How to Reach Influencers with Facebook
Social media is an ever-changing landscape and influencer marketing is a trending topic. Business owners, brands, and marketers know that they must evolve or eventually fail. Influencer marketing is a hot topic but it is not new. Celebrities have endorsed and pitched products at us since television was in black & white. We are just using other channels to reach out to our audience. Look below at a graph of Google Trends influencer marketing [Figure 1] and it is easy to see that searches for the phrase “influencer marketing” has been increasing especially since 2015.
Brands and marketers are increasing their budget for influencer marketing. Depending on the source, some 50 to 60% of online marketing strategies plan to incorporate influencers. Although product launches and promotions are some of the most common reasons to work with influencers, there are other purposes for influencer marketing too. Finding and targeting influencers can be a challenging and time-consuming task, but there are a few money saving strategies to use on Facebook and Instagram to get in front on influencers.
Why Facebook for Influencer Marketing?
Instagram is typically the social channel that brands want to incorporate in their influencer marketing strategy. However, the influencers themselves have a slightly different opinion of influencer marketing strategy. According to a SheSpeaks survey of influencers, Facebook was their most preferred social media platform for influencer marketing! It is no surprise Instagram was a close second. Twenty-four percent of those surveyed saying it was an important channel. Proof that Twitter is still alive, Twitter ranked third with 18% saying it was best. Surprisingly, Pinterest came in at 10%.
How to Get in Front of an Influencer on Facebook
Organic social posts are free, but due to algorithm changes, they are probably the least effective way to get your content front of the desired audience on Facebook. The reach just is not there anymore. If you have a Facebook page that is liked by influencers or an email list of influencers – there are strategies that can be utilized to target them with a Facebook boosted post.
Be sure to install the Facebook tracking pixel on your landing page first to track the campaign. If you have an email list, upload it to Facebook and create a custom audience of Facebook users that are on your list. Targeting your email list of influencers can get your content in front of them easily, assuming the list is good.
Upload a Facebook post that resonates well with your followers. If you don’t already have a good idea of what content works, then try posting a video that gets your message across.
Next, boost that post. Target the Facebook audience of influencers you just created. If you do not have enough influencers following your page, then use Facebook interests and behaviors to develop your target audience. Alternatively, target those who like your page and their friends. Your customers can be your best advocates. Many of them may already be micro influencers who are interested in working to promote your brand. A good influencer is a genuine user of your product.
Boosting a social post at a targeted audience is cheap. Below is a screenshot of a post we recently ran. Their content was seen by over 5,000 influencers and had a 25% conversion rate. All for $20. [Figure 2]