How to Make Influencer Campaigns That Rock Your ROI

Create a strong campaign concept

One of the best ways to start your campaign strong is to establish a solid idea of what you want your campaign to say or accomplish. A theme, a central message, or an objective. Ideally, this would happen before you reach out to your influencers.

A strong concept does multiple things.

Firstly, it helps your influencer partners develop better content ideas that will be authentic to both your brands. This makes the content more engaging to the influencer’s audience and the CTAs more likely to convert.

Secondly, it keeps your brand and the content themes consistent across multiple posts and influencers. This is important so that customers can get a better sense of who you are.

Thirdly, it protects your brand from influencers who want to take their creativity a little too far and end up leaning too much toward a message that you don’t want to be associated with.

Tailor the tactic to the platform (or influencer)

Every social media platform has their own demographic, their own influencers, and their own culture. What works on one platform won’t necessarily work on another.

When you conceptualize an influencer marketing campaign, it’s best to play to each platform’s respective strengths. Influencers on TikTok, for example, make heavy use of video and musical elements, while Instagram influencers leverage lots of still photography.

It’s even better if you can tailor campaigns to your influencer, assuming the influencer partner has a unique enough identity that makes the content super distinctive.

Highlight authenticity over sales endorsements

There’s a fine but distinct line between an ad starring an influencer, and an authentic influencer/brand partnership.

The former can damage the image of both the influencer and the brand. It’s not just the fact that it’s a sales endorsement that turns audiences off; it’s the (very transparent) attempt to fake enthusiasm or interest in a product. Audiences can smell inauthentic testimonials, especially those who know their influencers well.

A partnership where both parties share genuine enthusiasm for the product, however, has a powerful effect on people. It shows in the quality of the content. It shows in the chemistry between the creator’s personality and the brand’s.

THAT is what is going to get people to convert, and that’s what will boost your campaign’s return.

Choose long-term campaigns over one-offs

Many influencer engagements are “one and done” affairs. The brand partners up with the influencer for a post or two, engages with the comments, takes their conversions and leaves. If they ever do work with the influencer again, it’s for a completely different project.

There are benefits to that kind of arrangement. But we would argue that a sustained, long-term campaign with the same creator can have more dramatic overall results and deliver better ROI than a series of one-offs.

For one, it allows your brand/influencer partnership to grow and mature. As you work together more, you understand more of what the other brings to the table, and can create truly authentic and compelling sponsored content.

Also, a longer partnership will create a stronger association between your brand and the influencer. Your names will therefore be synonymous from the perspective of the audience.

Test, adjust, and test some more

In influencer marketing, there is no “magic bullet” that’s guaranteed to work 100% of the time. Every campaign can be improved in some way, and to varying degrees. The key is keeping close track of your influencer marketing metrics and paying attention to any changes that seem to be affecting your results.

This is one reason why long-term partnerships with influencer partners are so effective. By working with them over an extended period of time, you get to test different content formats, products, and messaging and adjust your approach accordingly.

Keep up with the conversation

If you’ve ever played baseball, or tennis, or basketball, or any other sport, then you should be familiar with the concept of “follow-through.” This is what hits a home run. It’s what delivers a knockout punch.

The same concept can be translated into influencer marketing. Your job as a marketer doesn’t end when the influencer posts their content.

No, you have to follow through and dive into the comments. Engage with the influencer’s audience and participate in the conversation. Offer some help or crack a joke.

If you answer product questions right there in the comment thread, you may help drive additional conversions right then and there. And if you handle negative comments with grace, you may even win over a few critics.

Conclusion

Influencers are the primary driving force for your campaign results, but they’re not the only driving force.

There are many things that you can do to boost your influencer marketing campaign ROI, and they don’t have to cost a thing. It’s all a matter of running the campaign with purpose and clarity - finding a powerful theme, tailoring your tactics, and constantly testing and adjusting your approach.

You don’t have to partner with a super-celeb to get super-returns. You just have to be clever and consistent.