Over the past few years, our lives have shifted dramatically to the online world—if you want to be known, you have to have a significant online presence. And what better way to enhance your online presence than to utilize those who have already made their mark online; yes, we all know them and love them: Influencers!

Most influencers have a wide, almost cult-like following, which is why influencer marketing can be extremely beneficial for your company if utilized properly.

What you Need to Know

In a nutshell, influencer marketing is when brands collaborate with influencers for boosting their sales and brand awareness among a targeted audience.

This marketing type can indeed be your most potent weapon and enable you to remain ahead of your competition. But why?
There is no denying that the consumers of today are smarter than they used to be. People do not just see a product and buy it. Nowadays, when consumers are attracted to a particular product, they spend a significant amount of time online reading reviews and meticulous conduction research.

However, if someone who they follow and trust recommends a particular product to them, they are more likely to give in to their instincts and immediately buy it, whether they need it or not! Cult-like, right?
This is precisely why influencer marketing can yield endless benefits and grow your business multifold. 89% of marketers state that ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels, regarding influencer marketing as one of the most preferred marketing strategies.

How can you Fully Leverage Influencer Marketing in 2020?

influencer marketing holds the key to excessive profits; however, to access the profits, you need to know how to leverage influencer marketing to yield the most benefits for your business in 2020.
Below are a few tips that have proven to help businesses grow multifold through influencer marketing:

1. Know your Audience—Know your Influencers!

Analyzing and targeting an audience is an essential aspect of any marketing strategy. You cannot just pick out any influencer that seems cool and ask them to market your brand. It is necessary to have a marketing persona, a detailed report of your target audience, including demographics like location, gender, interests, etc.
Knowing your audience is the first step to choosing your influencers.
But why?
Suppose you own a women shoe brand and want to leverage influencer marketing to grow your business. Now will hire a male influencer from the cooking niche going to help? No. It would be best if you had someone famous among women on your targeted demographic. Otherwise, it will be entirely pointless.
Understand who your target audience is and create a marketing persona. Once you create it, choose the influencers accordingly to reach your target audience and increase your popularity.

2. Pick your Platform

Choosing the right platforms is as essential as selecting the right influencers. While Instagram ranks number one in terms of the most effective influencer marketing channel, YouTube and Facebook are also impactful channels.
Once you know your audience, it’s time for you to understand where your targeted audience resides most of the time. For instance, if you deal with B2B, LinkedIn would be the most effective for your niche. On the other hand, if your brand is B2C, Facebook and Instagram are your sweet spots. YouTube works for both B2B and B2C.
You can also try experimenting with the platforms to understand what works best for your brand in particular.

3. Who Influences YOU?

A common misconception is that the more followers an influencer has, the better they are for your brand. According to a study, micro-influencers generate 7x more engagement than the average generated by macro-influencers.
Macro-influencers indeed have more followers than micro-influencers. However, micro-influencers generate more leads because people following them are genuinely interested in their content. Be smart about who you get influenced by!

4. Keep Track of your Competition

Your competitors can be your most significant and most useful source of knowledge. Monitor your competitors and analyze what worked for them and what did not. This will help you strategize effectively and modify them to work for your brand.
To create a better marketing strategy, understand your competitor’s positives, and compare them to yours. Use your plus points to show people your brand is a better option. This also allows you to uncover the pitfalls of your brand and modify it.

5. Always Trust Creativity

Do not curtail the creativity of your influencers. After all, there is a reason why they able to influence! They know their audience better and will know what sort of strategy would appeal to the best. Allow them to be creative and promote your brand in the way they think would be most effective.
Refrain from bombarding them with loads of content outlines and CTAs. Tell them about your product or services and explain your marketing goal.

Your marketing goal can be anything like:

• Creating brand awareness.
• Boosting leads and sales.
• Increasing website traffic.
• Building an audience for your brand in social media.

Choose your goals wisely and then ask the influencers to add a specific CTA in their posts, encouraging the consumers to take the next step. The clearer the CTA is, the more appealing it will be.

6. Monitor your Results

A drastic 76% of marketers say that measuring ROI is the most significant influencer marketing challenge—and it is, in fact, one of the most important aspects!
Measuring the result is an essential part of any marketing strategy. After all, unless you count the results, you will not understand whether or not the efforts are working and what the ROI of the campaign is.
Here is how you can measure the ROI of an influencer marketing campaign:

Determine Campaign Reach
Here are the metrics that come under this category:

• Impressions- The number of impressions that an influencer’s post received.
• Followers- The number of followers the influencer has for determining how many people might see the sponsored post.
• Traffic- The number of people that clicked on the link added to the influencer’s post.

Determine Campaign Engagement

• It includes metrics like;
• Likes- The number of likes the post received.
• Clicks- The number of people who actually showed interest in the sponsored post.
• Comments- The more a post receives comment, the more engagement it receives.
• Shares- The number of people who found that post interesting.

Revenue Generated

To determine the revenue check metrics like:

• Affiliate Links- The link added in the post tracks how many people clicked it.
• Google Analytics- It can track all the sales
• Promo Codes- You can track all the people who used the promo code provided in the post to buy the product.
• Also, many software and online tools can determine your entire influencer marketing campaign’s reach.

In Conclusion:

Over the last two decades, influencer marketing has completely changed the entire online marketing scenario, encouraging brands to collaborate with several influencers across various platforms.

However, many brands are still not aware of the strategy and miss out on a lucrative opportunity. Now, if you want to skyrocket your eCommerce business in 2020, having an influencer marketing campaign and effectively utilizing it will be your winning strategy.