Marketing is a necessary evil for any business nowadays. With more and more consumers going digital, it’s not enough to just post good content on social media anymore; you need reviews and endorsements too! Meta research shows that people trust influencers and bloggers up to 10x more than other forms of traditional marketing like flyers or direct mailings (which we all know don’t work). And according to Meta, most people read at least four reviews before purchasing a product, and around 80% said influencer-generated content influences their purchase decisions.
As influencer marketing has become more popular, businesses are increasingly turning to Instagram to promote their products and services. By working with influencers who have a large following on the platform, businesses can reach a wider audience and promote their brand more authentically without building an online audience from the ground up.
There are several reasons why Instagram is a good platform to boost B2C (business-to-customer) businesses. First, the platform has a large user base, with over 2 billion monthly active users. This gives businesses a wide pool of potential customers to reach. Additionally, Instagram is a highly visual platform, which makes it well-suited for promoting products and services. Lastly, Instagram users are highly engaged, with the average user spending 29 minutes daily on the platform. This means that businesses can reach a large number of potential customers who are interested in what they have to offer. An effective influencer marketing strategy should be integrated with the overarching marketing and sales efforts.
By following the steps below, brick-and-mortar businesses can create a successful influencer marketing campaign on Instagram to help them reach new audiences and build brand sentiment.
Step 1: Identify your Instagram influencer marketing target audience – demography and geography
The initial step in influencer marketing is identifying who you aim to reach. To do this, consider your potential customers’ demographic and geographical factors. For instance, if you’re e-commerce selling fashion products online to US Gen Z’s, target trendy influencers with a strong following among this group. Additionally, if your business has a physical storefront in an area, you should focus on influencers in that region instead of a worldwide audience. This is especially crucial for businesses such as restaurants and cafes; finding influencers passionate about local food and dining can help bring more awareness to your establishment, which has the ability to convert visitors into customers.
Tip – A quick and easy way to find top Instagram influencers marketing candidates – No experience required
YNUN influencer marketing marketplace takes the guesswork out of finding social media influencers. Using YNUN makes marketing and finding influencers on Instagram easier and more efficient. All influencers on the platform are vetted to ensure they meet quality standards, and influencers can only apply to collab requests in the geographic area specified by the business’s parameters. This helps narrow down your choices of many influencers and makes it simpler to select the right influencers with a healthy engagement rate to make sponsored Instagram posts with branded content. Furthermore, all communication between you and influencers can be managed on YNUN, including the content creation process and approval process. With YNUN, from influencer discovery, hiring, and communicating, to tracking performance metrics can all be easily handled without additional influencer marketing tools or prior experience. All you need to do is create a unique campaign to make your offers shine among your target through influencer posts.
Step 2: Design an Instagram influencer marketing campaign promotion for your target audience that will spark their interest
Once you have identified a target audience, it’s time to create a marketing promotion that will capture their attention. The key is to create something unique that resonates with your chosen demographic. Brainstorm ideas that could be turned into engaging content by influencers, such as contests, giveaways, special offers, or exclusive discounts. Consider the influencers’ style and interests to craft a campaign they would enjoy promoting and feel passionate about. You also want to remember that sponsored posts are not meant for everyone on the internet; influencer posts should only focus on the selected demographic. The more tailored the content is to the audience, the better the conversion.
For instance, if you are offering a cafe service, consider creating a promotion centered around local communities that can physically shop in your store. Additionally, consider what type of visuals will appeal to your influencer’s followers; quality images and videos should be at the forefront of any Instagram campaign.
Tip – How well will your influencer marketing campaign perform based on how many Instagram influencers applied to your collab request
The number of Instagram influencers who apply to collab requests is a good way to gauge the potential success of the influencer campaigns. If influencers are eager to collab with you due to your offerings, your targets are likely to be just as interested in your offering as well. For instance, if you get a lot of applicants looking to try out your new product, your target will likely want the same. If no or few influencers are interested in your collab request, it’s likely that your offering will not be attractive to your target and will take additional effort to convert. Moreover, as influencers are often seen as trendsetters, their endorsement will lend credibility to your promotion and help to generate hype among your target audience. The more influencers you have promoting your brand, the more likely your target demographic will be exposed to and engage with your promotion. In other words, if you receive a lot of collab request applications, it indicates that the campaign will do well amongst the target audience in terms of engagement rate and social sentiment.
Step 3: Launch a collab request to find the right Instagram influencers
Once you have created a marketing strategy tailored to your target audience, you can launch a collab request. This involves finding influencers who match the demographic profile of your intended consumers and proposing an offer or promotion to them. When selecting influencers, it is important to consider those with high engagement rates, as they are more likely to be successful in promoting your brand through their sponsored posts. Additionally, ensure that the influencers chosen have a genuine interest in what you are providing; this will help ensure the content they create is authentic and engaging for their followers. Lastly, you may want to include some guidelines and directions on how they should portray your products or services in their Instagram posts; this will help guarantee that the content they generate meets your expectations.
When creating your collab request, consider what type of compensation or reward you can offer influencers in exchange for promoting your brand on Instagram. This could range from monetary payments to providing influencers with exclusive discounts or product samples. By offering influencers something in return, they will be more likely to accept your offer and collaborate with your business. If you have a flexible budget, let influencers request additional rewards to reflect their impact on brand awareness and content quality; this way, higher-quality influencers will be more interested in your collab request.
Tip – How many influencers should you work with a
The number of influencers you should work with and how much to pay influencers will depend on the nature and goals of your influencer marketing campaign. Generally, it is recommended that businesses have at least five influencers working for them each month to stay relevant amongst their target audiences. For promotional campaigns or new product launches, it is recommended to work with additional 10 influencers or more to maximize exposure and reach.
Tip – How much to pay influencers
When it comes to Instagram influencers cost, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Rates for influencers depend on their following size and engagement rate, as well as the content quality and quantity. It is recommended to offer at least your products or services for review with an additional cash or gift card reward after the collab has been completed. If you have the budget, rewarding $50 to $100 per collab per influencer would be a good starting point. You want to offer enough to ensure they collaborate without feeling overworked or being taken advantage of, but not so much that your budget gets blown out. Add additional reward if no one applied to your collab request or if your collab request requires more effort than others. If you have a flexible budget, it is recommended to let influencers have the option of naming their own price. This way, you still have the opportunity to work with people who expect more than what you offer to the YNUN network in the collab request.
Tip – Include relevant hashtags and branded hashtags for organic searchability
Hashtags should also be used in feed posts and stories so viewers can easily find them within their own searches. By including relevant and branded hashtags, businesses can ensure that branded content is visible and listed in the related organic search.
Relevant hashtags should be chosen carefully to ensure influencers’ posts appear in the right searches relevant to influencer-specific audiences. Branded hashtags should be unique and easily recognizable so that viewers can quickly find additional content related to the same influencer campaign.
Tip – Give your influencers some creative freedom
Regarding influencer marketing on Instagram, giving influencers some creative freedom can lead to more engaging content and better overall results. This applies not only to influencers’ individual posts but also to the entire influencer marketing strategy. For instance, influencers may suggest a collaboration that would involve their followers in an interactive way. If they are enthusiastic and passionate about the promotion, it is likely that their followers will also respond positively.
By providing influencers with creative control over how they present the campaign, you may see better results than if you imposed strict guidelines upon them. With room for customization and personalization, the collaboration can make influencers feel respected and valued, leading to even more powerful content and turning them into your brand ambassadors.
Step 4: Review and hire qualified Instagram influencers
Once influencers have responded to your collab request, it’s time to review their profiles and determine their qualifications and suitability for your Instagram influencer marketing strategy. Take into consideration the influencers’ content style, as well as how aligned their values and beliefs are with yours. Additionally, consider their follower count; while influencers with a larger number of followers may seem attractive in terms of reach potential, influencers with smaller followings who engage frequently may be better at sparking interest among their audience. Once you’ve identified candidates that fit these criteria, it’s time to hire them for your campaign.
At YNUN, we have already taken the necessary steps to ensure all influencers on our platform are up to par. We verify influencers’ reach and followers’ geographic locations to make sure that businesses are getting the most out of their influencer marketing campaign through qualified influencers listed on our platform without doing any of the leg work. YNUN influencer marketing hub ensures that all influencers listed on our platform are qualified and suitable for your influencer marketing campaign, no matter who you decide to work with.
Tip – how to find the most relevant influencers for your business
When selecting influencers to work with, it is important to consider more than just the number of followers they have. Having a large following on Instagram can be beneficial for influencer marketing campaigns, but influencers should also have engaging content and a good engagement rate with their followers. Content quality is just as important as follower count in Instagram influencer marketing campaigns and should be considered when selecting influencers to work with. Focusing on influencers with quality content, regardless of their follower count, will result in more effective influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram.
Tip – Budget-friendly influencer marketing options – nano-influencer & micro-influencer
Micro-influencers and nano-influencers are becoming increasingly popular for influencer marketing campaigns on Instagram. So what are micro-influencers, and what are nano-influencers? Micro-influencers typically have a following ranging from 10k to 50k followers, and nano-influencers typically have a following ranging from 1k to 10k followers. Despite their smaller followings, micro-influencers and nano-influencers can be highly effective for influencer marketing campaigns due to their more targeted and engaged audiences. Working with influencers in these categories can help businesses reach a specific, niche audience that is more likely to engage with the brand’s message. Additionally, micro-influencers and nano-influencers are generally easier to work with as they may be more flexible and cost-effective. Utilizing these influencers is a great way to get the most bang for your buck – creating lifestyle content and hyper-engagement with your audience.
Step 5: approve and download influencer-generated content
Once influencers have uploaded their content on YNUN, reviewing and approving the content before it is published on their social channels is critical. This ensures that the influencers create content aligned with your brand values and mission.
Once you have approved and downloaded the influencer-generated content from YNUN, you can easily repurpose them in many ways. Content can be edited and used across multiple platforms. Additionally, influencer-generated content is perfect for creating social media ads, testimonials, and website banners; influencers’ authentic language and original photos help capture audience attention more effectively than stock images. With influencer-generated content, businesses can use influencers’ stories to showcase their brand’s journey through creative storytelling techniques. As long as you stay true to your brand’s mission and values, there are endless possibilities for repurposing influencer-generated content!
Tip – how to repurpose and maximize Influencer-generated-content
When forming an influencer marketing strategy, it is beneficial to plan ahead and request specific content direction from influencers. This will allow for maximum usage of influencer-generated content across multiple marketing initiatives while giving them creative freedom. For example, if you plan to use influencer-generated content in a newsletter, ask them to provide images or quotes that will fit your template format.
Tip – Content usage rights
Suppose you plan to repurpose the influencer’s content in social media ads, website testimonials, etc.; it’s crucial that you request full content usage rights while the influencer retains ownership. This step can easily be done by editing and including the verbiage template in your YNUN collab request. When influencers apply to your collab request, they acknowledge and agree to your intent for marketing purposes when they apply to your collab request.
Summary of Instagram Influencer marketing for Brick-and-Mortar Stores
Following the five key steps outlined in this blog, Instagram influencers can be leveraged to promote your brand more effectively. First and foremost, it is important to identify who you are trying to reach as your ideal customers. Once you have identified who you are going after, come up with a campaign or promotion to get their attention. Next, create a collab request outlining what you want to promote, what content you are looking for, and what compensation or rewards the collaboration will offer. Once influencers have applied to your collab request, it is time to review and hire the ones who meet your criteria. Lastly, approve influencer-generated content before it is published online and repurpose the content in different ways once it is downloaded from YNUN influencer marketing platform. By taking these simple steps into consideration, influencer marketing on Instagram can be a powerful tool to expand your brand’s reach and promote products and services effectively by leveraging different influencers’ influence on their die-hard fans.
