So you’ve built a great app. Now what? Now it’s time to market it and make everyone know about its awesomeness.
But which marketing strategy to go with?
With literally a hundred ways you can market your app, I can understand your frustration when it comes to choosing one strategy that will work.
Come to think of it, even if you did make up your mind about what marketing strategy is best for your app, chances are it’s not going to be enough to get the results you want.
The solution? Use several marketing strategies. One of the marketing strategies you can try is Influencer Marketing.
I assume by this time, because you are already thinking of ways to market your app, that your app is launched, you’ve done the necessary research to make sure it’s ASO-ready and that the only thing you need now is for people to know your app exists.
Great. Let’s get started.
If you’re unfamiliar with influencer marketing, here’s what you need to know.
What Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy that utilizes people with extra-convincing powers that enable them to entice people in their network to purchase or use a product or a service.
It is built on trust between the influencer and their audience.
It’s a form of word-of-mouth marketing.
According to this Nielsen report, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from family, friends and colleagues more than any other form of advertising.
In a more recent study, according to small to medium businesses, 28% of people trust word-of-mouth advertising than any other form of advertising.
Why Choose Influencer Marketing?
Aside from influencer marketing being all the rage right now, it’s more than just creating awareness about a particular brand’s message, according to a study by Mckinsey & Company, “marketing induced consumer-to-consumer word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising”.
In simpler terms, because it works.
In a survey by Burst Media, a digital agency, learned that influencer campaigns earn “$6.85 in earned media value for every $1 of paid media.”. If that doesn’t scream ‘effective’, I don’t know what will.
It’s also a great way to reach out to millennials who can be reached through social media much more effectively. Why is this important, you ask? Well, because, influencers today are mostly millennials.
So, how do you get started with Influencer Marketing?
1. Find the right influencers
Running the influencer campaign is easier than finding the right influencer, but it is crucial to the success of your campaign that you look for the right influencers to help you get the media mileage that your app needs.
A few things you should remember when looking for influencers:
- A huge following doesn’t always equal engagement
- Engagement is more important than follower count
- Make sure the influencer you’re eyeing posts frequently
- Make sure that the influencer is a good fit for your app
So, just like when you were building your app, do a market research, and base your ideal influencer on your target audience.
Read this article to learn more about how you can find influencers that will be eager to share your content.
2. How To Find The Right Influencer
Now that you know what you’re looking for in an influencer. The next question is ‘how to find the right influencer?’.
Once you know what type of influencer you’re looking for, you can use platforms like Klout, LinkedIn or Twitter to find an influencer you can work with.
You’ll find sources on this article about online platforms you can use to help you find the right influencers more effectively.
Hashtags are great for sifting through influencers in a specific niche. A hashtag is a keyword preceded by the ‘#’ sign. Hashtags are especially useful on platforms like Twitter and Instagram.
If you’re looking for a specific niche you want to reach out to, hashtags will make the search less time consuming and you can find influencers more efficiently.
3. Plan Your Influencer Marketing Campaign
Create an influencer marketing strategy that is perfectly tailored for your chosen influencer. While working on your strategy, keep in mind that every person is unique.
Influencers have so much power over their audience because they are perceived as ‘real’ and authentic. So when you create your strategy, make sure that you’re giving the influencer the freedom to be able to personalize it according to how they would normally share a content that aren’t sponsored.
With this in mind, you should be able to create a strategy that will not only be beneficial for your app, but one that your potential influencer can’t say no to.
4. Connect With The Influencer
You’ve found the right influencers that you think are a great fit for your app, now what?
Get the influencer to notice you. Treat the influencer like a new friend, gradually introduce yourself, you can do this by following them on their social media accounts, following their blogs, leaving them comments on their posts and sharing their content on your own social media outlets.
Be cautious however, you don’t want to be labeled as a stalker!
When you’ve established a relationship with the influencer, then you can start sending them a pitch, especially created for them. Everyone hates a generic pitch, so don’t do it!
Patience Is A Virtue
You’ve found the right influencer, established a relationship with them and finally reached out to them, now what?
Be patient.
Influencers get a lot of pitches and it may take a while for them to get to yours, so be patient and don’t bombard them with follow ups, you may end up annoying them and all your efforts will be for nothing.
If after sometime you don’t hear from the influencer, then be ready to start all over again.