The Definitive Guide to Influencer Marketing

Chapter 1: Campaign Definition

Like most things in life, marketing campaigns rarely pay off if you don’t put in the hard work beforehand. In order to have great results, you have to approach your campaign from a strategic perspective from the very outset. And that starts here, with campaign definition. Keep reading to learn all about the types of campaigns that exist, how to create a marketing proposal, and more.

Influencer Marketing Guide > Campaign Definition > 1.1 Before you start

GUIDE NAVIGATOR

0. Introduction
1. Campaign Definition
2. Campaign Setup
3. Campaign Launch
4. Campaign Monitoring
- 4.1. Detecting & collecting published media
- 4.2. Tips & tricks for following up
5. Campaign Analysis
- 5.1. Analyzing a campaign's results
- 5.2. Expectations vs. reality: the report
Glossary

1.1. Before you start

Before you even start thinking about the campaign, there are some general caveats we’d like to point out. Keeping these in mind will help you define a campaign that’s realistic for you, which will in turn lead to greater chance of success.

Understand your investment capacity.

Decide now what you can offer an influencer as Incentive, and what the value of that is. Keep in mind that incentives can be monetary or non-monetary. For some influencers, products or experiences may be sufficient compensation. This depends primarily on two factors: the influencer's status and the perceived value of your product. An influencer with 1M followers will require more compensation than one with 1K. Likewise, a fancy watch will be a more attractive incentive than a pack of cookies.

Don’t forget about shipping and handling.

Despite the rampant digitalization of our world, sending and receiving items is still a very physical process. While product is the cheaper way to incentivize influencers (as the cost is the cost of production), don’t forget about any shipping and handling charges you may incur. If your product isn’t digital, you’re going to have to spend money and time to get it to influencers. Try to eliminate these when possible. For example, offer influencers an email voucher that they can then redeem for what they like.

Take the calendar seriously.

In an ideal world, everything would go according to schedule. But we know that’s not the case, so it’s essential to leave yourself some leeway in case you run into hurdles. Ideally, you want to start planning and reaching out to influencers at least a month before the target launch date. Furthermore, make sure your marketing calendar is in sync with the other areas of your company. If your campaign goal is sales of a new product, it goes without saying you’ll have to schedule the campaign launch for when the product is already on the market.

Establish your target audience.

Doing your market research and knowing your target audience will help you narrow down what type of influencer you want. But stay flexible, especially when searching. If you’re targeting people aged 30-35, expand your age range a bit. Who knows, an influencer who’s 28 could be the best person for your campaign. Additionally, don’t forget to also analyze the influencer’s audience to see if they match your target. Heepsy makes this process a lot easier, but you need to show up with flexibility in the right places.

Know your limits.

Don’t copy your competitor, however great they may seem. This won’t do anything to help your own brand stand out. Also, be conscious of the creative limits of your brand across sectors and social networks. A huge music festival like Glastonbury– which has an audiovisual product and large teams of people working behind them– has a different creative capacity than a local hardware store, for example. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t make influencer marketing work for you.

You just need to know what you’re capable of. Do some self-reflection and understand what your brand is capable of. Don’t copy your competitors! Mimicking them won’t help your own brand stand out. And be conscious of creative limits that arise from your company and products. Glastonbury has a different creative capacity than a local hardware store. But that doesn’t mean influencer marketing can’t work for you. You just need to know your limits and how to work within them.