How To Create an Influencer Marketing Strategy — According to the Pros
Ready to create an influencer marketing strategy that drives real results? Here are all the need-to-knows, straight from ‘s team.
#1: Define SMART Goals & KPIs
Before you kick off your influencer marketing campaigns, it’s essential to define your SMART goals and metrics.
Are you looking to build brand awareness? Drive clicks? Generate more leads?
This will help guide the type of campaigns you create, the influencers you work with, and your ideal influencer marketing ROI.
Regan’s advice? Don’t be afraid to think outside of typical KPIs like conversions and engagement.
”Metrics like repurposable assets, media efficiencies in paid efforts, and sentiment goals can also help optimize your efforts and boost future campaigns,” Regan says.
Win-win.
‘s influencer marketing tools let leading businesses discover their estimated ROI, find new creators, and manage their campaigns. Schedule a call today.
#2: Identify Your Target Audience
Knowing your audience is a key component of a successful influencer marketing campaign.
Why? It helps determine which influencers you work with.
It’s simple: “Keep your target audience’s pain points and needs at the forefront of your strategy, and you’re already halfway there,” says Regan.
#3: Set a Budget
How much budget will you allocate towards your influencer marketing strategy? Be prepared to consider costs for:
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Paying influencers: Their rates can range depending on how many followers they have, the platforms they’ll be posting on, and the type of content they’ll create (e.g. static posts versus video).
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The influencer marketing platform: Costs can range depending on whether you’d like ongoing monthly support or a one-off massive campaign.
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Additional ad spend: Will you want to use paid support to boost content created by influencers?
TIP: “If you’re working at scale, it can be valuable to set a flat rate. However, if you want to be more selective about the creators you work with, collect rates and ‘tetris’ your budget together,” advises Regan.
#4: Identify Relevant Influencers & Reach Out
Once you’ve compiled a shortlist of potential influencer partners, it’s time to make the first move.
“Your initial message to a creator can make or break a potential partnership, so it’s worth putting in some extra effort,” says Nicole.
If in doubt, follow this guide:
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Introduce yourself: Be clear with who you are and your role. Talk about why you think they’d be a great fit for the campaign.
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Outline your campaign idea: Let them know what you have in mind for the collaboration.
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Ask for their media kit: Get insight into their audience demographics, important numbers, and past collaborations.
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Detail your budget or ask for their rates: Keep in mind that rates can fluctuate — so be ready to negotiate a fee based on your budget and expected deliverables.
TIP: You can automate influencer discovery and outreach with ‘s influencer search tools.
#5: Manage Your Influencer Campaigns
Once you’ve contracted your creators, Nicole advises breaking out your workflow into steps.
“The key management components are content reviews, communication with stakeholders, and processing payments,” says Nicole.
Our top tip? Let ’s services team handle it all (more on that, below).
#6: Track Your Results & Refine Your Strategy
It’s important to track, monitor, and measure the results of your campaign.
“How did the influencer’s audience receive the content? How efficient was your spend?” asks Nicole.
This way, you can see how the content performed and use it to inform future campaigns — whether it’s working with the same influencers, finding new ones, or refining your goals.
PRO TIP: Measure your earned media value (EMV) and ROI to capitalize on long-term partnerships!
