How Can Small Businesses Compete with Social Media Influencers?
I got news for you ...
Maybe you’re a small business with only a few employees. Or maybe you’re a coach with some part-time contractors.
You’ve heard you should get on social media for “brand awareness,” so you download the Instagram app and re-visit your abandoned Facebook account. As you start shuffling through, however, you begin noticing certain people have large followings.
Not just large, but huge: 12,000 followers, 300,000, maybe even a million.
Your eyes pop out of your head. These people post a photo with an emoji for a caption and garner hundreds of comments.
“How the hell can I compete with this?” you ask yourself.
It’s a legit question, especially if these stars of social media sell products or services similar to yours. Their online presence can seem intimidating, but don’t let them discourage you.
Rise of the Social Media Influencers
These people with large and engaged followings are called “social media influencers.” Many of them made a career out of such a title.
Here’s how social media influencing works:
You join a social media platform, like Instagram.
You choose a “niche” to post about, such as fashion, food, or travel.
You create images, captions, and videos around that niche and start posting.
Your goal is to build as many followers as possible.
Once your following becomes substantial, companies start reaching out to you. They offer you free products in exchange for exposure, or they offer to pay you to promote their item.
You agree and start earning income, which draws more followers.
Eventually, you diversify your income streams and become a full-time social media influencer.
The more followers that social media influencers have, the more they can charge for sponsored posts, partnerships, and other services.
How Can You Compete with Social Media Influencers?
I’m here to make the answer easy for you. You can’t.
That’s the bad news. The good news is this realization opens the door of opportunity to think about social media influencers in a different light.
Rather than competing with them, partner with them.
Think of influencers like mini news organizations with large readerships that sell ad space. Rather than creating your own competing publication, wouldn’t you rather pay for an ad promoting your product to their readers?
Social media influencers can be a fantastic advertising opportunity for a small business. Not only do followers of social media influencers love what the influencers say or do, but they trust the influencers. If the influencer says, “This is the next big thing; buy it!” their followers will obey.
You could be the next big thing the influencer promotes.
An entire field in marketing evolved to meet this opportunity called, “influencer marketing.” Marketers search social media sites for influencers who post about topics related to their company’s products. Then, they reach out to the social media influencers and ask to place an ad or launch a paid partnership.
If you incorporate influencer marketing into your overall strategy, this could be a powerful customer generator for you. Simply set aside some of your marketing budget for influencers. This approach will complement more traditional marketing methods that you may already be doing.
If you don’t have money to invest in influencer marketing, that’s OK! Some social media influencers like to receive free products in exchange for a review. Reach out to your chosen influencers and see if they’d like free stuff, instead.
Just remember the next time you see a social media influencer with a large and engaged following, don’t feel intimidated. Rather, look at this person as an opportunity to find more customers in your target audience, and reach out.