Influencer Marketing – If you’re a brand owner or marketer, you’ve probably heard the buzz about influencer marketing by now. But if you’re still scratching your head, wondering how exactly to harness its power, trust me—you’re not alone. I was there once, too, trying to figure out how to make the most of this rapidly growing strategy. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot, made mistakes, and had some pretty big wins with influencer marketing. Today, I want to share six ways you can leverage it for your brand, based on my own experience and insights I’ve gathered along the way.
The Power of Influencer Marketing: 6 Ways to Leverage It for Your Brand
1. Start with the Right Influencers (It’s Not Just About the Follower Count)
When I first dipped my toes into influencer marketing, I was all about finding influencers with the largest followings. I mean, who wouldn’t want to work with someone who has hundreds of thousands of followers, right? But let me tell you, the size of the following doesn’t always correlate with success.
A big mistake I made early on was overlooking engagement rates in favor of sheer numbers. Some influencers with smaller followings—what’s called “micro-influencers”—actually have higher engagement, meaning their followers are more likely to interact with the content they post. The thing is, I was looking at the wrong numbers. You should care more about how connected the influencer is to their audience and how much trust they’ve built.
One of my brands worked with a beauty influencer who had 50K followers, but her engagement rate was through the roof. She had genuine conversations with her audience and responded to comments like they were personal messages. That’s the type of influencer you want. Trust me, a smaller, loyal following often beats a larger, less-engaged one.
2. Define Clear Goals for Your Campaign (And Be Realistic)
It sounds like common sense, but I’ve been guilty of jumping into influencer partnerships without a clear goal in mind. I just thought, “Hey, let’s get some influencers talking about our product!” and assumed sales would come rolling in. Spoiler alert: they didn’t.
Before reaching out to influencers, get really clear on what you want from the campaign. Is it brand awareness? Driving sales? Growing your email list? Each of these goals requires a different strategy. For example, if you’re trying to boost brand awareness, you might prioritize influencers who can create a story around your product. If you want to drive sales, you might offer unique promo codes to their followers.
I once ran a campaign with a fitness influencer to increase product awareness, but we didn’t focus enough on creating a trackable action for her audience. A discount code would’ve made it much easier to see the direct impact of her post. Lesson learned—always define your goals and ensure the campaign is set up to measure them!
3. Be Authentic and Collaborative in Your Approach
I can’t stress this enough: don’t treat influencer marketing like a one-way street where you just hand over your product and ask for a post. Influencers, especially the successful ones, are artists in their own right—they’ve built a brand and a voice that resonates with their followers. If you’re expecting them to just plug your product without any creative freedom, you might not get the best results.
One campaign I ran involved working with a fashion influencer who was all about sustainable fashion. Initially, I sent her a generic pitch that felt way too “salesy.” She politely responded that she’d prefer to highlight our product in a way that aligns with her values. We ended up brainstorming ideas together, and she created a post that felt much more authentic to her audience. And guess what? It performed so much better than my original, rigid idea.
Don’t be afraid to collaborate with influencers. It’s not about controlling the message—it’s about letting them present your brand in a way that resonates with their followers.
4. Use Influencers to Create User-Generated Content (UGC)
User-generated content is gold in the world of digital marketing. Why? Because it’s real, it’s relatable, and it feels authentic. And guess what? Influencers can help you generate it! A little while ago, I worked with a food blogger who not only shared a recipe using our product but also encouraged her followers to do the same. She offered a $100 prize for the best recipe submitted. The result? A ton of user-generated content that we could then share on our social media and even repurpose for ads.
When influencers promote your product, their followers trust their opinion. So when you invite those followers to create content around your brand, you’re not just getting free marketing—you’re building a community of brand advocates. That’s the real power of influencer marketing.
5. Track Your Metrics and Optimize for Better Results
Here’s where I’ve messed up before: Not tracking my metrics closely enough. You can’t just set up an influencer campaign and cross your fingers, hoping for the best. I used to get super excited about the first few posts going live, but I didn’t always have a clear system in place to track the performance of each influencer. It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement, but if you’re not analyzing what’s working and what’s not, you’re flying blind.
I learned this lesson the hard way after a campaign with an influencer didn’t perform as well as expected. But, when I dug into the analytics, I realized her audience wasn’t as engaged with Instagram Stories (where we had focused most of our content) as they were with her posts. So, next time, I knew to shift focus to her feed posts for the same product.
Using tools like Google Analytics, UTM codes, and influencer-specific tracking links will help you see which influencers are delivering the best ROI and adjust your strategy accordingly. If you’re not tracking, you’re just guessing.
6. Nurture Long-Term Relationships (The Power of Repeat Collaborations)
The last piece of the puzzle is cultivating long-term relationships with influencers. One-off campaigns can be great, but if you really want to see sustainable success with influencer marketing, you need to build partnerships that last.
I started to see much better results when I reached out to influencers for repeat collaborations. It’s all about the ongoing story you’re telling with your brand. A single post won’t do much for a brand, but a series of posts over time can create real momentum.
One of the most effective campaigns I ran was with a wellness influencer who used our products for months before even agreeing to post. She became an organic advocate for our brand, which made her endorsement feel that much more genuine. Not only did her followers trust her, but the relationship we built also made it easier to work with her on future campaigns.
Influencer marketing is a dynamic, ever-changing landscape, but with the right approach, it can be one of the most effective strategies for growing your brand. So, take a step back, learn from your mistakes, and make sure you’re putting your best foot forward when working with influencers. Start small, track your results, and remember to always focus on authentic partnerships. You’ll be surprised at how much impact it can have on your brand’s visibility—and bottom line.
