Lead Generation Through Influencer Marketing: How to Make it Work

Lead generation through influencer marketing has become an increasingly popular strategy for businesses of all sizes. With the rise of social media, consumers are more likely to trust the recommendations of influencers than traditional advertising. A study by a digital marketing institute in 2021 found that 49% of consumers rely on influencer recommendations when purchasing. As a result, influencer marketing businesses see an average ROI of $6.50 for every $1 invested.

However, many businesses need help to leverage influencer marketing to generate leads. More than simply partnering with influencers is required to ensure success. So having a strategy and working closely with influencers is important to build genuine relationships. 

This blog post will explore how businesses can use influencer marketing to generate leads and drive growth. We’ll cover identifying the right influencers, developing an effective strategy, building relationships, and maximizing results.

What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing means a partnership between a brand and an influencer. Influencers promote a brand, service, or product to a broader audience. In exchange, Influencers get compensated by the brand through payment or free products (swap). Selecting influencers aligned with your niche and industry can increase your chances of reaching an audience.  Influencers can be celebrities, social media personalities, public figures, content creators, or people with a large following. 

Working with influencers in a lead generation campaign offers varied benefits for businesses. Such as:

• Increased brand awareness
• Drive website traffic and generate leads
• Help businesses increase sales
• Provide high-quality, consistent content to customers
• Improve conversions, and generate leads
• It helps to answer customers’ questions, 
• Build trust, and develop relationships.

The main advantage is that it assists in avoiding ad blockers. According to a 2021 study, 47% of participants aged 25-34 use a desktop ad blocker, and 34% use a mobile ad blocker on Androids and iPhones. As people’s concerns about privacy grow, more people will use ad blockers to protect their data. Influencer marketing can provide an alternative to traditional forms of advertising.

How does influencer marketing generate leads?

Many brands are reaping the benefits of employing influencer-driven marketing efforts. Brands believe working with influencers is a good idea because influencers can help get more customers by promoting their products honestly and personally through personal sales techniques. But influencer marketing is successful because it uses actual, shareable, and viral content to reach many people and make a good return on investment.

It is believed by 71% of marketers that influencer partnerships help businesses grow. It helps generate leads for businesses by: 

• Building trust and credibility:

Influencers have built strong relationships with their followers by providing valuable and authentic content. For example, when they recommend a product or service, their followers are likelier to trust and believe in it.

Here’s a snippet of an influencer who is a fitness expert who regularly post-workout tips, healthy recipes, and progress updates to their followers. She promotes a gym backpack, and her followers are more likely to believe in the product because of the trust gained through her consistent and authentic content. 

Source

• Driving website traffic: 

Influencers can drive traffic to a business website by including links to the website in their posts or stories.

A beauty influencer here posted a reel on using a particular skincare product and included the brand’s name in the post’s caption. When the influencer’s followers search for the link, it directs them to the business website, which can lead to an increase in website traffic and turn, an increase in leads and sales for the skincare product.

Source 

• Increasing brand awareness:

They can help increase brand awareness by sharing content that showcases a product or service in a positive light. It can lead to an increase in brand recognition and, in turn, an increase in sales.

Here’s a snippet from a fashion influencer who posted a reel of herself wearing a particular brand of clothing, highlighting the fit and style of the dress. 

Source

• Reaching a highly targeted audience:

Influencers have a highly engaged and relevant following. By partnering with influencers who align with your niche and industry, businesses can reach a highly targeted audience and increase their chances of generating leads and increasing sales.

Let’s say, for example, a travel influencer partnering with a luxury resort. The influencer has a following of individuals interested in travel and luxury experiences, making them a perfect fit for the resort’s target audience. 

• Increasing social media following: 

Influencers can also help increase a business’s social media following. Their followers may also be interested in following the company, leading to an increase in brand awareness and, in turn, sales. 

Now assume a food influencer who may post a picture of a meal they had at a particular restaurant and tag the restaurant in the post. It can lead the influencer’s followers also to become interested in following the restaurant, leading to increased brand awareness and, in turn, increased sales.

Promotions and collaborations can occur on various social media platforms, from Instagram and Twitter to LinkedIn, TikTok, and Youtube. 

Now that you know how influencer marketing works, let’s look at some ways to identify and select the right influencers.

Tips for identifying and selecting the right influencers for your campaign

Selecting the right influencer for your campaign is crucial for its success. Here are some tips to help you choose the right influencer for your campaign:

1. Audience Size and Quality: 

While finding the perfect influencer that fits your brand for promotion, vet their audiences too. You likely want an audience that matches your target group. Work with influencers with an audience relevant to your industry and campaign goal. Consider your target location, age, and gender. Also, consider the influencer’s audience size. 

For example, if your target audience is men aged 25-35 in the USA, you would want to work with an influencer who has a large following of men aged 25-35 in the USA.

2. Align with the Influencer’s Platform: 

If you want someone to write about your product, ensure the influencer is already doing that on their page. The art of influencer marketing is aligning your brand with the influencer’s platform. 

For instance, you are working with an influencer who frequently posts about sustainable fashion and has a large following of environmentally conscious individuals who would be an excellent fit for your campaign.

3. Identify your Target Audience: 

Identify the target audience you want to reach and decide which type of influencer would be most effective in reaching that audience. Also, choose which social media platforms will best connect the influencer with your intended audience. 

Now let’s say your target audience is small business owners looking for a marketing automation solution; you would want to collaborate with an influencer with a large following of small business owners and regularly posts about marketing and technology on their platform.

4. Evaluate the Influencer’s Engagement: 

Check the influencer’s engagement rate and the comments on their posts. If an influencer has a high engagement rate on their posts, their audience is actively engaged and interested in their content. As a result, their audience will be receptive to your campaign and may be more likely to convert into leads.

5. Authenticity: 

Choose an influencer who is authentic and genuine. Influencers who can genuinely endorse your product or service are more likely to convert their followers into customers.

Following these tips can increase the chances of successful collaboration and achieving your campaign goals. Remember, the right influencer can make or break your campaign, so take the time to find the right fit for your brand.

Developing a Lead Generation Strategy for Influencer Marketing

Now that you understand how influencer marketing can generate leads, it’s essential to develop a lead-generation strategy that maximizes the potential of these leads. 

Here’s how to create a lead-generation campaign through influencer marketing:

1. First, identify your target audience and campaign goals.

• Start by identifying the target audience you want to reach with your campaign. Consider factors like location, age, gender, and interests.

• Next, define the goals of your campaign. For example, are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or create leads? Understanding your objectives will help you select the right influencers and create messaging that will resonate with your target audience.

2. Choose the right influencers for your campaign.

• Look for influencers who have a following that aligns with your target audience. According to a study by the Influencer marketing hub, micro-influencers (those with a following between 1,000 and 100,000) have the highest engagement rate (3.68% on Instagram and 1.64% on Youtube) as their audiences tend to be more active and engaged. 

• Consider the influencer’s platform, and look for influencers already posting about topics relevant to your product or service.

David Hoos, head of Marketing at The Outland group, shares his insight on determining the right mix of micro, macro, and nano-influencers for a campaign. – “We traditionally run a test campaign up front that experiments with various content verticals and influencer sizes. Like running paid advertising, the initial test campaigns can give you good signals indicating which verticals and creators will likely produce the best results. From there, we would attempt to reengage the best performers and then work to find look-alike influencers for the best-performing test campaigns.

3. Create content with influencers and include clear CTA’s

• Collaborate with influencers to create content that showcases your product or service in a positive light. It can include things like product demonstrations, reviews, or tutorials.

• Include a clear call-to-action (CTA) in the post or story. It can be a link to your website or landing page, a discount code, or a sign-up form. According to Hubspot, CTAs that include a sense of urgency, such as “Act now” or “Limited time offer,” perform better than generic CTAs like “Learn more.” 

4. Promote the campaign on social media and other platforms.

• Promote the campaign on your social media platforms and encourage your followers to check out the influencer’s post and engage with the content.

• To reach a wider audience, utilize other platforms, such as email marketing and paid advertising.

5. Optimize the campaign and make necessary adjustments.

• Based on the data collected and analyzed, make necessary adjustments to the campaign to improve its performance. 

• It may include changing the influencer, the messaging, the CTA, or the platforms you’re promoting on.

6. Track and measure the success of your campaign.

• Tracking and measuring the success of your campaign is crucial for understanding its effectiveness and making necessary adjustments. 

• Automated lead-generation tools can be valuable for businesses looking to optimize their lead-generation campaigns through influencer marketing. These tools can help with tasks such as identifying potential influencers, creating and sending campaigns, and tracking and analyzing results. Additionally, they can help businesses save time and resources and increase ROI. 

• One tool that can help businesses with their lead generation campaign is GrowMeOrganic, an all-in-one prospecting and cold email platform for growth hackers, founders, marketing executives, and digital agencies. It can help businesses extract emails from B2B platforms like LinkedIn & B2C platforms like Google Maps, send unlimited drip campaigns, and more. Choose a tool that best fits the needs of your business.

Case study of successful campaigns for lead generation through influencer marketing

A successful campaign for lead generation through influencer marketing was the “Stay True” campaign by Converse. The campaign aimed to increase brand awareness and drive sales for their new line of shoes.

To achieve this, Converse partnered with a diverse group of influencers from different backgrounds, such as musicians, artists, and athletes. The brand gave the influencers creative freedom to design and promote their unique shoe designs, using their style and voice.

One of the most successful influencers in the campaign was rapper J. Cole, who created a limited-edition shoe design that sold out within minutes of its release.

The “Stay True” campaign had an incredible engagement rate, generating thousands of shares and comments across social media platforms. The brand also reported a significant increase in sales, with the limited edition shoes selling out quickly.

There are many more case studies of successful campaigns for lead generation through influencer marketing. But the example provided highlights the effectiveness of using influencers to reach a target audience, improve brand awareness and sentiment, and ultimately drive conversions and sales. 

Businesses can create authentic and engaging content that resonates with their target audience and generates leads by working with influencers who genuinely connect to your brand and align with your campaign goals. 

Conclusion 

Influencer marketing is a powerful tool for lead generation. By partnering with influencers who align with your niche and industry, businesses can reach a highly targeted audience and increase their chances of generating leads and increasing sales. 

Moreover, lead generation tools can help streamline the process of influencer marketing and make it easier to track and analyze campaign results. We encourage readers to try the best lead-generation tools and share their experiences to find the best fit for their business.

About Post Author