In today’s beauty industry, social media influencers play a huge role in helping brands build their brand awareness and increase customer loyalty.
We all love a good influencer marketing campaign. Whether they’re posting photos of themselves wearing our makeup, sharing tips on Instagram, or even writing product reviews on Amazon, our favorite influencers help us feel connected to the brands we love.
But what happens when you need to create an influencer marketing strategy for a new brand? Or maybe you already have an established brand and want to build a more substantial social media presence before a new product launch.
In this article, I’ll explain why influencers are essential for growing your beauty brand and how you can leverage them effectively.
The Benefits Of Influencer Marketing
Undoubtedly, the influencer marketing industry has become a powerful resource for brands to reach their target audience. The concept involves partnering with “influential” individuals who share similar interests or hobbies with consumers. These influencers are paid to promote your brand through social media channels, blog articles, and other platforms.
Influencer marketing is becoming increasingly popular because it offers several advantages over traditional advertising methods. For example, it allows businesses to connect directly with customers, bypassing the middleman (i.e., Google). Also, it helps build trust between the brand and its followers.
How to Find Influencers
A quick Google search will reveal hundreds of thousands of beauty bloggers and potential influencers who would happily promote your products if given the opportunity.
However, you’ll want to narrow that down to those who are suitable matches for your brand and personality.
Search for specific keywords related to your product line. For example, if you’re looking for beauty bloggers, try searching for “beauty blogger,” “beauty influencer,” “fashion influencer,” or “makeup artist.”
The Best Types Of Influencers To Work With?
Knowing what type of influencer works best for your business before jumping into any campaign is essential.
Here are four types of influencers you should consider when building your campaigns.
#1. Celebrities
Celebrities are often seen as the most influential people in society. They have large followings because of their fame and popularity. Celebrity influencers are a great choice if you’re trying to sell something related to fashion, food, travel, etc.
They tend to be very active on social media platforms, so if you target them correctly, you can reach thousands of followers within minutes. However, remember that celebrities are under no obligation to promote your product, so keep that in mind if incorporating them into your social strategy.
#2. Social Media Stars
Social media influencers are popular personalities who have built a following by being funny, interesting, or entertaining. These individuals are usually well-known across multiple social platforms, so they offer a wide range of opportunities.
You might think of them as YouTube stars, but they can include anyone from bloggers to vloggers to comedians.
#3. Industry Experts
Industry experts are professionals who work in a specific field. They know everything about their niche, so they can provide helpful advice to others.
These individuals are typically highly knowledgeable and can quickly write blog posts, give interviews, or host webinars. As long as you’ve got a quality product, you can probably find a beauty industry expert willing to promote it.
#4. Local Businesses
Local businesses are small companies that operate locally. They focus on serving customers in their area, so they understand local trends and needs better than more giant corporations.
Working with Micro-Influencers
Influencers aren’t always famous. They may be bloggers, vloggers, YouTube stars, or other types of micro-influencers.
Micro-influencers tend to have lower follower counts than larger “macro-influencers,” but they still have enough influence to reach thousands of followers. And because they’re so small, they often have a higher level of trustworthiness than prominent influencers.
Sometimes, they can also have better engagement rates than more prominent influencers. So it makes sense that the larger the following, the lower the engagement rate.
For example, micro-influencers with less than a thousand followers on Instagram have an average engagement rate of 3.86%. On TikTok, it’s even better, with micro-influencer accounts reaching up to 18% engagement, while large-scale influencers track under 5%.
You can find micro-influencers by searching for keywords related to your niche. Then, look up the most popular accounts and see if they’ve ever mentioned your product. If they haven’t, start following them and interacting with their content. The key is to build a relationship with influencers in your niche!
Once you have a list of potential micro-influencers, contact them individually and offer them a free sample of your products.
It’s important to note that micro-influencers are typically very busy people who only have time to do things that bring them money. So, don’t expect them to spend a ton of time promoting your brand unless they genuinely enjoy your products or if you have created a campaign that’s worth their time. We will discuss paid influencer campaigns later in this article.
How to Use Influencers to Grow Your Brand
Now that you’ve identified some influencers within your brand’s niche, let’s discuss a few things to consider when selecting the right influencer.
#1 – Look for someone who has the same goals as you
Do you want to promote your brand by creating videos or articles? Or would you prefer to write reviews? Would you rather focus on social media marketing or email marketing?
Find someone with the same goal as you to work together effectively.
#2 – Choose someone who has a proven track record
When choosing an influencer, look for someone with proven success history. The size of their audience doesn’t necessarily matter, but if they haven’t achieved what you’d expect from a successful influencer, chances are they won’t do well for you either.
Also, consider how much time they spend promoting products. Some influencers only promote specific products, so if you choose one who promotes everything, your brand may get lost in the mix, and you could waste your money.
How to find the right influencer for your brand
Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for any business looking to connect with its target market. But how do you go about finding the perfect influencer for your brand? Here are three steps to follow when searching for the best fit.
Step 1: Find Your Audience
Before reaching out to influencers, you should know who you’re trying to reach. Think about what kind of person would benefit from your product or service. Who are they? Where do they hang out? And most importantly, why would they care about your brand?
Once you understand your ideal customer, you can build relationships with them. Start by researching your potential customers on sites like Buzzsumo, where you can see what types of posts work well for similar businesses. Then, look into their social profiles and see if you can identify commonalities.
Next, think about user-generated content that would resonate with your audience. For example, if you sell makeup products, you might want to focus on makeup artists, bloggers, or beauty vloggers. Or maybe you’re selling skincare products, so you could try contacting dermatologists or skin care professionals. Whatever niche you choose, make sure you can find relevant influencers within that space.
Step 2: Find someone who fits into your target market
When selecting an influencer, look for someone whose demographic matches yours. For example, if you sell skincare products, you’d want to choose someone with similar skin problems.
If you sell makeup, you’ll want to pick someone who wears makeup regularly. Likewise, if you sell hair extensions, you will want to select someone who uses them often.
Step 3: Reach Out
Now that you know who you’re targeting, it’s time to reach out to them. There are plenty of different platforms available for influencer outreach, but many can be found on popular social media platforms you already use, like LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
Once you’ve identified the kind of influencer you’d like to work with, it’s time to find her contact information.
Start by searching for her name on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Then, look for her email address somewhere within the profile.
How to pitch to beauty influencers
After finding the influencer’s email address, send a personalized message explaining why you think she’d be a good fit for your brand.
Keep it short and sweet. Don’t try to sell anything—just explain why you think she’d be a good fit.
Don’t forget to follow up. Once you’ve sent off your initial email, wait a couple of days before following up again.
Don’t bombard her with emails. Instead, please wait until you hear back from her so you can gauge whether she’s interested in working together.
When you receive a positive response, it’s time to pitch your idea!
Be sure to include details about your product, services, and pricing. Also, mention if you’re offering free samples or discounts.
Should I hire my influencer?
It’s important to note that influencers are not always paid. Sometimes they enjoy working with brands and happily promote products they think are worth recommending.
If you find someone willing to do this, great!
However, it’s better to focus on finding someone who fits your target market and offers services that align with your business goals so that you do not waste time (or products) with little results.
Once you’ve found your perfect match and they’ve indicated an interest in working with you, you’ll need to decide whether you want to pay them directly or offer them a commission based on sales.
Either way, you’ll want to set clear, realistic expectations upfront. Explain what kind of results you’re hoping to achieve and what you’re offering in return.
Remember that influencers are real people; no matter how professional they seem, they still have feelings. So be respectful and courteous, and try to understand where they’re coming from before jumping into any negotiations.
How much does it cost to work with an influencer?
Influencer marketing campaigns range depending on the size of the account, the number of posts, and how well the influencer performs.
While most influencer marketing campaigns start small, the potential rewards are enormous. So if you’re looking to grow your business, influencer marketing could be the best option.
How to Negotiate Influencer Fees
Influencer fees vary widely depending on the type of influencer you choose. Some will charge per post, others by the number of followers or by the number of likes or retweets.
As you might expect, the higher the fee, the better the quality of work required from the influencer. If you’re looking for someone who posts regularly, you should consider paying a flat rate rather than a per-post fee. You may also want to negotiate a minimum number of posts before a payment is made.
Another thing to remember when negotiating fees is how much time the influencer spends working on each post. For example, if you’ve hired a professional model, chances are she won’t spend time editing her pictures. On the other hand, if you hire a blogger whose only job is to write blog posts, she’ll probably spend quite a bit of time perfecting each image.
Here’s what you need to know before signing up with an influencer
Influencer marketing programs are widespread for beauty brands, and many of these influencer partnerships produce excellent results for both parties. However, there are certain things you should consider before bringing an influencer into your social media marketing efforts.
Be sure to provide your influencer partner with as much informxfation as possible about your brand, product, and ideal content strategy. While the influencer will most likely retain creative freedom over her work, the more direction you give, the smoother the process will go.
While it’s true that most influencers are genuine and helpful, there are still plenty of fake ones out there. So, make sure you check out the reviews from previous clients before deciding to sign up with anyone. Most reputable influencers will have this type of “social proof” readily displayed because their goal is to partner with more brands.
You’ll also want to use metrics to measure the campaign’s success.
How To Measure Success In Your Influencer Campaigns
Influencer campaigns are a great way to gain exposure for your business. However, if you aren’t measuring how well your influencer efforts are performing, you may waste time and money.
When working with influencers, it’s essential to know whether or not your campaign is successful. There are several different metrics you should track to determine success.
Here are four key metrics to keep in mind for a successful influencer campaign.
#1 – Reach
Measuring reach is simple. Count each influencer’s followers and divide by the total number of impressions. If you’re looking to grow your following, this metric will give you a rough idea of how much potential growth you could see from reaching out to influencers.
#2 – Engagement Rate
Engagement rate measures how often your followers interact with your posts. When you engage with influencers, you can show off your product or service to a broader audience. As a result, you can potentially generate sales leads.
To calculate the engagement rate, just add together the likes, replies, retweets, and comments made by your followers. Then, divide this figure by the total number of times your influencer shared your post.
#3 – Click Through Rate
Click-through rate measures how effective your influencer’s posts were at generating clicks. This metric shows how many people visited your site after clicking on your influencer’s post.
To calculate the click-through rate, add together all the clicks received by your influencer. Then divide this figure by the total amount of impressions.
#4 – Conversions
Let Build the Brand Run Your Influencer Campaigns
If this feels overwhelming or your past influencer campaigns have produced underwhelming results, Build the Brand is here to help! We’ve built relationships with influencers to help our clients get their messages in front of the right people. We know who will resonate with your audience and deliver the best ROI.
Start a project with us today, and we’ll show you how we can make your influencer marketing strategy a success.
