As a business, never do influencer marketing unless you have completed these steps.
Posted on April 2, 2024
This article is suitable for budding entrepreneurs and businesses whose brands are not yet established. It doesn’t apply to the Unilevers and P&Gs of the world.
Written by Yuhwen Foong
We believe that every business needs to build its foundation first. Just like every skyscraper, the foundation has to be solid. Influencer marketing is NOT a foundation layer. It is the icing on the cake. To build a solid influencer marketing strategy, you definitely need to make sure your foundation layers are built first. In this article, we will discuss what these foundation layers are and how can you build them and be ready for influencer marketing.
Have you set up your website?
Do not have a website? Would it be possible for influencers to promote and share your products with their followers via your website? If your answer is 'no' then perhaps you should do that first? Your potential customer is a curious bunch, they will google and the last thing you want is when they search, it comes out empty. In marketing terms, this is called a user drop-off. Essentially, it is a bad user journey that has no follow-through and is not a seamless experience for your potential customer. It is very important to set up a website so that your basic information can be found. Some information that you absolutely should have:
1. Your logo
2. The product/service you are providing/selling
3. Your secret sauce/ unique selling proposition
4. Information on where they may acquire your product/ service
5. Some information about you and your credibility
There are a lot of website creators out there but if you’re a budding entrepreneur without a deep pocket, you can consider using IGlinks.io -> a drag and drop website creator that is absolutely free. You can see some awesome samples they have created here and here. FREE HACK - you can leave a review on their Facebook and get a free upgrade with all sorts of themes and colors and fonts! (Disclaimer: This is a sister product to SushiVid)
We recommend that you also set up your Google My Business. A business profile on Google. Ever wonder how some businesses show up on Google Maps and Waze? THIS IS HOW YOU GET LISTED! SushiVid maintains a Google My Business account even though we have our website and everything else just because every free opportunity is an opportunity not to be missed as a business! Being on Google My Business basically verifies your address, phone numberm and location. If you do not have any other website this could be just that. Create it using this LINK
How about a Facebook Page?It is very important to have your own a Facebook (FB) page where you can update, announce and share your latest promotions. Your followers are essentially a community of people who love your product. FB page is also a place for your customers to engage with you and leave reviews for you on social media. The best part is it is absolutely FOC!
I know it can be cumbersome to both manage and update a page constantly. However, this is the kind of world we live in today. Join in or be left behind. FB page is the least you should have if you do not have a website or Google My Business account. The last thing you want is to have your information circulated by 3rd party places that you have absolutely no control over. On FB as well as your Google My Business is where you get to control the narrative. You can read all about setting up your FB page here - LINK
Another thing to note: If you have not been updating your FB page for 2 years, get started now. What and how does it reflect on your company or brand should a potential customer visit your FB only to find an outdated one! That’s not impressive! You should strive to consistently update at least once every fortnightly for starts. That’s how frequently we post on our social media too!
I know a lot of people will contest my social media frequency comment but I’ve come to realize after being on social media for almost two decades, that it is more important to be respectful of people’s time by only posting something when you have something important to say than to post for the sake of keeping to a routine just because the “algorithm” favors a more active page. Whether it is email marketing, social media postings, or blog writing update only when it’s really important. Don’t take things for granted and spam people as frequently as possible just because you can and people will respect you a whole lot more for that.
If you’re a product, are you on the e-commerce marketplaces?
We have come across many clients who are not selling on marketplaces yet. I can see why. Yes, admittedly the marketplaces take a % commission for every sale. Sometimes after everybody has squeezed you a bit here and there, it may seem like it’s just too much effort for too little. In terms of sales, it may be true but we do not have to consider this as your main selling channel. Perhaps consider this as a marketing channel for you. After all, they have traffic and millions of downloads on their app. Lazada and Shopee have their own search engine and you would want to be listed there whether you like it or not. Leave no stone unturned, this is one freeway to list and get marketing for your brand. I would even list on Carousel, Mudah.my, Alibaba.com, Lelong.my, and every other marketplace. You may set up your Lazada store with this LINK
If you have read up till here I hope you are now converted to a believer. By that I mean that you now have set up your own website and your FB page (fingers crossed). You are also already listed on an e-commerce marketplace. What’s next? You are now ready for influencer marketing?
I would say WAIT. Wait for a few months before you start influencer marketing. Why? Unless you’re a seasoned entrepreneur you’re likely going to need some time to understand your customer’s behavior. Observe for a while who is looking at your website, who is buying your product online or downloading your app. How did they find you? What else are they buying? The more information you have on your potential customers the more targeted we can get on influencer marketing. Hence the more effective we will be.
What about those viral campaigns?
You often wonder about those who manage to attain virality through influencer marketing. Out of the thousands of businesses that started just by giving influencers free products to get free reviews, you only hear a handful of them who actually succeeded. Daniel Wellington, Spanx to name a few. It may have worked 5 - 10 years ago, but don’t you think it’s overly exploited by now? Google Ads were also super cheap 2 decades ago and now that everybody’s on that bandwagon, do you think it’s still cheap? The short answer is no. So please, don’t think for a minute that influencer marketing is just going to work because you read some book that said so. Influencer marketing changes so fast that it is a lot more practical to be methodological and knowledgable than just to gamble. You can read all about the trend I’m spotting for the next 7 years in this article.
I hope this article has helped some of you. If you like what you read, leave us a comment!
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