Consumers trust peer input when making purchase decisions and have grown accustomed to receiving peer ratings and reviews when evaluating production options. Therefore, affiliate marketers need to leverage influencer marketing strategies to optimize sales results.

The following is an overview of strategies for tapping into influencer marketing to take your affiliate sales to the next level.

Identify Influencers with Engaged Followings

Influencers are most valuable when they have an engaged following. While a large follower base is beneficial, it is more important that an influencer’s followers pay attention to and respond to messages. After all, that is the key to “influence.”

As you scan Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other top social networks for influencers, pay close attention to engagement metrics on recent posts. Evaluate the last 20 or 30 posts and see who much engagement they received as measured by likes, shares, mentions and comments. These metrics are helpful in evaluating the weight followers put on the perspective shared by the influencer.

Authenticity Drives Action

Some influencers build a large following but simply curate content around certain topics. They might repost messages about focal topics or products, but rarely or never post original content.

You want influencers that consistently post original content so their followers are prepared for original messaging about your products. Authenticity is also vital. Influencers that infuse personality and style into their messages have more impact on their followers than those who project an overly serious or business-oriented tone within their content. You also want influencers that will become passionate ambassadors for your brands.

Communicate and Motivate

After you identify quality influencers, you are ready to make contact. Flattery is a good approach! Let the influencer know that you’ve reviewed his or her profile and content and appreciate what is posted. Then, introduce your business, products and objectives in making the contact.

Realize that top influencers regularly get pitched by brands and affiliates who want to leverage their success. Thus, you need to communicate the benefits of working with you and the products you sell.

Incentives are effective. You could offer the influencer free product samples to contribute to an authentic message. Dedicated referral links and solid commissions on referred sales is another good idea. You could also offer commissions to influencers that refer others like them to your program as they likely associate with other strong influencers. You may want to offer to pay for a sponsored post to generate initial content and to show the influencer that your products appeal to the interests of their audience.

Conclusion

These are some of the ways that can tap into the massive opportunity to grow through influencer marketing. Identify high-quality influencers to project the image you want for your business and products, and then communicate effectively to form a relationship.

As you generate more sales, you need a reputable online payment service like Payoneer to easily and efficiently capture your income!