Are influencers good for small business?

We get a lot of inquiries from business leaders and marketing executives. At the top of the most-received questions we get? You guessed it — the title of this post.

So let’s go ahead and share with you our thoughts on influencer marketing as it pertains to small business. Most of all, let’s answer the question at hand.

Who are influencers?

When we take meetings from small business, there seems to be a general fear that influencer marketing isn’t something that small businesses engage in. There are some preconceived notions out there that influencer marketing is only for the firms with multimillion-dollar budgets. Nothing could be further from the truth. There’s a place for every business, and we’ll show you what’s worth considering if your business is exploring marketing your products/services this way.

While we’re making the assumption that you already know what influencer marketing is, we’ll provide you with a quick primer. Influencer marketing is the art and science of promoting products and services by way of notable people with large followings — otherwise known as influencers.

These influencers can range from YouTubers and TikTokers all the way to celebrities and can have followings from tens of thousands to millions, which is what makes this marketing strategy so flexible and worthwhile for businesses of all sizes.

But like all things in life, there are pros and cons involved.

Pros of using influencers for small business

Let’s talk a little about the upside, because that’s what you're interested in, after all. Bringing your product/service in front of a targeted audience is, at least for us, one of the biggest advantages of working with an influencer. You can find just about any niche to broadcast your message to, any demographic, any locale — really, anything! Do you want to build brand awareness? Great! It’s the perfect way of doing so. Do you want to convert impressions into sales? Also the perfect way of doing so.

What’s great is that you can do this without an in-your-face advertisement like you see on television. Influencers are very good about naturally integrating a client’s message into their work, so it feels like it’s a part of their content as opposed to something that sticks out like a sore thumb.

You also get the advantage of authenticity with influencer marketing. One of the things we like to do is have the influencers we partner with actually use the product, so they are familiar with it. They must also like the product before we’ll allow them to continue with the partnership. Otherwise, the entire thing will seem completely disingenuous.

Audience niches come in all sizes online. Let’s take three different influencers in the sports realm. Each have a different size audience. The influencer with an audience of 10,000 will command far less than the influencer with an audience of 1,000,000. You can still get your product/service in front of the right eyeballs, but at the cost of less reach.

What this means, in essence, is that influencer marketing can work with virtually any budget. Obviously, the more to have to spend, the wider the net you cast. But it is not correct to assume that a campaign with a budget of $50,000 will outperform a campaign with the budget of $5,000.

Many brands are actually preferring to take their influencer marketing campaigns to mid-tier influencers, or those will followings up to one half million. Not only is it cost effective, but influencers will smaller audiences tend to have better engagement rates, making the campaign more effective.

So, we know that engaging influencers is a great way to get to your audience at a cost-effective price, but are there any cons?

Cons of using influencers for small business

You certainly discuss the good without also discussing the bad. Like anything else, there are some cons we can think of when it comes to small businesses working with influencers. At the top of the list is financial in nature.

While it may be more cost-effective to market with influencers, the costs can still be significant, especially if it’s an in-demand influencer at a popular time of the year. You may be competing with other brands to get your message out in time for Christmas, for example. Another example — and we see this quite a bit — is that brands will have a list of influencers they desperately want to work with and are surprised when the learn that the influencers rate is much higher than they anticipated.

We’ve also seen brands run into issues with influencer credibility, such as questionable relationships with other brands, or perhaps something in their history that could potentially make the brand look bad.

Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention difficulties in measuring return on investment. This can be tricky, especially for small brands. Influencer marketing, like other forms of marketing, can make it difficult to track certain key performance indicators, like conversions. But using tools like discount codes to be applied at checkout can help the brand get a better understanding of how well the campaign did.

Tips for small businesses

So, you’ve weighed the pros and cons, and you’re ready to get going. Where do you start? The first thing you want to do is choose the right influencers. Look for creators whose values align with your own, and whose audience would have an inherent interest in your products. Review the size of their audience, how engaged they are, and what kind of relationship that creator has with their audience.

It helps to utilize a dedicated agency to forge these relationships, because influencers will do research on your company ahead of providing you with a quote. If you’re a well-known business, that could mean a higher cost for you by virtue of them assuming you have money to spend.

Once you’ve partnered with an influencer, you’ll need a strong contract with a statement of work that clearly defines your expectations, outlines fair terms, and addresses potential contingencies. Again, an agency like Dalton Street can help with that.

When everything is ready to go, you monitor performance and make adjustments as needed throughout the life of the campaign! This is deserving of an entire post, so be on the lookout for that soon.

Final thoughts

Is influencer marketing right for small business? You bet it is! By leveraging the power of social media, small businesses have been able to significantly boost their brand visibility, connect with targeted audiences, and build authenticity. Influencers are a cost-effective marketing strategy, providing access to a loyal following. Successful case studies showcase the positive impact of influencer collaborations on small businesses, although challenges exist (as outlined above). With careful consideration, clear expectations, and strategic planning, small businesses can navigate these challenges and tap into the immense potential of influencer marketing to thrive in the digital landscape.

If your business needs help in exploring the influencer marketing space, please reach out.