There are currently around 32.5 million small businesses across the U.S. As an essential part of the economy, small enterprises are responsible for creating 1.5 million jobs each year, along with 64 percent of new jobs launched in the U.S. More than 90 percent of all operating businesses are small- to medium-sized organizations.
Despite being such a crucial part of the economy, only 64 percent of small businesses use social media channels as part of their marketing strategies. While many of these enterprises don’t have access to the massive marketing budgets of a conglomerate like Apple or Spotify, there are still many different ways they can use social media and influencer marketing to increase brand awareness, improve customer loyalty, and boost sales.
How Can Your Small Business Use Influencer Marketing?
The influencer marketing industry is expected to reach $16.4 billion in 2022, up nearly $3 billion from 2021 ($13.8 billion). Often, it can seem like well-established brands have infinite budgets to partner with all the social influencers they want — and smaller brands do not have that luxury. For them, a partnership with a Creator who has millions of followers and multiple brand endorsements may seem out of reach.
How can these small businesses navigate the influencer landscape to increase sales and brand awareness without exceeding their marketing budgets? Leveraging an influencer marketing platform like LTK Connect can help! This type of platform allows businesses of all sizes to take advantage of influencer marketing, serving as a central hub where brands can work collaboratively with influencers through social media campaigns.
Before you get started, it’s important to understand a few concepts surrounding influencer marketing platforms and influencers. Why do brands need an influencer marketing platform? Is it worth the investment? Aren’t conventional advertising campaigns enough?
By connecting small businesses with the best Creators, influencer marketing platforms can help them reach the right audiences with the correct message at the right time. Here are a few steps your small business should take before launching an influencer marketing campaign.
Hear how small business, shortyLOVE, uses the LTK Connect platform to grow their handbag business.
1. Understand your short-term and long-term goals.
Before launching an influencer marketing campaign, it’s important to establish some well-defined objectives. Is your small business planning to run a seasonal campaign to increase brand awareness? Is a long-term collaboration with a specific type of Creator a better investment? What kinds of results are you looking for?
Once you understand your target objectives, you can begin searching for the ideal influencers to work with using the right influencer marketing platform.
2. Monitor your social media accounts’ comments, likes, user feedback, hashtags, and more.
It’s important to actively monitor all of your social media channels to understand who your audience is and what they’re looking for. What are the pain points of your ideal customer? What problems do they have? How do your products or services meet their needs? What’s the best way to turn customers into passionate brand advocates?
3. Check out the social media campaigns of your competitors.
To determine the most effective type of influencer marketing strategy for your small business, simply check out the social media channels of enterprises that are similar to yours. This can help you better understand the type of campaigns that work. Influencer marketing experts at LTK can also provide historical data on the top-converting influencers in your industry.
4. Understand your potential influencers’ audiences.
Look closely at the demographics of influencers you’re interested in partnering with. Location, age, and gender are all important factors to consider before partnering with a Creator. These details can be easily found within an influencer marketing platform such as LTK Connect, which can identify the most appropriate influencers for your small business.
Remember to start with small steps in the beginning and learn from your mistakes. Your brand’s message may not resonate with an influencer’s entire audience, and that’s OK. Getting your product in front of the right audience (people who are likely to convert and make purchases) is what truly matters.
Start Growing Your Business Now!
The LTK Connect self-serve influencer marketing platform can help you jump-start your influencer strategy to drive more engagement and sales. Contact us to start growing your business today. You can also check out our Ultimate Guide to Influencer Marketing for Shopify Brands to learn more.
