Traditionally, the differences between PR and marketing were always clear. While PR leaned more towards brand-building and driving awareness, the latter was more focused on advertising and generating revenue.
But since the rise of social media, the lines between them are blurry.
Influencers can now help brands get more visibility, reach, engagement, and revenue. The best part is you can get the most out of your campaigns by integrating PR with influencer marketing.
Wondering how? In this post, let’s discuss some ways in which influencers can help you supercharge your PR efforts.
Influencers work hard to build engaged and loyal followings on social media platforms. In fact, their followers look up to them for product recommendations. This can be a huge asset for running an effective PR campaign.
Want to know how to leverage influencers to amplify your PR campaigns? Here are some tried-and-tested strategies for you:
1. Create promotional content
Want millions of people to know about a new product? Collaborate with multiple influencers in your niche to create some social media buzz around your product.
Not only can it help you gain more visibility, but it can also help you boost your sales. That’s because influencers have the ability to influence public perception.
To amplify your PR campaign, you can work with influencers to publish product reviews, unboxing videos, or tutorials.
Huawei used this strategy to promote the exclusive design of their phone, Mate 10 Pro Range. They collaborated with Lewis Hilsenteger, a YouTube influencer, to promote it. In an unboxing video, he highlights the main features of the phone and tells the users what he likes about it.
The video got over 8 million views.
Image via YouTube
2. Make influencers your brand ambassadors
Influencers are often considered experts or authoritative sources in their niche. By working with them, you can piggyback off the trust and recognition that they have built. If you are looking for a long-term association, you can make them your brand ambassadors.
Typically, they can work with you for several campaigns and attend events to get more traction. For such an arrangement, it’s recommended that you sign a contract beforehand to set the right expectations.
On the other hand, you can also have unpaid ambassadors. Macro and micro-influencers who want to gain more visibility may be open to becoming brand ambassadors for your PR campaigns. In exchange for promotion, you can offer free products, discounts, exclusive access to your events, and more.
Macy’s Style Crew program is a great example of this strategy. As a part of the program, they want to build a community of ambassadors who are passionate about different niches. Started exclusively for employees, now influencers and even ordinary shoppers can become a part of the program.
Image via Macy’s
For each purchase made through their posts, Macy’s brand ambassadors can make a commission of five percent. In addition to this, they also get awards for reaching sales targets.
3. Gift product samples to influencers
Gifting is a great way to get in the good books of celebrities and influencers. When you give them a free product sample, there is a chance that they might talk about it online.
Swedish company, Daniel Wellington, has leveraged this strategy to drive brand awarenessand online visibility.
They gifted beautiful watches to influencers from different countries and from varied niches. On receiving these gifts, some influencers also featured these gifts in their Instagram posts.
Image via Instagram
While it can be an effective marketing strategy for social media, you need to keep in mind that influencers are not always obligated to promote your products. Just because you send them a gift doesn’t necessarily mean they will feature it in their posts.
4. Leverage social media takeovers
Influencers can also take over your social media handles and post content on your behalf. It’s great because it is beneficial for brands as well as influencers. Both the parties involved get to reach out to a new audience and get more engagement on their posts.
What’s more, influencer-generated content can liven up your social media feed and make it more diverse. As a part of the social media takeover, influencers can educate your audience, talk about your products, or even give tutorials.
Plus, influencers can publish live videos, Stories, images, and more as a part of the takeover campaign. To boost your engagement, they can also conduct polls, contests, and Ask Me Anything sessions.
Take inspiration from cosmetic brands, Summer Fridays. They collaborated with Adri, an Instagram beauty influencer to showcase how users can use their new jet lag mask. In a series of Stories, she uses the mask in three ways — as a daytime moisturizer, as an overnight mask, and as a quick 10-minute mask.
To make sure that their audience can view these Stories even after the takeover ended, the brand added them as a Highlight on their profile.
Image via Instagram
Hosting social media takeovers can be an effective growth tactic for brands who want to get more followers, increase their engagement rate, and expand their reach.
Conclusion
PR and influencer marketing both have the potential to help your brand grow. But if you want to get the best of both worlds, you should take an integrated approach.
Work with influencers to create promotional text & visual content to amplify your PR campaigns. Additionally, you can run brand ambassador programs and host social media takeovers for added social media visibility. Ready to take your PR campaigns to the next level with influencer marketing?
