Influencer Seeding Strategies for Growth in 2022
The digital world has gained immense popularity over the years. It has been no surprise to the tech lovers and the corporate giants that they are channelizing their growth through various digital platforms. It has announced a revolution in the perception of people towards the online business world.
The internet and social media have guided numerous businesses worldwide to achieve their goals smoothly. There are various strategies used by online businesses. One of these most effective strategies is social media seeding or influencer seeding.
What Is Influencer Seeding
In simple words, seeding on social media refers to empowering the business growth by pushing the product offerings and the idea through rich content on various social media platforms like Instagram, etc. They promote their content where their target audience socializes the most.
Similarly, influencer seeding can be defined as collaborating and partnering with a powerful leader and content creator to spread the brand message and product offerings. For example, an apparel brand partners with a top fashion model to attract potential customers.
Brands & The Approach Towards Influencer Seeding Strategy
In the sublime level of competition, businesses find it extremely complicated to create and design a strong influencer seeding strategy. The challenge becomes more difficult as more and more startups and businesses try to shift toward the online medium.
Apart from this, the disease-hit organizations have also marked their presence through influencer product seeding. However, a business can excel in its creator seeding tactics through a well-designed plan.
Companies should follow the following tips to create an impactful marketing strategy.
Determination Of Goals & Objectives
It is crucial for businesses to identify the main reason behind opting for influencer marketing. Due to a lack of direction, many businesses do not capitalize on this seeding strategy. They initially do not realize their strategic goals and end up in failure.
Setting the goals is not enough for succeeding in influencer marketing. Objectives are also important. Converting and specifying the goals in numerical terms will help the organization accomplish its targets more smoother.
Categorizing Influencers
Selecting the right content creator requires thorough research. Marketers should understand different kinds of influencer, their impact, and engagement level. Determine your budget and invest it in the most suitable expert.
They should be able to create a positive brand image and aware people of the current offerings. The positioning of the business also affects the influencer strategy.
Contact The Suitable Marketer/Creator
After the research process, shortlist the creators and select the most appropriate collaborator. Connect with them and negotiate the price factor, if possible. Try to build non-business relations to better understand the industry and adjudge trends in the market.
All the relevant details such as contract date, digital strategy, mediums of content creation, content delivery, target, etc., should be informed well before launching into the seeding process.
Seeding Kit & What To Include
When the company finally selects a creator to promote their brand or product, they initiate it with a warm welcome in the form of a gift hamper. This gift is called an influencer seeding kit. It sends a positive message to the promoter as it creates a lasting impression on the influencer.
But it is a complex design for organizations to think about what they should include in their seeding kit. They often face the question of ‘too less’ and ‘too much’ while including things or items in this seeding kit.
In order to create a memorable seeding kit, firstly determine different key areas of the strategy. They should know the motive behind the decision and the reason for selecting XYZ influencer for the purpose. This purpose will guide the business to include relevant things in the hamper.
Secondly, avoid including things that are irrelevant to the industry. For example, a fitness enthusiast should not be given a perfume; instead, the organization can give a smartwatch calculating heartbeat, a nutritious bar set, etc.
Lastly, include things that fall within the budget. Sometimes, doing over tempts the influencer to charge more, considering the financial status of the company. On the other hand, under-delivering can lead to early termination of the opinion leader or lazy & delayed work.
Finding The Best Influencers For Marketing Campaigns
There are various tested and recognized ways to select great creators for a niche. Some of the most effective ways are shown hereunder.
Put Hashtags
Most companies identify potential influencers through hashtags. They search for a particular popular hashtag related to their niche on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc. They land on some powerful figures who promote different brands by searching for these hashtags.
For example, a company dealing in sportswear can search for hashtags like #fitness, #sports, etc., to land on various celebrities’ and influencers’ pages. This technique saves a lot of time otherwise spent searching manually on the internet.
Google Search Alerts
Brands can set notification alerts related to suitable keywords for your business. When a creator writes something relevant to your product niche, Google will send an alert. This will help the marketer reach the person within minutes.
Apart from these two major platforms, blogger outreach sites, influencer marketing platforms like TRIBE and BuzzSumo, and social media handles are also influential ways of finding the best influencer for a campaign.
Top Influencer Seeding Campaigns
There are many brands that grew exponentially through influencer marketing. Some of these companies are highlighted below.
American Express
The brand’s campaign was named ‘My Travel Style’. The campaign utilized its strong social media presence and roped in famous celebrities and influencers. Their most convertible and successful platform was Facebook.
Lyft
The rideshare brand hired numerous celebrities and reached out to several micro-influencers. The brand benefitted from this move as it grabbed 5.9 million viewers on different platforms. They set specific target groups and addressed them through these mediums.
Hello Fresh
Hello Fresh is an excellent food delivery brand focussing on delivering readymade food kits. They invest in the seeding tactics and have gained a whopping market share of 55 percent. The brand grabs the audience’s attention through popular celebrities like Emilie Hebert.
How Brands Can Maximize Benefits From Seeding Campaign
There are numerous benefits of getting a marketing campaign channelized through influencers. These advantages are listed below.
Creates Mutual Trust
Brands take no time to connect with their audience powerfully. Studies have shown that businesses take less time to build trust with the customers when they use influencer marketing. It creates transparency inside-out.
Rise In Brand Awareness
People use social media regularly, which promises more growth for the brand. The awareness level increases significantly among the target groups. They tend to discuss the business more, enhancing the overall brand image.
Connecting Target Audience
Brands utilize content to connect with the target audience more effectively. Organizations are not required to invest additional efforts to reach their target customers. Influencers put relevant content, and it is visible to their audience.
Moreover, the seeding and marketing process has been simplified by executing different influencer marketing courses. People can enroll in such courses to learn the hacks of such content strategies.