Despite an implosion of marketing channels companies use to reach their customers or intended end-user, the most effective way to reach a new loyal customer is still the same. Word-of-mouth advertising generated by a trusted family member or friend is more effective than any other method. 64% of customers will not only value online reviews but will actively seek them out before making a purchasing decision. User generated-based ads get 4x higher click-through rates and a 50% drop in cost-per-click than average. User-generated videos on YouTube get 10x more views than content created and uploaded by the actual brand. We value what our peers and trusted community leaders think.
Smart companies regularly seek out content creators who are active in their brand community to grow their share of the market. Choosing the right influencer and content writer for your brand can be a very time-consuming task that sounds easier than it actually is. (You just find the most popular topic related voice on every channel right? Wrong!) To help, we’ve come to the rescue with a method for finding the right content creators for your brand.
Know Your Brand:
This seems like an obvious step but many people skip it. For example, they will approach a DIY YouTuber to review their light fixture kit. The only problem is the YouTuber mainly does rustic furniture makeovers. Their kit is energy efficient and made of eco-friendly materials. So, it would be better in the hands of a vlogger who is outfitting their tiny house with DIY lighting that can run off solar. Knowing your brand will help you pick the right voice to represent your service or product. Make sure you use a process to define and understand your brand first.
Define the Objectives for Your Campaign:
What do you want as a result of the content creator, creating and publishing this content? A few examples are:
1. Awareness
2. Establishing your brand as an educational leader in the market
3. More direct sells
It’s best to choose only one primary objective for each campaign. So, an example would be “I want to make more people aware of our accelerated nursing program.” Say you have two choices of content creators:
1. Is currently in an accelerated nursing program and has a good niche following on Instagram posting her notes, study sessions and scrubs of the day for clinicals.
2. Is a nurse blogger who does regular reviews of nursing programs in the country.
Content writer two may be a better option. Her audience is still likely undecided and is in the early awareness stage of the funnel. You should also have a quantitative objective. How many new eyes do you need on your website to deliver one new user or customer? Once you know this you can look at the influencers consistency of posting, reach and audience engagement to determine if they can help you reach your goal.
Establish a Method for Measuring Success:
This goes along with our second point. Once that content is out there you need a way to measure its impact. You want to establish this before selecting a brand influencer because their presence or past work will determine how you measure. It’s good to use tracking links and tools that allow you to measure how many times a piece of content has been shared or clicked on. Not every social platform has this ability. So, if your content writer is mainly on Pinterest this might be more difficult than say YouTube or Facebook.
Finding Great Content Creators and Influencers:
There are a few different ways to go about this last step. We like the personal approach. As you are defining your brand you will get at the very least waist deep in the sea of content that’s out there surrounding your product or service. You will start to become very familiar with the leaders and various voices of authority. So, we think it’s best to develop a personal relationship with those people and plan content together. But there are also resources like marketing agencies who have research teams to help you. For Youtube content, there are Multi-Channel Networks that act as an agency for people who create content on YouTube.
We hope this was a helpful guide! Please comment below if you have any suggestions or personal experiences with finding good content creators.