The Influencer marketing guide

When you’re running an online business, traffic is key. After all, every person who visits your store is a potential customer. But, how do you draw in people to your store? Simply put, marketing. And Instagram is one of the most effective platforms that e-commerce entrepreneurs can use when marketing their store.

Hey guys! I’m Jessica with Oberlo, and today we’ll be looking at Instagram influencer marketing. We’ll break down what it is, how it works, and what you can do to launch your own influencer marketing campaign today! Let’s jump into it! Even if you’re new to e-commerce, you probably know that there are new marketing tactics popping up all the time.

When you’re getting started, it can be tough to figure out which of those marketing tactics to focus on. Instagram influencer marketing is one of the most popular marketing tactics today. Before we dive into that, however, let’s quickly talk about why Instagram is a great platform for e-commerce entrepreneurs.

Is Instagram Good for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs?

We mentioned earlier that Instagram boasts a HUGE audience which you can tap into with your marketing campaigns.

800 million people use Instagram per month, and that audience is growing bigger by the day.

The great news for entrepreneurs is that 70% of those users seek out brands on Instagram. In other words, Instagram is home to a huge group of potential customers who actually want to see promotional content. This is such a useful channel for e-commerce entrepreneurs. You can use the platform to promote your latest products, acquire new customers, and even communicate directly with your fans.

If you’re worried about creating stunning panoramas and product photos for every post, relax.

You can source Instagram content from other users and share that with your audience. Just remember to ask the original poster for permission, and credit them in your post. It’s a win-win situation – you post new content, and they get promoted for free. By now you might be thinking: if Instagram is so great for marketing on its own, why worry about influencer marketing?

Care About Instagram Influencers?

Building a following on Instagram is tough, especially if you’re new to operating a business account. It certainly helps if you sell visually appealing products, but honestly, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to build a following just by posting images related to your products or brands.

The bottom line is, If you don’t already have an established audience on the platform, it’s going to be hard to use Instagram to grow your business. That’s exactly why Instagram influencers are so useful for e-commerce brands.

They’ve already built up their following on the platform organically. They have thousands of followers, and these followers are genuinely interested in what the influencer is posting.

Tap into their audiences

You can use influencers and tap into their audiences of highly engaged potential buyers, and promote your products directly. Because Instagram influencers are people and not brands, their followers are much more likely to trust their advice. When they recommend certain products to their followers, their followers are more likely to engage with that content.

So Instagram influencers are great – they can help grow your brand and sell your products. But how do you get influencers involved with your marketing campaigns? And how do you know if you’re choosing the right influencers for your brand? The world of influencer marketing can be intimidating at first, but don’t worry.

A strategic approach that’ll help you nail influencer marketing

First things first, you’ll need to find the right influencers for your brand. This is totally dependent on what you’re selling, and the brand image that you’re trying to build. It’s always a good idea to use data-driven decisions when it comes to building a business. With Instagram, there are plenty of tools you can use to find the best influencers for your brand. Tools like Ninja Outreach and Snapfluence can connect you to a wealth of influencers who are ready to get involved with new, exciting brands, like yours.

Simply search for the type of influencers you’re looking for, using keywords like “women’s fashion” for example, and you’ll be presented with a list of high-potential influencers. You can also search for influencers manually with tools like Keyhole.io Search for terms related to your niche, and you’ll see which users have the highest engagement. Later, you can reach out to those influencers directly. Finding the right influencers might take a while.

You’ll probably need to go through many different posts and hashtags to find influencers who are a good fit for your brand, but it’s worth it in the long run – investing time up-front can help you to avoid failed marketing campaigns in the future. Once you’ve found the right influencers for your brand, you’ll need to start making steps towards forming a business partnership with them.

The steps

First, send your chosen influencers a brief introduction to your brand. Give them an idea of the products that you’re trying to sell, and provide them with some information about what you’re looking for from their posts. You’ll also need to compensate influencers for their services.

Typically, Instagram influencers are paid in one of two ways – by flat monetary compensation (say, $200 for one post promoting your brand) or by a commission-based payment, like 10% of every sale that they bring. You can measure the sales a particular influencer generates by providing the influencers with a discount code, like ‘JESSICA10’.

You can assume that every buyer who enters that discount code came from that influencer, and you’ll know how much commission you need to pay. Decide which payment method fits your business best, and include your choice in your initial pitch to them. Once you’ve come to an agreement with your influencers, it’s time for them to get to work by promoting your brand.

You’ll likely need to send your influencers a couple of products that they can use in their campaigns – you want their followers to notice the influencers wearing or using your products.

Don’t worry if you’re dropshipping, there are no problems there. Just ask for the address of your influencers and ship the products directly to them. Once they’ve received the products, reiterate what you’re looking for. Consider giving them a few examples of Instagram posts you love, so they know what you’re expecting.

A small tip from the pro’s

And here’s a pro tip: Create an account bit.ly and use it to shorten the links to your product pages. Why? It’ll look more professional when influencers post the links and bit.ly will give you analytics about the number of people who clicked the link.

That’s great for gauging the success of your influencer campaigns.