The ultimate guide to running an influencer campaign

Influencer marketing can help businesses increase brand awareness and drive sales in almost every industry, generating up to 11 times the ROI of banner ads. However, influencer marketing also involves giving up control, trusting virtual strangers with a brand’s reputation.

To put your mind at ease, Grammatik has put together the ultimate guide for running an influencer campaign – whether you’re targeting Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or beyond.

Setting strategy and goals

Don’t charge into an influencer campaign blind, or you’ll be wasting valuable impressions and throwing money into the digital void. You first need to carefully consider your goals, and how best to achieve them – whether that’s increasing brand awareness, driving referrals to your website or generating product sales.

Working with the photography management app Kyno, for instance, our main goal was to increase sales. To that end, we provided unique affiliate links to filmmakers on YouTube, allowing us to track every purchase across participating channels. We then continued onto phase two of the campaign, supplying discount codes to top affiliates with a verified high conversion rate.

See how it works for yourself: Watch the Kyno video review we arranged with Premiere Gal.

Not only did sales improve, but many Kyno licences were renewed on a long term basis, all within a tight budget. Tailor your influencer strategy to end goals, and you’ll make the most bang for your buck.

Appointing influencers

Keep in mind that influencers are essentially brand ambassadors – the face of your product. Research each candidate carefully. We recommend that your keep in mind the mantra “relevance, reach and reputation” when creating a list of potential partners.

When it comes to reach, our general rule of thumb is 10,000 or more subscribers per influencer. That being said, niche subject matter and technical jargon won’t do well when blasted to the masses. Be sure to weigh total reach against audience engagement and the effectiveness of social platforms involved.

The ideal influencer should already be talking about your industry or product, with followers who are likely to be invested at the professional level.

Just look at this video we arranged with Corridor Digital, which required a working knowledge of 3D animation.

The crew was provided with a state-of-the-art motion capture system from Xsens, and within a few weeks, had turned themselves into Transformers! Most YouTubers wouldn’t be able to showcase this technology, but Corridor produced an immersive, funny, visually stunning story.

Remember, maintaining your relationship with influencers is just as important as that first email. In follow-ups with Corridor Digital, after a few brainstorming sessions, the YouTubers suggest a second video.

Their parody of Boston Dynamic Robots soon went stratospheric – receiving over 22 million views in the five days following launch!

Regulations and rewards

You might have heard a lot of horror stories across PR trade media lately, about influencers failing to meet regulations. Kim Kardashian left out the side effects of pharmaceutical products in her Instagram posts, while Terrie McEvoy rigged a sponsored contest so that friends of hers won the prizes.

Honestly though, there’s nothing to be afraid of. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and most other regulatory agencies have clear rules about influencer marketing, as do many social media platforms – just make sure you tick all of their boxes.

It’s a good idea to go over FTC guidelines and your own expectations long before an influencer’s posts ever go up. We lay out a contract with influencers beforehand, emphasising the brand’s right to approve all content associated with their name. Not only does clear communication ensure compliance with the law, but also quality-control.

A video we organised with Brackeys went through several iterations, and ended up generating a wave of new leads.

Simply put, honesty is the best policy. According to research by Barkley, Generation Z cares about body positivity, social activism, and working for their own success, among other ‘authentic’ traits – more so than other demographics. Be as honest as possible, lay out your expectations, and don’t get caught with your pants down.