Influencer marketing, whether through web publishers or social media influencers, can greatly impact brand awareness and product promotion through SEO backlinks.
Increasing awareness through influencer marketing can greatly benefit your SEO strategy. By leveraging influencers, you can enhance your SEO efforts, content marketing, and social media campaigns. Learn how to use influencer marketing to boost SEO backlinks and improve your search ranking.
What Really Is an Influencer? Is It a Term Reserved for Social Media Stars?
The world is crawling with influencers — Instagram, YouTube and other social platforms are alive with the sound of influencers. The Gen Z superstar is essentially a cliche at this point.
Makeup videos and skits are just a part of influencer content. Influencers are not just limited to those seeking Facebook fame, but anyone with a niche audience and the ability to engage and interest their followers.
The manager at Home Depot is a potential influencer, reaching thousands of engaged woodworkers with his how-to videos. When choosing influencers for marketing, focus on relevance and target those in your industry who can connect with your audience.
Relevance
Choose a relevant influencer for your campaign who understands your product and resonates with your target audience.
The importance of social media following varies. A smaller following can still attract the target audience through effective product presentation. Conversely, a large following captures immediate attention, with many followers likely to purchase promoted products.
If you are huge company that can afford collaborating with the biggest names in industry there won’t be such a dilemma. However, for the beginners or those on a tight budget it’s better to hire someone with a considerable amount of following; but focus more on their ability to really help you out.
You should consider the location of your business operation as well.
For local businesses, collaborating with a local celebrity is cost-effective. Global companies should have the financial capacity to hire someone with a large following who can benefit the company.
The Type of Influencer Working Behind the Scenes in Your Marketing Campaign
If you have a catering business and created content on new potato frying methods, consider building an outreach list. Divide your list into A-listers, B-listers, and C-listers instead of only targeting big influencers.
A-listers
Celebrities like Gordon Ramsay are hard to get backlinks from. Social mentions can drive traffic to your site, but only big names in the industry can hire top influencers. Don’t waste time unless you’re at that level.
B-listers
Popular food bloggers may not be recognizable to everyone, but they hold influence in the industry. Their websites, blogs, and social media can benefit Google. Introducing them to your audience can be positive, as they are professionals who can assist you effectively.
Their lack of influence beyond the target market could be a downside. For instance, if a video or blog post includes too much detail and jargon, busy people may only focus on the most relevant parts.
C-listers
Those are your local food experts. They write about adventurous recipes and discover new restaurants around town. You’ll want to vet these folks, because while they may be popular with your hometown audience, a link from a website with poor authority may actually hurt your site.
Figuring out who you are realistically able to go after is key to a successful program as there’s little point in creating an influencer marketing program if all your emails go unanswered.
Tips on Creating a Solid SEO
Influencers can provide two valuable components to your SEO program:
- Backlinks. SEO and backlinks go hand in hand. Links to your site from authoritative web publishers are the gold standard of Google. The most consistent factors that influence high search rank are relevant content and a strong SEO backlink profile. Influencers who can link to your website are extremely valuable — and they know it.
- Traffic. Traffic is a strong signal to Google that your website has relevant content that users find valuable. While it is only one of many signs that Google reads to determine search rank, it is safe to say that traffic is a big help to your SEO program — whether it comes from a web publisher, social media, an email newsletter or other quality sources.
So that’s the ultimate goal: you want these influencers to link to your site and drive their rabid fans to your content. So how do you actually do that?
Here’s what you need to do:
Create quality content that matches your keyword goals. Use keyword research tools to discover strategic keywords. Analyze SERP to see what content ranks for your keyword. Differentiate your content to add value. This forms the basis of your influencer marketing plan.
A side note: influencers are difficult to dazzle. If you want them to link to your content, what you share with them should be mind-blowing. If that sounds difficult, you’re right — it is.
Outstanding content: the kind that will get an influencer fired up about your brand — takes time, thought and effort to make. Just hoping that an influential individual shares your content and gives you an SEO backlink because it would really help you out is like planning your retirement by buying lottery tickets.
When developing an SEO influencer marketing content strategy, focus on creating easily digestible, engaging, and unique content. Include visuals like photos, designs, infographics, videos, or GIFs to enhance the story. Ensure the content aligns with your keyword strategy and is valuable to attract influencers.
How To Reach Out to Influencers and Convince Them To Promote Your Products or Services
Let’s pretend I send you an email, asking you to do me a favor. What’s the favor? It doesn’t matter. But out of the blue, you — and we’ve never met — get an email asking you to make a minor change to your website and essentially endorse my work. Why? Because it would really help me out.
Would you do it? Probably not. If you want to make an “ask” of an influencer, you need to establish a baseline relationship and offer a clear, concise rationale for moving forward. That starts with the initial outreach. The best ways to contact an influencer are email and social media direct messaging (DM).
Research the influencer’s website for contact information. If not found, use an email finder tool. Check their social media profiles like Twitter or Instagram, where they may use hashtags to connect. For a quick response, consider reaching out through direct messaging if they are active on social media.
It’s important to note that not all social media profiles accept DMs right away. For instance, most celebrities on twitter have their DMs “closed”. If you experience this roadblock, try tagging the influencer in a post.
Crafting Your Outreach Message for the Best Results From Influencers
When reaching out to influencers for SEO marketing, avoid generic templates. Craft a personal and concise message from the subject line to the signature for better results.
How to Write an Influencer Email?
Subject: Avoid vague or general subject lines. Keep it short while being clear about what’s inside.
Address your influencer by their first name and state the reason for reaching out. Explain why the content is relevant and valuable. Keep the message brief and clear, avoiding sounding demanding. Stand out by showing respect for their time among many requests.
Signature: Use a professional email signature.
Tips for Writing an Influencer DM
Social media DMs lack subject lines, so craft a compelling opening sentence. Use influencer outreach as a marketing strategy and test subject lines, messages, and sending times for success.
Should you send a follow-up email?
If you don’t receive a response to your email after two weeks, send a follow-up email. Try sending your follow-up email on a different day or time. And a few things to remember:
- Send a reply message. Instead of starting a new email, send a reply email in response to your first message. This way, both your first and second outreach attempts will be on the same email chain.
- Keep your follow-up message short and sweet. The purpose of a follow-up email is to remind the influencer that you’ve already reached out. Remind them what you are sharing and remember to ask for a response. Don’t be rude of complain about not getting the response the first time. Most people are busy.
Summing Up
Think of the long game. Even if the influencer does not provide you with an SEO backlink, do not cross them off your list. There is still value in connecting with them down the road. And there’s value in social media mentions!
Highlight the influencer in your content. Ask them to take part in an interview for a Q&A; blog post or feature them as a guest on a webinar. They’ll be more apt to share your content if they are the center of attention.
