Hello, I’m an influencer

I admit to rolling my eyes when someone announces they’re an influencer.  There’s an element of disbelief, but I know that influencers can be powerful allies for businesses.

A few years ago, we used the services of a few Mummy-bloggers to promote one of our client’s education products.  Nobody was willing to promote something they didn’t know much about and the product was provided free of charge to the chosen blogger/influencers.  Some of them also wanted a fee, some saw the product as their fee – and we only talked to people who fitted their ideal client profile, so they had something of real value for their family.

Influencers aren’t just bloggers, in fact, most people are more familiar with them on social media.  Their personal style and personality grows their following and they have opinions or a quirky take on various aspects of life.  They’re then approached to talk about people’s products, usually with a contract that has clear guidelines about what they can and can’t say – but generally they’re free to be honest.  Clearly, the product or service has to stand up to scrutiny or the whole exercise would be pointless.

Influencers can be any one with a substantial following.  I’m on at least one email list which is predominantly about business and sales, but occasionally the list owner writes about products she genuinely uses herself – not related to her core subject, but things like skin care items and cosmetics that she’s discovered and loves.  Because her following really rate her advice about business-related subjects, her opinion on other things tends to be trusted too.

Another newsletter I’m subscribed to is all about sewing – and she is up front that many of the products she mentions and promotes are on Amazon and she gets an affiliate fee.  But her advice and ‘how to’ articles are great and, mostly, free, so her readers don’t mind that she earns from her recommendations.

How could you use influencers in your business?

A search for [your target audience] influencers may be a good place to start.  Better still ask Claude or ChatGPT to do some research into influencers who are well-connected to your target audience.

There will almost certainly be fees and you need to find out whether they work on an affiliate commission or an up-front fee. People who describe themselves as influencers mostly want a fee, or free product or both.  That means you need to have a monthly budget to spend.

You’re paying to extend your reach far beyond your current ability – along with a warm recommendation to people eager to get what their favourite influencer is offering.  

There are influencers in many different fields – they’re not all young, attractive women!  There are electrician influencers, building influencers, health influencers and cleaning influencers as well as those who reach parents, therapists, travellers – any industry you can think of.  It’s part of today’s advertising, but you’re not reaching out to a cold audience, your influencer will have already warmed them up!