How to get the Right Influencer to Represent Your Brand

If you search for marketing trends, you will no doubt come across Influencer Marketing. While some say that after the disastrous Fyre Festival, Influencer Marketing has had its heyday and is over, others say that it’s only begun, you can still use Influencer Marketing to help grow your brand’s presence online and without breaking the bank.

Now, how to identify which influencer is the best one to represent your brand. 

Surprised? The best influencer for your brand will always be you. Who knows your brand better than yourself? Who else is fully in their brand’s success?

Making yourself into an influencer might sound like a tough challenge, but only if you are comparing yourself to celebrity influencers. While celebrities certainly can get you views, the price tags to just have them mention you can be pretty hefty and unless you are selling cosmetics, they aren’t likely to target your core audience.

So how do you set yourself up to be an influencer? Start by building out your brand and establishing an online presence. Rather than stretching yourself thin by being on all platforms, narrow down your focus into one key platform. Currently, LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for building a following and utilizing it for B2B and B2C selling.

Why? You don’t have to pay for expensive likes like Facebook, get lost in the shouting on twitter and beat the clutter of Instagram and Pinterest.

The first step towards becoming an influencer is to have a complete and attractive profile. Your profile should reflect YOU and not your business - leave the business to the business page.

Personal profiles get more views and engagements than business pages because people prefer connecting with other people rather than companies.

So what makes an attractive profile?

• Leave the selfies on Instagram and upload a professional picture. (Bonus tip! Ask a friend or family member to take your pictures.)
• Upload a banner picture
• Make your headline simple, but catchy
• Add your biography (Bonus tip! Make yourself stand out by adding an “I Believe” statement and how your core values play into your business – this helps people align themselves with you and your brand.)
• Become a thought leader in your industry with posts and articles

Check back next week for how to set yourself up as a thought leader through the content you post.