It’s nearing the end of Q4 and you’re wondering how to best maximize influencer marketing to close your targets this holiday season – after all, they are all over your social media feed these days – no surprise there. In fact, influencer marketing is a key sales-generating strategy for the holiday season as shoppers look for reviews of products to gift their friends and loved ones.
So if you are looking for ways to deliver on your end-of-year sales goals, read on to discover how to best approach, secure, and close collaborations with influencers in time for the holiday shopping extravaganza!
- Plan your timeline in advance
The merriest season is also the busiest time of the year for both brands and influencers! Influencers receive multiple partnership requests during this period and they plan their feed posting based on which brands they see fit for their messaging and audience interest. You want your brand to be on the top list of their choices, especially if these influencers are those you find most connected with your brand. Timing is everything, and preparation is key. Ideally, you start drafting your holiday influencer marketing plan as early as Q3 so you can start approaching your target influencers immediately.
The good news is that influencer marketing is agile and can adapt easily to changes in plans. They can push promos, communicate free shipping, share codes, and even create your brand holiday jingle – the possibilities are endless.
2. Partner with the right influencers
Look for the right influencers fit for your holiday campaign objective. If your goal is to drive sales, find influencers who can deliver the most conversions for your brand. If you want to increase awareness of your holiday video ad or jingle, collaborate with influencers whose strengths are in interest retention and engagement. If you want to attract niche communities, partner with nano and micro-influencers for a more specific and targeted audience.
Check out 3 Ways Nano Influencers Can Boost Your Brand Awareness and start reaping results for your holiday influencer campaign!
3. Prepare for premium compensation
As influencers receive more partnership requests this season, their asking rate might also increase. Brands must understand that influencers are business people who have worked hard in acquiring good relationships with their audience so their platforms are on the strong receiving end of content results that are beneficial to brands, not to mention that they are equipped with high-yield creativity and communication skillsets that have acquired over the years of being in the industry – all of which are good news to brands. However, this also means that proper budget allotment is crucial to compete with other brands with the same influencer goals.
This is also where a good relationship with influencers helps. You may be able to negotiate with them when you have a solid foundation of trust and experience working with each other. No better time to start building that foundation than now.
4. Give the influencers creative freedom
They are at the level of content performance capacity because they know their audience best. This means that brands should trust the influencers to steer the content execution direction after giving them the brand accurate information and mandatories. Plus, this also takes away the burden from the brands to nitpick on details, execution, and communication angles that would most likely cause delay and inauthenticity in the content delivery. Trust that your influencers are capable to deliver your brand message – you did choose them! The more creative freedom you give them, the more effective the content will be.
5. Monitor and be open to feedback
Part of the investment is the key learnings and takeaways from your influencer holiday campaign. Make sure to monitor and continuously guide your influencers during the partnership period especially when they have important questions. It is also important to be open to feedback from your partner influencers. Remember, they are the industry experts, and they have valuable insights from their audience – who are your target audience too. Be ready with an open ear to receive recommendations, suggestions, and points of improvement from them. Trust us, you have more to gain from this mindset.
Final PopStar Tip
Again, timing is everything and preparation is key! Set your influencer marketing holiday calendar early, find the right set of influencers to deliver your message, and be ready to receive feedback that will benefit your more in the end! This is the merriest season for a reason – so remember to inject lots of holiday fun and camaraderie into this partnership.
Send us a message or contact our Team at contact@pop-star.me for more information on how PopStar can help your digital marketing here in the Philippines.