Influencer marketing is extremely efficient. Even without a big budget, startups can win influential advocates.
What is an influencer?
Influencers are opinion makers. They have influence, are considered trustworthy and reach a considerable audience. This makes them important multipliers for online marketing.
Big brands have a considerable budget for influencer marketing. They like to decorate themselves with stars. Ikea recruits z. B. Youtube stars and Bayern star Thomas Müller proudly presents a product of Gilette to his four million followers on Instagram.
But even smart startups with little money can use influencer marketing to increase their reach and their brand awareness. If you can gain influencers for your cause, you benefit from their reach and influence, for example on social media channels.
Studies have shown that 92 percent of internet users trust others’ recommendations, even though they do not know them. And 70 percent trust the ratings of other users more than the statements of the companies.
How do you help influencers?
Influencers can help you by sharing your posts and blog posts. Or you can create content that helps your product. For example, this could be a software comparison in which your software will hopefully be good or best. Other options are testimonials or a presentation as moderator in your presentation.
The influence of an influencer not only gives your product the attention of a larger community, but also more credibility. The audience thinks, “Donnerwetter, if the famous XXX or XXX for this product makes strong, then it must be something.”
It is important that the influencer fits your product. He (or she) should be respected in your industry. His community should consist of people who are potential buyers of your product. From this point of view, it is not even necessary for your influencer to reach an audience of millions. Important is the quality of his community, not the quantity. The more specific your product is, the more special the influencer may be.
Who comes into question as an influencer?
Those who have no budget for YouTube stars, should first look around in his own circle of acquaintances. If you’re starting a high-tech startup or developing a new solution, then you probably already have many knowledgeable contacts yourself. If, for example, a company, an investor or your professor is behind you, then chances are good that there are contacts there that reach a large professional audience and diligently post in blogs and social media.
So think about who can be considered as an influencer of your existing contacts. If you find one, then speak to him personally. Maybe you can also win it as a beta tester for your software. Those who undergo this effort signal great interest and will be happy to report their experiences to their community.
Who is suitable as an influencer?
Especially interesting for you are the following persons:
- Social media users with many followers
- Journalists and bloggers
- Youtuber – they could create a tutorial or review for your product
- experts
- Institutions like the Digital Hub, which are interested in startup funding
- Operator of forums, Xing groups, Meetups and the like
Scour your Xing and LinkedIn contacts once. Who is familiar with whom? Who is particularly active in social media? Who is hosting groups whose members fit into your loot scheme? Surely you will find some interesting candidates who can help you.
That’s how you bait influencers
Even without a budget you can take in influential multipliers for you. You’re probably a field expert yourself in your industry. How about delivering a blog article for its website in return for the influencer’s performance? Or you could share your knowledge with him so that he can profile himself in his community.
You could also pay the same with like. Maybe your influence and your reach are not that big, but it still adds value to the influencer when you share contributions from him. You can also comment on, like and pick up his posts, or link to them in your own contributions. All of these are effective means of dealing with influencers.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing is also possible on a small budget. The best way is through your own community. Surely you have contacts in your own network that can help you.
Influencers have many possibilities of influence. You can redistribute your social media posts, rate your product, create a tutorial, or write a testimonial for yourself. Their power should not be underestimated: the vast majority of Internet users trust the evaluations and recommendations of influencers.