This is a Guest Contribution from Omnistar.

Did you know that 30% of consumers are more likely to buy a product recommended by an influencer? This shows how consumers value influencer opinions when it comes to products and services. And it is not just that. It seems that non-celebrity influencers seem to be more relatable and honest. It is because consumers are 10x more likely to buy a product recommended by an influencer. This shows that influencers have a high trust factor that you can definitely leverage when it comes to promoting your referral program.

What are Influencers?

Influencers are everywhere. They are on Facebook but they can also be in Youtube. 19% of purchase decisions are made from Facebook posts while 18% from Youtube. This is such a high percentage that it has a massive impact on customer’s decision processes.

What is even more surprising is the habit of consumers to search for reviews before purchasing a product. 60% of consumers will look for influencer reviews before proceeding with the purchase.

This is the power of influencers. They have the ability to influence consumer decisions greatly. One good review can get consumers to buy your products. While one negative review can get them to look elsewhere.  

Why your target audience love Influencers so much?

There are different reasons why the market love influencers.

#01. Authenticity

The first reason is authenticity. In fact, this is the reason why influencers have such a high trust factor. Followers simply love the authenticity of influencers and this is what drives their power. This is also the reason why non-celebrity influencers have a higher trust factor. This is because non-celebrity influencers are viewed to be not in-it-for-the-money. They are viewed to be relatable individuals who are just reviewing a product because they like it.

#02. Consistency

Influencers are known for consistently creating content. This content can be a blogpost or a video. But it is all about consistency. The audience have certain expectations and they want those expectations met. Influencers who are consistent in creating content actually builds a community around their brands. And this is what attracts more people into their tribe.

#03. Niche-Focused

Every niche has its own set of influencers. The only reason why followers love them is because they give them the content that they need. This can be tips, how-tos or product reviews. Aside from consistency in releasing content, there should also be consistency on its topic. This is the secret behind the growing influencer communities.

But, Why do marketers love Influencers?

You now know the reason why followers love influencers. It is about time you know why businesses love them as well. There are three main reasons for this.

#01. Instant Traffic

Influencers just have the power to drive instant traffic. This is because of their ability to influence action. When they ask their followers to click on a link or do something, their followers will most likely do it. So a simple recommendation would often result to a flood of traffic in your site.

#02. High Conversion Rates

What is even more surprising is that influencers don’t only give you traffic. They also have really high conversion rates. If you are running an ecommerce marketing website, you’ll know that traffic really doesn’t mean anything until it translates into sales. High converting traffic means that the traffic has a greater likelihood of making a purchase from your site. This means that it is guaranteed to translate into sales.

#03. Instant Leverage

The power of influencers doesn’t stop with traffic and conversions. One promotion can also result to a stream of residual traffic. This means that an influencer only has to promote you once. From there, you’ll enjoy brand leverage where the influencer’s followers will already treat you as a ‘friend’ brand. This means that the influencer’s followers will also continue to buy your products and services if they like it.

Choosing the Right Influencer for your Referral Program

You now know how influencers can help you, it is time to search for the right influencer to work with. You simply can’t go and pick the influencer with the most followers. That’s not how it works. If you do that, you’ll find influencers that is going to ask for premium prices from simple mentions. You don’t want that. Even if you have to pay for promotions, you’ll want to make the most out of your money.

With that, I have four elements that I look for when searching for influencers to promote my referral program.

Step 1: Niche

This is very important. You should choose an influencer that is in the same niche as your products and services. If not, it should be complementary. So if you have skincare products, target lifestyle influencers. Target those who film skincare routine videos. If you have fitness products, target those who make exercise videos. Your products should be relevant to the market to begin with.

Step 2: Tone

Next, you’ll need an influencer that fully resonates with your products and services. If you are selling essential oils, you’ll want influencers who are advocating healthy living. You may want to target the vegan recipes blogs as well. If you are selling gaming chairs, target streamers on Twitch or Youtube. These are gamers who can use a computer chair in their streams.

Step 3: Reach

While follower count is not the only thing that you should consider, it still matters. It is useless to promote to an ‘influencer’ who only have 100 followers. Ideally, you should look for someone who has at least 2000 followers and nothing less. You need a market that is wide enough to have conversions.

Step 4: Actionability

Lastly, you also need to consider the responsiveness of the followers. It is one thing that an influencer has followers. But it is another thing to get the followers to act on recommendations. Actionability is a factor that you should consider when choosing influencers. But this is something that you can only test. You’ll only know if a certain influencer works well with your business if you try promoting with them first.

Finding Influencers

Once you are sure of doing influencer marketing, it is time to find the influencers that you’ll want to work with. By this time, you already know the type of influencer that you’re looking for. It should be easy for you to filter through the list of influencers to see the ones that fit your business model.

Step 1: Immerse Yourself in a Niche

Sometimes, you cannot see the best influencers at first glance. After all, the best influencers for your business may not necessarily be the one with the most followers. So how will you know if an influencer fits your product? You have to immerse yourself in the niche.

The first step is to follow groups in the niche. In here, you’ll find that the market tends to mention certain brands or names. You can then follow these brands to see their content. You can then judge from there if the influencer is worth your time.

Step 2: Explore Hashtags

Another way to explore your niche is to look at hashtags. In Facebook and Instagram, you can input hashtags in the search bar. This will uncover all the posts that are relevant to that hashtag. Usually, you’ll find posts with lots of comments, likes and shares. These are often influencer posts. I have tried doing this and I have uncovered so many influencers along the way.

Step 3: Look at what your audience is visiting

You can also use tools to look at the pages that your target audience is visiting. This will clue you in on the blogs that they like to frequent along with the social profiles they like and visit. This is crucial for your influencer research process.

Step 4: Search Google

If all else fails, you can always search Google. Just look for your niche + ‘blog’ or niche + ‘Facebook’, niche + ‘Instagram’ or niche + ‘youtube’ and you’ll uncover hundreds of influencers in your niche. You can also go more specific and look for influencers who have reviewed a certain product before. This will give you a more targeted list of influencers.

How to Get Influencers to Promote Your Referral Program Through Email

The most preferred way of connecting with influencers is writing an email to them. It doesn’t come too strong and it gives the influencer enough time to decide if they like to work with you. Here are some ways to convince them effectively. I have provided some templates that you can use.

Include Them in Your Offer

The first template includes the influencer in your offer. It is direct to the point and just shows them that you like to work with them.

Hi [influencer],

We come across your [blog/channel/page] and I saw that you are passionate about [niche].

We especially love your post about [mention a post].

I am the CEO of [yourbrand] and we like to include your brand in our referral program. We think that you’re the perfect person to promote our offer because [state reasons].

Looking forward to your reply.

[yourname]

Create Special Deals for their Audience

Another way to get an influencer on board is to create special deals for their audience. Of course, it should also include a discount code under the influencer’s name.

Hi [influencer],

We come across your [blog/channel/page] and I saw that you are passionate about [niche].

We especially love your post about [mention a post].

I am the CEO of [yourbrand] and we like to create a special discount code for your brand. We are going to create a special referral program just for your audience. With this, we will give your audience an exclusive [10/20/50%] discount with the code [influencerbrandname].

Looking forward to your reply.

[yourname]

Host Contests or Giveaways

Another way you can work together is to host a contest or giveaway. For this, you need to ask them if they are interested in this type of working relationship.

Hi [influencer],

We come across your [blog/channel/page] and I saw that you are passionate about [niche].

We especially love your post about [mention a post].

I am the CEO of [yourbrand] and we like to host a giveaway for your audience. We will be giving away a [product1], [product2] and [product3] to 3 lucky winners.  This is an exclusive giveaway that is tailored for your brand and audience.

Would you be interested in this?

[yourname]

Ask for Reviews

Sometimes, a simple feedback may be all you need. In this approach, you ask them about what they think about your products and services. This is done by giving them a free product or a trial of your service. This way, they can give you their honest feedback.

Hi [influencer],

We come across your [blog/channel/page] and I saw that you are passionate about [niche].

We especially love your post about [mention a post].

I am the CEO of [yourbrand] and we like to give you one of our products for review. It is the [productname]. And it [describe the product].

You can give us a review once you try it.

Would you be interested in this? If so, where can we send the product?

[yourname]

Update Them on Their Achievements

Once you get them on board, you an also improve the working relationship with regular milestone referral incentives. You can give this to them once they manage to refer a certain amount of people.

Hi [influencer],

Thank you so much for helping us out.

You have referred [167] people so far.

Because of this, we’ll send you a reward. Please check the attachment for the coupon code.

Thank you.

[yourname]

Don’t Forget To Measure Performance

Once you have managed to get some influencers to reply to your offer, it is important to track the performance of your promotions. Since we are talking about email promotions, it is important to track opens, as well as conversions and sales. Once you get some sales, you can then start looking for more influencers to promote to.