discount of some kind.
Whatever you arrange, get your paperwork in check! An email thread or a bunch of messages in your Instagram inbox isn’t a professional way to negotiate and keep track of a business transaction.
Don’t forget to get your paperwork in check! An email thread or a bunch of messages in your Instagram inbox isn’t a professional way to negotiate and keep track of a business transaction.
Many influencers, myself included, will provide an agreement to small business owners that will encompass every detail for review. This is the best way to make sure that both parties know what to expect and that all of your ideas and information are gathered in one place.
You certainly don’t need to be some huge international conglomerate to work with an influencer! From left to right, here I worked with Downtown Kingston BIA, local non-profit Kenya Help, Mio Gelato shop in downtown Kingston, and Wealth Simple in support of local restaurant The Great Canadian Country Cabin Chip Hut. All local small businesses!
How to Determine Whether Influencer Marketing Worked for You
The content is created, posted, and being seen and engaged with by the influencer’s audience. Great! Now, how can you as the brand determine whether partnering with this influencer was a worthwhile investment?
This is of course dependent on what you agreed to together. Perhaps your partnership is a single Instagram post, or perhaps it’s an ongoing partnership for a year’s time. Maybe the content only lives on social media, or maybe it included a blog post with direct shopping links. Depending on what you decided on, gathering analytics will be more or less complicated but is the most effective way to determine your return on investment.
Depending on what content creation you decided on, gathering analytics will be more or less complicated but is the most effective way to determine your return on investment.
There are a few ways to gather these analytics. You can of course see some of the numbers on your end. Reviewing your Instagram insights may reveal that there was a spike in visits to your profile, website clicks, or you may have gained a few new followers. If you have a website Google Analytics may reveal that you received more traffic than usual, or that folks found your product via the influencer’s blog post. You may be able to track promo code uses and credit these sales to the influencer’s work.
Regardless, don’t finalize the numbers for at least 30 days after the content went live. Why? Because some content takes longer to gain traction. Instagram Reels, for example, can take off 3 weeks after they’ve been shared, and blog posts only get better with time as Google indexes them and captures how users have interacted with that webpage.
Don’t finalize the numbers for at least 30 days after the content went live. Why? Because some content takes longer to gain traction. Instagram Reels, for example, can take off 3 weeks after they’ve been shared, and blog posts only get better with time as Google indexes them and captures how users have interacted with that webpage.
You should also ask the influencer to gather any analytics they can from their social media and website channels and share them with you. Depending on how you like to review the info, you can ask for screenshots or just a spreadsheet with all the stats.
Regardless of how you receive this info, make sure the analytics you gather are the ones that matter. You want to look for reach, impressions, traffic, and website clicks. Likes and followers are great but don’t necessarily encapsulate the brand awareness that was gained as a part of this partnership, meaning that folks who had never previously heard of your brand have now gained awareness about it. That’s also worth something!
You want to look for reach, impressions, traffic, and website clicks. Likes and followers are great but don’t necessarily encapsulate the brand awareness that was gained as a part of this partnership, meaning that folks who had never previously heard of your brand have now gained awareness about it. That’s also worth something!
And lastly, if the influencer provided you with imagery and/or video content as part of your arrangement and you’re happy with the results, that’s fantastic! You likely got your money’s worth there alone. Make sure you discuss how to appropriately use this content online, whether you can purchase ownership of it outright for use in digital or print ads (which may be an additional cost) or how the creator would like to be credited when you post their content on your channels. This information might be included in your agreement as well, but if not, don’t burn any bridges and use this content inappropriately. Just ask!
If the influencer provided you with imagery and/or video content as part of your arrangement and you’re happy with the results, that’s fantastic! You likely got your money’s worth there alone. Make sure you discuss how to appropriately use this content online and how the creator would like to be credited when you post their content on your channels.
From left to right: Helping Hunger Disspear campaign for Cambell Canada (photo by Kaley Noel Photography), Visit Kingston blog post (photo by Rob Whelan Photography), Pink Blush Maternity, and Subway Restaurants Canada eat local campaign.
Influencer Marketing for Small Businesses Services
Get in touch with me to discuss how influencer marketing may work in promoting your brand online. Whether you need help sourcing influencers, negotiating agreements, and managing the collaboration, I can recommend some avenues through which you may be able to accomplish this or assist you in the process myself.
If the above sounds great to you but you don’t have the interest or time to work through it, feel free to get in touch with me to discuss how influencer marketing may work in promoting your brand online. Whether you need help sourcing influencers, negotiating agreements, and managing the collaboration, I can recommend some avenues through which you may be able to accomplish this or assist you in the process myself.
Don’t let influencer marketing intimidate you or make you feel as though it’s an option for big brands alone. When it’s done right it’s one of the most effective ways to gain exposure for your brand, reach new audiences, and create compelling content for your brand.
Either way, don’t let influencer marketing intimidate you or make you feel as though it’s an option for big brands alone. International brands and small makers alike can benefit from influencer marketing in spades. When it’s done right it’s one of the most effective ways to gain exposure for your brand, reach new audiences, and create compelling content for your brand.
Anna
Interested in learning more about social media and digital marketing?
- 5 Social Media Mistakes You Might Be Making: If your goal is to grow your brand, develop an online presence, and utilize social media to sustain your business, here are 5 of the most common social media mistakes I see in my work and some advice about how you can improve going forward.
- How to Style a Flatlay: With a few considerations and design strategies in mind, anyone can create a stunning display that will stop that scroll. A few tips for creating the perfect flat lay so you can make your own and see that social media engagement roll in!
- 5 Years Blogging: What to Consider Before Blogging: In an attempt to answer the ever-popular query about how to get started with your own blog, I came up with a few things you may want to consider before doing so. These are the things I didn’t know 5 years ago when I dove in.
Disclosure: This content was sponsored in collaboration with Intellifluence. All opinions and comments are my own.
Want to see your brand/business featured on STRUCKBLOG? Visit my portfolio page to see more of my work and check out my Infleuncer Services page to download a copy of my Media Kit for pricing and details. You are also welcome to email me directly.
