5 Winning Influencer Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses: Practical Tips and Examples

Influencer marketing strategies to drive sales, create awareness and scale small businesses.

As a small business owner, it is important to incorporate numerous Marketing strategies to ensure that you’re leaving no stone unturned when it comes to constantly being seen by your target audience. One of which is Influencer Marketing.

Influencer Marketing strategies are powerful marketing tools that small business owners can use to drive sales, create brand awareness and engage with their target audience in a meaningful way.

Before diving into these strategies, it is important to have set content strategies and identify the right influencers for your small business to avoid embarking on a money-losing venture.

You should choose your influencers based on their credibility and authenticity, their kind of audience, their relatability to their audience and your brand, and finally, their Influencer cost.

Image via Matter Now

Like the above image from a survey on influencer marketing, 61% of consumers prefer relatable and authentic content.

When you have all these in place, you are definitely on a highway to success because consumers prefer authentic and relatable content when it comes to influencer marketing.

So, what are the best influencer marketing strategies for your small business?

1. Affiliate Programs

Influencer marketing strategies like affiliate programs have proven to be a cost-effective strategy for business owners.

With this strategy, the influencer promotes the product on their platform, offering a discount with a unique promo code or affiliate link generated by the business owner.

Want to know the best part? It’s a win-win situation for both parties. The entrepreneur pays based on results and the influencer actively promotes the product because their compensation is tied to the sales they generate.

For example, Gymshark, a fitness clothing line became a popular brand by leveraging fitness influencers to promote their products through affiliate programs.

Their influencers promoted the fitness apparel with the unique promo codes and links they were provided with on their social media platforms.

This encouraged their followers to purchase the clothing at a good discount while the influencers happily earned their commission.

Tips

• You will attract influencers when the commission is good enough to motivate marketing and consumers when the discount is fair.
• You can provide your influencers with easy-to-share materials such as pre-designed banners/flyers, and content strategies or sample posts to aid their marketing.
• It is also advisable to utilise performance marketing platforms to track the success of each influencer.

2. Micro-influencers

Micro-influencers are typically influencers who have a following of 10,000 to 100,000 on social media platforms.

Marketing with these small influencers has proven to be a gold mine because they have more engagements and stronger personal connections with their audience.

While they don’t possess the massive following of most A-list celebrities, consumers tend to find their recommendations more authentic and trustworthy because of how relatable they are.

Their endorsements often seem like a piece of advice from a friend.

This can be more accessible to small business owners and cost-effective because they charge significantly less than most celebrities.

Now, let’s consider Glossier, a beauty brand. Glossier grew its customer base by collaborating with micro-influencers with smaller but engaged followings to promote its beauty products.

By featuring these influencers in their social media marketing campaign, Glossier built a community-driven brand image that built trust with their target audience.

Tip

• Focus on credible micro-influencers who align with your niche and brand values, and have followers who are your target audience.

3. User-generated Content (USC)

Leveraging User-generated Content with influencers is an excellent way to build social proof while engaging your target audience.

By actively using your product, your influencers give potential customers a personalised view of the product in action, which in turn, drives engagement and conversion.

As a business owner, you can garner a lot of testimonials and authentic images across your social platforms boosting credibility.

Here’s an example, Starbucks, a chain store cafe often uses user-generated content to promote their brand, becoming a household name.

They encouraged influencers and followers to share photos and videos of their customised drinks. And by reposting these contents, Starbucks created a community of engaged consumers who feel connected to the brand.

Tips

• Partner with influencers to kick off the campaign by sharing their own USC on their social media platforms, encouraging their followers to do the same.
• Also, you can create special hashtags, repost their content, give shout-outs on your official channels, and give incentives for participation to encourage more participation.

4. Influencer-led Product Reviews and Tutorials

This is a perfect influencer marketing strategy because, nowadays, most consumers purchase products because of a product review or tutorial they saw from a credible source.

Partnering with influencers to give detailed and honest product reviews and tutorials helps customers understand your product and how it would be a perfect fit for them.

This is so effective because it showcases your product in action, shows what to expect, addresses concerns and answers honest questions that potential customers may have.

For example, HelloFresh, a meal kit delivery service, collaborates with food bloggers and Youtubers to showcase their products and give reviews about the ease of meal preparation.

The influencers either share unboxing videos, cook the meals on camera or give their review of the product.

Tips

• When collaborating with influencers, avoid scripting the content because it hides authenticity.
• Encourage them to highlight the features and benefits that set your product apart and give genuine feedback that resonates with their audience.

5. Giveaways and Contests

Contests and Giveaways are quick ways to create buzz around your product and expand the reach of your small business.

By collaborating with influencers to host giveaways or contests, you encourage their followers to engage with your brand which could result in increased visibility and followership. This is a common social media marketing strategy.

Here’s one example. Daniel Wellington, a watch company, partnered with influencers to utilise Instagram giveaways to promote their product and increase their following.

Influencers posted photos and videos of their watch announcing giveaways, prompting customers to participate by following the brand and tagging friends. This in turn boosted brand followership and recognition.

Tips

• Collaborate with your influencer on a concise set of rules to ensure full participation and set clear terms on how winners will be selected.
• Also, ensure the price is valuable to your target audience and influencers’ followers.

Conclusion

With the right influencer partnerships and content strategies, even small businesses with limited budgets can utilise the power of influencer marketing to build their brand, strengthen brand loyalty and achieve long-term success.