Let’s face it. Securing a creative, engaged, intelligent, well-followed and much-loved influencer can be a beautiful boon to your brand and business. So to get your think tank firing at influencer-strategy-full-speed, we want to share with you our 5 steps to engaging an influencer for a giveaway and how it can help amp up your business.
While an influencer sharing their experience with your product or service can be a great way to promote what you offer, giveaways are a popular and effective marketing strategy to get your biz out there and get people talking about how amazing your offerings are! Finding a fab influencer to get that giveaway reaching far and wide is a smart move – when done right.
Strategic giveaways can help you reach new audiences, increase your following and brand awareness and improve your trustworthiness and authenticity. This is helped along by honest feedback and engagement through (the right) influencers. Check out 10 Reasons Brands Should Work with Influencers for a deeper dive into how they can help support your business.
These 5 steps can help you lock in an on-brand rock star of an influencer for the most impactful, effective giveaway possible:
Ask yourself, what’s the goal for your giveaway? Are you trying to increase the activity and/or follower count on your socials? Drive more traffic to your website? Secure a smashing new product launch? Create more brand awareness? Your answer/s will impact which influencer you engage.
Find the right influencer. Do your due diligence and don't just select an influencer because they have a gazillion followers (as simple as that is to do). Are they actively engaged with their audience? What are their demographics? Are there other products that they promote that are similar to your own? You don’t want a Gen X product or service pitched to a Gen Z audience.
Be legally legit. It’s imperative that you comply with applicable laws, as well as codes and standards for giveaways and the engagement of influencers, plus any rules that the platforms (i.e. Facebook or Instagram) set out. Lots to think about!
Schedule your giveaway. What are the specifics? Who needs to be tagged? Who are you reaching out to? What are the specific directions?
Promote, promote, promote. And follow through! Make sure you have all marketing collateral organised and ready to go so you don’t miss a beat or leave the influencer hanging.
Buuut it takes more than just 5 steps to make the most of your giveaway and influencer engagement. Here are a few dos and don’ts to help take your process to the next level.
DO:
- Allow the influencer to be creative. Their creative expertise is part of why you’ve chosen them!
- Make sure what you’re giving away is compelling. A bookmark and a cat mug ain’t gonna cut it. Get your audience hooked with what you’re giving away.
- Understand what you want to accomplish and the result/outcome you’re after. This will affect the way you and your influencer will approach your giveaway.
- Make sure you’re clear on scope with the influencer and their tasks (our Brand and Influencer Agreement can help with this – as well as some other important bits and pieces!).
DON’T:
- Go in with half-baked goals, wishy-washy offers or an unclear demographic.
- Be a tightwad. There. We said it. Seek out influencers with a good track record who are on brand for your business, values, offerings and market.
- Forget to be legally legit or fail to clearly share any rules and guidelines you have with the influencer. To help ensure you’re where you need to be legally, read up on our New Influencer Marketing Code blog.
Questions pop into your head while you were having a read? I’m here for you!