Influencer Marketing Strategy: How To Build One the Right Way

A dynamic influencer marketing strategy could be the key to sustainable brand growth, better sales, and long-term success. But crafting an influencer marketing plan that aligns with your big-picture goals and other marketing channels can be daunting, especially if you’re new to influencer partnerships. 

To jumpstart your journey, we’ve outlined this step-by-step process to help you create winning influencer marketing strategies.

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What Is an Influencer Marketing Strategy?

An influencer marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan for working with influential social media users to promote your brand, products, or services. These people have established credibility and a loyal following in your target market, making them valuable partners in spreading your message and driving engagement. 

The value of global influencer marketing tripled between 2019 and 2023, reaching just over $21 billion. This rapid growth signifies that businesses from many different industries are flocking to the influencer ecosystem. 

Importance of an Influencer Marketing Plan

Having a well-thought-out influencer marketing strategy helps align your brand-building efforts with your overall business objectives. It ensures you’re targeting the right audience, using the ideal platforms, and collaborating with influencers who will resonate with your brand. This plan will serve as your roadmap for budget management, campaign monitoring, and measuring the efficacy of your new partnerships. 

Learn more about the benefits of influencer marketing.

With all that in mind, here are ten steps for creating a cohesive influencer marketing strategy: 

1. Define Your Goals and Objectives

Your first step involves defining the goals and objectives you want to achieve by teaming up with social media personalities. Common goals include increasing brand awareness, generating buzz about an upcoming product launch, and driving traffic to your website. 

Being specific about your objectives will help your brand chart a clear path forward. Instead of forming a vague goal like “increase brand awareness,” get more specific. For example, a measurable version of this goal could be: “increase Instagram followers by 20% in three months.” 

2. Identify Your Target Audience

You likely already have a good idea of your ideal customer base. Even with this information, you should take time to revisit the details of that audience, including their behavior, demographic traits, and interests. 

You’ll need these insights squared away to find influencers whose audiences align with your customer base (but don’t overlap too much — you’re looking for new prospects). Resources like social media analytics, customer surveys, and market research each provide a piece of the puzzle toward gaining insights into your audience.

3. Choose the Right Social Media Platforms

Not all social media platforms will a good fit for your brand. Each has its unique audiences, content styles, and tools, so before you start searching for influencer partners, decide which influencer marketing channels will give you the best odds of success.

For instance, Statista found that as of April 2024, roughly 70% of TikTok users are under 34. If your products or services are geared toward a younger demographic, then TikTok may be a good match for your brand. On the other hand, if you are targeting a more professional audience, LinkedIn may be a more appropriate option. 

4. Research and Select Influencers

Who you choose to team up with can make or break your campaign. Compile a short list of influencers who align with your brand values and have a genuine connection with their followers. Then, consider factors such as follower count, engagement rate, content quality, and audience demographics. 

At the same time, though, don’t feel as though you have to find mega influencers with followings surpassing a million users. Micro-influencers, for instance, have between 10,000 and 100,000 followers, and they can still be excellent partners. 

5. Establish a Budget

You’ll need to establish a solid budget to avoid overspending and ensure you have enough resources available to fund your campaign. Account for expenses like influencer fees, content creation costs, and any additional expenses, such as giveaways or ads. 

Influencers’ rates vary based on their follower counts, the niches they operate in, and their engagement rates. Teaming up with an influencer who has a smaller sphere can help preserve your budget while also getting your brand in front of highly engaged consumers. 

6. Develop Your Campaign Message and Content

Your message must be authentic, clear, and purposeful. Consider your audience’s pain points and how your product or service remedies the issues they are facing. From there, you’ll work with influencers to create content that resonates with their audience while simultaneously promoting your brand. You can develop various types and styles of content, including product reviews, tutorials, and giveaways. 

7. Reach Out to Influencers 

Now, it’s time to reach out to the personalities on your list of prospective partners. Personalize your outreach to show you’ve done your research and genuinely believe in a potential partnership. Explain why you think they’re a great fit for your campaign and how they’ll benefit, as well. 

8. Negotiate and Formalize Agreements

Discuss details like the influencer’s posting schedule, your expectations, and how the influencer will be paid. It’s here where some creativity can help make the most of your marketing budget.

If you are working with a smaller influencer, they may be open to an affiliate-style revenue-sharing program and free products. You can also use a hybrid approach that involves a combination of free products, an affiliate link to earn commission, and a fixed fee. However, people with larger followings will expect to be paid their standard rate, which can vary. 

9. Launch and Monitor the Campaign

Once your campaign goes live, keep a close eye on the performance of each post. Don’t be afraid to pivot and make tweaks to your content as necessary. A few minor adjustments, like moving content from Instagram Stories to Reels, can have a huge impact on your reach and visibility.

Share data with your influencer partners and maintain a collaborative mindset. They can provide insights regarding how long a post typically takes to gain traction and whether it’s time to adjust. 

10. Analyze and Measure Results

After you’ve wrapped up a campaign, sit down with your collaborator and discuss how things went. Compare their results against your initial goals and objectives, looking at metrics like reach, engagement, website traffic, and sales to gain a complete picture of what worked and what didn’t. A post-campaign analysis will help you continue to work toward getting better at influencer marketing and maximizing your return on investment in future efforts. 

Examples of Successful Influencer Marketing Campaigns

Here are three influencer marketing examples of what brands can achieve: 

AnimalHouse Fitness

Before launching its flagship product, MonkeyFeet, AnimalHouse Fitness invested heavily in influencer marketing. The company wanted to create hype around its product by gifting the item to influencers, so it sent MonkeyFeet to over 100 fitness influencers. The campaign went on to generate $7 million in revenue, helping the company become one of the fastest-growing Shopify brands. 

Dove

Dove used influencer marketing in 2022 to help champion two of its key values: body confidence and inclusivity. The campaign earned Dove a Shorty Award in micro-influencer strategy, boosted its engagement rate by 20%, and earned the company more than one billion impressions. 

HelloFresh

HelloFresh partners with influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and several other channels. These influencers express their style while cooking up fresh meals. The company has racked up tens of thousands of views and countless sales by publishing authentic, organic content. 

Need Help Creating Content? We Got You

Despite all of the tips and info above, choosing the right influencer as a partner is only half the battle. You’ll also need a great video marketing plan if you want your influencer marketing to be a big hit with consumers. Enter QuickFrame, the versatile video production platform that can help power and expand the impact of your influencer partnerships.

We can bring your raw ideas to life or build on quality content with post-production services. With QuickFrame, you can get more out of your partnerships and expand into other marketing channels, including Connected TV. 

Contact us today to learn more about our innovative video production platform.

Influencer Marketing Plan: Final Thoughts 

A well-designed influencer marketing strategy can be the catalyst for continued brand growth and better visibility. By following the steps outlined above, you can forge strong partnerships with social media personalities and use their credibility to achieve your business objectives.