The concept of influencer marketing is nothing new. The idea of using a well-known third party to promote a product or service has been used throughout history. These days, there are many software-as-a-service (SaaS) products that help brands improve their operations. This can range from customer service, project management, social media, and more. So how can they leverage influencer marketing for SaaS products themselves? Below, we will explain just how they can.
Find common threads
Finding the perfect influencer to represent a brand is the most difficult part of the entire process. SaaS products have an even more difficult time with this. Their target audience can be extremely diverse. For this reason, the approach to market research needs to be done carefully. Finding what’s in common between prospective customers requires attention to the small details. Who are prominent and relevant figures that a majority of the target audience looks up to? Along with this, what channels do they use to promote their messages?
As you can imagine, finding a specific influencer that can appeal to all of this takes a lot of consideration. However, there is one easy way that they can get around this. Targeting outlets and writers who already talk about similar concepts is an easy way to get their own message out. By using a number of highly-focused websites, these companies can watch themselves grow. SaaS products don’t need to just look for individuals who apply to their target audience, but the widespread common interests. Then they can target the channels or individuals that are talking about them.
Nurture relationships
The act of approaching and partnering with influencers can be tricky to master. Every influencer is different and can have a diverse set of interests, expertise, and preferred styles of communication. Once you’ve put together a list of potential influencers, it’s important to spend time observing them and how they interact. You want to partner with an expert. Therefore, you need to offer something that demonstrates your knowledge in the field and how you can be of use to them.
Next, you need to think about how the influencer can promote your software. What will their role be? It can range from sharing a link to your product, collaborating on a case study, or giving you a byline. However, the key is knowing the right thing to ask from your influencer. Start small and take it slow.
Always be measuring
Like any form of marketing ,you need to know exactly what metrics define your success. During the planning stage, you need to establish KPIs. As a SaaS product, you most likely promote your service through many different outlets. When you’re searching for an influencer, consider referral traffic. With a tool like Google Analytics, you can easily see where your traffic is coming from and attribute it to your influencer campaign.
Brand awareness is another thing you need to keep track of. It gives you a numerical value for how an influencer is impacting conversations in relation to your business. Using web monitoring tools lets you track your brand mentions across the internet. You can set a goal for how much you want to to increase during the campaign.
Lastly, you need to track how your conversion rate has been affected. At the end of the day, this is the true metric for success. Once you’ve set goals, you’ll need to get specific and configure your analytics. This will give you a detailed custom report of the entire customer journey. This lets you see whether or not it can be directly attributed to the influencer.