How to Make the Most Out of Your Influencer Marketing Investment

You’ve invested in an influencer marketing program — congratulations! Influencer marketing is a powerful tool that brands can use to launch new products, reach new customers, and build a community of loyal fans and followers. Brands are slated to spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing in the next two years. Like any other marketing tactic, you expect to see a good return from your investment in influencer marketing campaigns.

Influencer marketing is exciting and versatile, but before you start launching campaigns, there are a few key things you need to do to make the most out of your influencer marketing investment.

If you’re paying for an influencer marketing platform or you have a team managing your partnerships, you need to choose high quality, high-performing creators to be on your roster. By focusing on partnerships with proven influencers, you can maximize the success of your program and campaigns. Remember that your influencers are the foundation of your program, so be sure to pick the right ones. Once you select the right partners, be strategic about the content that you ask your influencers to create during the campaigns. Look at your marketing calendar for the year and generate content for products or services that can support your other marketing strategies so your efforts will make a bigger splash. 

Influencers are active on a wide variety of social channels, from Instagram and YouTube to TikTok. Don’t limit yourself by only focusing on one platform. You never know where your partners will have the most influence or where new pockets of your target audience can be found. Make your mark across social media platforms to expand your reach and find new consumers and fans. Partner with your influencers to see where they get engagement and leverage their knowledge and expertise of their audience on their different channels. 

User-generated content in the form of photos and videos is super important (and useful) for brands, but don’t forget about eCommerce reviews. Reviews are another form of UGC that are often overlooked by marketers. Ask your influencer partners if they’re willing to leave an honest review about products they’ve tried to provide social proof for future visitors to your site. It’s key to consistently generate up-to-date reviews for current thoughts on your products and for SEO ranking purposes. Ecommerce reviews are another way to diversify your content and have a lasting impact when used on your eCommerce site. 

Your influencer strategy goes beyond just hitting metrics. One of the reasons UGC is so effective is that it’s highly engaging and can be easily repurposed. Organically repost photos from your collaborators and partners on social media to get their followers involved. You can also take UGC to the next level by asking your influencer if you can license their photo to use in paid advertisements. If you’re working with an influencer marketing platform like Octoly, leverage them to streamline permissions and licensing. Octoly’s Global Licensing feature helps brands seamlessly license content to use for paid ads, in email marketing, and more.

If you’re using an influencer marketing platform, don’t forget that it’s more than just a tool to help manage your partnerships. A good platform also works as a discovery tool that lets you track your top performing influencers and keep an eye out for VIPs. By identifying your most effective influencers, you can start building deeper relationships that can transition into official brand ambassador partnerships for off-platform activations. Working with influencers long-term and forming lasting partnerships is a key way to make the most out of your investment, since you’ve already invested time and money into finding, vetting, and activating them. 

Investing in influencer marketing is an exciting step forward for marketing teams and brands. Successful influencer marketing campaigns and programs start with partnering with the right influencers that fit your strategic priorities. Once you find your influencers, you can create great, versatile content and build lasting relationships with your partners. With the right strategy and planning in place, you can make sure you make the most out of your influencer marketing investment.