Influencer marketing is all the rage right now and justifiably so. For small businesses, it can be one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing, and for the biggest brands in the world, it’s an excellent method for keeping your name in front of consumers.
For those who don’t know, influencer marketing is the practice of paying people with large audiences to promote your product or service to their followers. Usually, this done with social media celebrities, but there is no reason why it couldn’t be done with individuals who have substantial offline followings too.
What are Subscription Boxes?
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a huge spike in subscription box companies hitting the scene. These companies operate a subscription model where you pay to receive a monthly box with a range of products inside.
Each of the different subscription boxes is tailored to a specific niche, i.e., gardening, yoga or weightlifting and the products inside are perfect for the people involved in those activities.
Why is Influencer Marketing Amazing for Subscription Box Companies?
Although influencer marketing is excellent for most businesses, it’s extraordinarily powerful for this type of company because their products aren’t mission-critical, but they are incredibly visual. What this means is that their products are a luxury, which means that people need to be slowly persuaded to buy into the idea of the company and the product.
By using an influencer who has a strong control over what is ‘cool’ within their space you can market far more effectively than with a banner advertisement. Similarly, because subscription boxes are visually beautiful, it’s easy for these influencers to advertise it on their social media in a way that is going to help you to see an ROI.
Focus on the Smaller Influencers
One of the most common mistakes that small businesses make when they attempt influencer marketing is to go after the biggest influencers in their space. This a terrible idea for two reasons; firstly, you probably can’t afford them, and secondly, their followers don’t care as much.
If you have millions of followers, you can demand a high price, but most of your followers don’t care about you as much as they would if they were one of only a few thousand followers.
Rather than blowing your entire marketing budget in one swoop, it’s a much better idea to focus on small influencers, many of whom will take products instead of a cash payment. This saves you money and can still lead to excellent results.
Go Outside of the Biggest Communities
Secondly, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that influencers only exist on Instagram and Facebook. Influencers are merely people who can influence the thoughts and purchase decisions of others.
You can find top influencers on Reddit, YouTube, niche communities, blogs and even forums.
These influencers are slightly more obscure meaning that they don’t attract so much attention from other brands looking to utilize influencer marketing. In practice, this can mean that they charge a lower price and put in more effort to promote your product or service.
Personalize Your ‘Bribe’
Finally, if you’re connecting with an influencer who can have a significant impact on your sales figures, make sure to give them something precious. We all love money, but influencers get offered opportunities every day and often choose based on other factors.
Gary Vaynerchuk mentioned in one of his videos that he discovered an influencer was a massive fan of a specific football team. Rather than offering him a traditional deal he also sent him a signed jersey from that team, making it a done deal.
Personalizing your ‘bribe’ shows the influencer that you care about them and want to make the partnership beneficial for both parties. Too often businesses think that they have all of the power when it’s often the other way around. Discover what that influencer cares about and give them something that makes it impossible for them to say no.
