HOW TO PROPERLY WORK
WITH INFLUENCERS
1.
Start by pulling out your brand guide.
The best marketing strategy is the one that
brings out your brand’s unique voice; this doesn’t
change when influencers are included in the mix.
If you don’t already have a brand guide, don’t
sweat it — just take a few moments to think about
the values your business strives to project to your
customers. Build your strategy around that.
2.
Define “worth it.” Consider your
marketing budget. Many influencers,
especially mega-influencers, will ask for a promo-
tional fee on top of the expected free stuff.
Macro-influencers (like bloggers) with large
followings may also ask for a promotional fee,
especially if they’re creating content around your
brand. Is it worth it for your spa to pay these fees?
3.
Create a focused and intentional
influencer strategy. What are
you trying to accomplish? Reach and awareness?
Traffic or conversions to sales? Your answer
should determine what level of influencer to work
with. For the spa industry, especially for smaller
brands with limited budgets, micro-influencers are
a great place to start. A recent Markerly study
showed that micro-influencers get better
engagement rates than mega- and macro-influ-
encers; they also have more targeted follower
bases and come across as more authentic. A good
spa micro-influencer might have only a few
thousand followers, but they’ll have a decent
amount of engagement
4.
Set clear goals. Set clear goals before
launching a campaign (such as increasing
followers by 10 percent or getting at least 5,000
views) and choose measurable metrics — these
include website views, referral visitors and social
media reach. When you set clear goals before
launching a campaign, you’re better able to track
its impact and measure the top line revenue return
on investment.
5.
Don’t forget the soft metrics—things
that can’t be qualified. The spa industry
knows that experiences create an emotional
connection. If your goal is to find out whether your
services resonate and reflect well on your brand,
inviting 10 influencers who are on your dream
customer list to spend time at your spa is some of
the most insightful market testing you can do.
You’ll quickly find out what’s working and what
isn’t, all while getting some influencer exposure.
August 2018
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