A lot of Instagram influencers know that their followers are worth a lot of money. Whether they grow their following by using advertising or not.
More and more people are waking up to this reality. In fact, there are still a lot of accounts on Instagram that are not monetized. They don’t ask for advertising, they don’t ask for sponsorships, they don’t ask for product placements, but those accounts, believe it or not, are getting fewer and fewer. Why?
People are waking up to the reality that they can make a pretty coin helping out another brand in their niche. This is especially true if the Instagram account is in a very lucrative niche or product category. We’re talking about luxury cars, luxury watches, Prada bags, Hermes fashion items, you name it.
Instagram influencers are increasingly sophisticated. They know that if they attract the certain eyeballs or people with a certain lifestyle, then their following is worth an increasing amount of money, that’s why many influencers buy followers from sites like BuzzVoice which currently sells 1000 Instagram followers for $24.97.
Increasingly, there is an awareness among Instagram personalities that their influence is worth something. They can’t quite put their finger on it, but they know that it’s worth something. At least it’s worth more than zero.
Guess what? These people are becoming more discriminating. That’s right. They’re demanding every red cent of value their brand has developed over their time on Instagram. This happens even when they started their ascent to Instagram success with social signal purchases from buysocialmediamarketing.com
The Good Old Days are Gone for Influencer Advertisers
If you’re thinking of paying influencers to advertise your brand, please understand the good days are gone. Seriously, gone are the days of the clueless Instagram influencers who can actually crank hundreds of thousands of dollars of ecommerce sales with just one $15 shout out.
I’m not saying that those people are completely gone from the scene, but now they’re very few and far between. In fact, you probably would just be wasting your time looking for these people. Your brand would be better served if you were to just focus on coming up with a convincing strategy to get increasingly sophisticated Instagram influencers to say yes to your offer.
I’m not saying that those cheap shoutouts are completely gone, but you could pretty much count them with one hand. And guess what? They’re getting fewer and fewer, so if you want to maximize your time and resources, focus on coming up with successful negotiation strategies with influencers.
Here are some tips that will help you get better deals with this increasingly hardheaded demographic.
Niche Relevancy Counts for a Lot
Now if you get in touch with an influencer, they might be unclear as to how your brand fits their audience members. They might be unclear regarding the specific connection between your brand and the people who follow them. Use this to your maximum advantage.
If they’re clueless or they think that they have a low-cost following or their followers aren’t worth much, don’t do their homework for them. Don’t give them a dollar figure and say, “Well, I know for a fact that the market that you attract is worth $50 a sign-up.” Don’t do that. Let them guess.
Audience Loyalty is More Valuable to the Typical Influencer
Get into the influencer’s head. What is the most important thing to them? Well, the truth is they want to keep their audience and they want to reward their audience because they want their audience to stick around. Use this to your advantage.
When you set up your offer, pay the influencer less money, but tell them that the freebies that you’re giving away can actually help their brand by boosting loyalty. This way you create a win-win situation.
Not All Influencers Wil Work for Money
Here’s the good news. A lot of influencers actually are not interested in money. In fact, a lot of them are already rich. Instead, they’re looking for symbolic incentives. They want you to come up with something special that would make their brand stand out. In other words, you’re offering something that other people in their niche don’t get to offer. That makes them look really good.
Be a Brand Worth Talking to
Now comes the hard part. It’s very easy to just pick out the right influencers in your niche. It’s very easy to figure out who’s faking it and until they make it and who is the real deal.
With that said, you have to do some heavy lifting on your end. You have to be a brand that is worth taking seriously. This is not always easy, so the key here is to get your act together. Do you have a solid reputation? Is the product that you are selling worth promoting? Would influencers be embarrassed being tied or in any way connected to your brand?
Ramp Up Your Brand Success to Notoriety to Clear the Way for Negotiation Roadblocks
What I mean by this is be famous enough for the influencer to take you seriously. And interestingly enough, the more famous and authoritative and credible your brand is the less money you have to pay. Also the negotiation process is much easier.
Keep the tips above in mind. Please understand where influencers are coming from. A lot of them paid good money to build their following. By knowing how to play the game, you increase your chances of being linked to the right influencers in your niche without having to spend an arm and a leg.
