5 Tools to Enhance Your Brand's Social Media and Influencer Marketing

So you want to grow your company’s social media presence online. Well, here’s the deal. It is 2019 and as we all know by now, social media has taken over the world. Ok maybe not completely taken over, but close enough. According to SproutSocial, there are over one billion active users on Instagram averaging around two billion likes per day. That’s a whole lot of action! But if you think that’s a lot, if we compute the amount of active social media users across all platforms, we total over 3.3 BILLION people worldwide. That’s over 43% of the world population! Can you believe that? I think it’s safe to say that the numbers are only escalating from here and in the business world we need to take complete advantage of that.Who’s ready to jump on the social media bandwagon?Social media and influencer marketing are on the rise as 86% of women surveyed said that they gravitate more toward social media to search for “opinions, advice, and recommendations.” This could be anything from clothing or accessories to what type of dinner-ware they want in their kitchen. Then, 72% of these women associate their social media community with their daily purchasing decisions. How influential are influencers? 82% find the product recommendation of an influencer more authentic than traditional media, and 92% have purchased a product based on an influencer’s recommendation.For these reasons alone it is crucial for businesses to get their foot in the door, if not already, and test the waters with influencer marketing. How do I start? Where do I start? What are the best tools to use? These are probably few of the many questions you may have as a business owner or marketer. I know it may seem like a lot and can look overwhelming, but I am here to give you a few tips and tricks to make this ride a bit smoother.One of the most, if not the most important factors when it comes to influencer marketing, is finding the right influencers to promote your brand/product. You want someone who fits your brand and will ultimately fall in love with your product. If they love it, chances are, their following will too!I have put together a list of five popular influencer marketing platforms out there today.Let’s have a look:

Upfluence: Upfluence is a full service influencer and content marketing platform where companies are able to locate and reach out to influencers (via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and Blogs) who they feel best fit their brand. You can track their activity level, engagement rates, stats, monthly visitors, and more. The best part? You can reach out and communicate with the influencers of your choice directly, using their emailing tools! You can also create as many campaigns as you would like, while managing them all within the software. This will save you both time and the hassle of having to bounce back and forth between different platforms.
Julius: Let’s be honest. Searching for the right influencers to promote your brand takes up a lot of time. With Julius, you are able to narrow down your search options using their 50+ search filters! They have a research team specialized and dedicated to making sure the information you receive regarding the potential influencer’s analytics, follower count, engagement rate, and historical data are nothing but 100% accurate. No robots or generated systeming here! Through their software you are also able to message, activate, and manage your current campaigns.
TapInfluence: Founded in 2009, TapFluence is one of the original platforms for bloggers. It is actually the world’s first Influencer-Generated Content Engine, making it highly reputable! Since then it has grown into much more. Creators and brands are now joined together to create content that is not only meaningful, but has a purpose. They want to inspire and impact those relaying the message of the brands they are collaborating with. With over 50K creative and highly influential users, your company is destined to find the influencers right for you!
AspireIQ: Does your company have a certain aesthetic you want to abide by? Do you want your influencers to share that same look? Search for the most preeminent influencers for your brand using AspireIQ’s visual search engine! You can upload an image of your choice onto the software, search it, and you will be directed to the accounts sharing your same creative eye. How neat is that?! Other features of this software include mass messaging, daily task reminders, Google Drive sync features, and automated payment, product tracking, content reviews, and more!
OpenInfluence: Open Influence is an influencer marketing company acknowledged by many! Some of their clients include American Airlines, Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, and Dyson to name a few. With their high success rates and prestige reputation, Open Influence knows how to catch the eye of many. Their campaign management tool will assist in the assurance of a strong brand-influencer relationship. No need to worry about rate negotiation, payment processing, or even content ownership. It’s all taken care of for you! All of your sponsored posts will be tracked and reported in real time so you will always know how the progress of a campaign is going.

I hope that this brief discussion taught you something new about influencer marketing and unlocked a world of new ideas! The limits here are endless! What is going to be your next step toward further marketing your business?

sources: Sprout Social, Influence Central

Steel brings together data, technology, creative and influence to deliver spectacular growth for brands that are marketing to the American family. Working side-by-side with client marketing teams and in-house agencies, Steel extends your leverage by contributing strategy, creativity, bandwidth and best practices. For healthcare, education, government and CPG clients especially, Steel’s full service, integrated agency capabilities and knowledge of marketing automation makes ideas possible and execution practical. Call Steel with your marketing challenges, and if we are not the right fit, we will point you in the right direction.

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By: Kaitlyn Ceremuga