How to hire a local influencer
Small businesses truly need to take a look at using local social media influencers to create awareness for their business/products.
GO WHERE THE EYEBALLS ARE
Short answer, yes. Long answer, it's still a yes, but it's going to take a bit of legwork on your end. The reason why you should is simple: their reach is significant.
Odds are you have a business account across these platforms (please tell me you do, and lie if you don't....). But there's a good chance your audience size isn't as big as you'd like. Also, the algorithms of mature networks like Facebook and Instagram throttle your natural exposure.
Influencers don't necessarily have these constrains. They will probably have a higher fan base than you. And their reach is greater because they get great engagement from their fan base, so the algorithm rewards that.
So you want to tap into that reach.
HOW TO
You're going to need to spend some time finding accounts in your area that have a high audience count. You can use tools like this one, to help curate influencers. Local people, unfortunately, are not likely to be listed, so take the time to search around, and ask others that you know who are Instagram or TikTok power users.
Things to keep in mind as you search:
Size doesn't always matter - someone with 2,000-10,000 fans can still get you amazing exposure
Spend time scrolling through their feeds
Check what engagement looks like on their posts (the more the better - if their images have very little likes or comments, it may not be landing in people's feeds or resonating with their audience)
Make sure their tone and imagery is inline with your brand and business image
How to have the discussion and what to consider:
Reach out via a DM, unless their bio says otherwise
Decide if you want to give product, or have them on-site to create content
It's like booking ad space, you'll need to discuss how many posts versus cost
Make sure they layer feed posts and story posts (on Instagram)
Tell them you want to see the stats of the posts after they're done
What not to do:
Any time someone says they can get you X number of followers, run way - it's usually a scam with bot followers
Don't sign up for a massive contract at first - start small, ask for the metrics and see how the reach works
Don't think you can only work with one Influencer at a time - zero issue with cross-posting
Don't force content that asks people to immediately purchase - better option is to provide a discount code, for example, that customers can use that you can track.
KEEP AN OPEN MIND
It's not a traditional form of advertising that a lot of established businesses are used to. So you may see post numbers and think that's no good. But most traditional advertising never gave you metrics at all...
Your customers stand to be impressed by your forward thinking advertising. So the recommendation is not to do a one-and-done. Give it a solid shot. It's a more creative form of advertising, especially if you allow your influencer some creative liberties.
The influencer market is growing all the time. So there's' something to it. You should probably dip your toe in it at some point.
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