Influencers have been widely used in marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness and get sales.

But when carefully planned, influencers have the power to yield results in each step of the sales cycle for brands. Influencers fit in easily in the sales journey from the top to the bottom of the sales funnel.  

How can influencers increase your sales cycle?

The first part of the sales funnel is brand awareness. The mid-funnel part of the sales cycle is engaging the audiences to buy the product. The narrow end of the funnel is the final sales. Loyalty or customer support is an ongoing process that connects the last to the first part to form a sales cycle.

1. Wide top of the sales funnel- Brand awareness
2. Mid portion of the funnel- Desire to buy
3. Narrow end portion of the sales funnel- Action of buying

4. Connection from the bottom to the top to continue the sales cycle- Customer loyalty

Influencers amazingly fit in all the sales cycle processes. Brands utilizing the power of influencer marketing throughout the sales cycle have tasted success.

1. Awareness of the Brand-

Registering the brand in the minds of the influencer followers is the first step in the sales cycle. The followers have never heard of the brand. Now, it is the job of the influencers to bring about brand awareness but in subtle ways.

Hire influencers in your niche so that their followers fit your target audience definition and their content compliments your brand.

There are various methods through which influencers can increase brand awareness among their followers.

• Products positioned naturally in the influencer image or video help their followers notice the brand.
• An influencer gives a shout-out to the brand casually when talking to their followers.
• Hashtags  and tagging help increase brand awareness.
• Collaborate with multiple influencers to generate mass awareness.
• Hire macro-influencers or celebrities to mention your brand. They have a wide audience.

Word-of-mouth referral is the best way to increase brand awareness. Brands have to work on influencer marketing campaigns for brand awareness before they launch products into the market. It will help them create a buzz around the product and generate curiosity among the audience.   

2. Desire to Purchase

Once the word has gotten all over the town, the audience is curious to know more about the product.

What is the product? What are its uses? What are its features? How much does it cost? Where is it available?

The point now is to educate the audience about the product. Brands need to give as much information as possible to the audience for them to desire the product.

Influencer marketing campaigns woven around brand reach help the audience to know more about the product.

• Unboxing videos by influencers help their followers to get a feel of the product.
• Product demo videos by multiple micro-influencers connect the brand with the niche audience.
• Run multiple influencer marketing campaigns to make the audiences aware of the product features and uses.
• Hire multiple influencers and collaborate with them to create ads on how your product solves customer pain points.
• Highlight the product USP so that it registers on the audience’s minds.
• Do not confuse the audience with multiple ads at the same time. The best way is to have a time gap for new ads. Once the first ad is registered, it runs for a week or fifteen days till it is time for the next ad.
• Hire influencers to recommend the product using hashtags or brand tagging.  
• Generate a convenient product-related hashtag, create content around that hashtag, and ask influencers to promote it.
• Endorse the product on many social media channels.

Bombarding the influencer ads on multiple channels to promote the brand increases the audience’s desire to buy the product.   

While influencers go on with their job of promoting the product, brands have to make their social media and website content ready for the visitors.

Since the influencers tag brands, it is natural for the followers to visit the brand’s social media profiles. These have to be updated to offer complete product information to the followers. A visually appealing social media profile will get the brand increased followers.

The influencer followers also visit your website to seek answers. At this point, your website should provide accurate information about the products.

The impressions, new follower count, website traffic, customer engagement on the social media or website give a better analysis of the influencer marketing campaign results.      

3. Action of Buying

When a consumer desires to buy the product, the next step for the brand in the sales cycle is to give them a gentle nudge to make the purchase complete through the power of influencers.

For instance, influencers can offer recipes using the product, style the brand fashion in different ways, or reorganize a room around the brand furniture.  

• Get influencers to talk about your product experiences through posts like images and videos.
• Provide coupon codes for influencers to persuade their followers to make the purchase.
• Use discounts and giveaways to lure the influencer’s followers.  
• Vlogging is a great way to offer a first-hand experience of the product to the followers.  
• Use lead generation opt-ins to guide the customer in buying the product.
• Hire influencers to write blogs and share their direct experience.

Offering the product for use to the influencers is the best way to turn them into brand advocates. Once they know the product in-out, they convey the brand message to their followers naturally. It assures the followers of the worth of the product.   

4. Loyalty to the Brand

Going beyond the professional relationship, brands need to forge authentic partnerships with influencers. It helps in the influencer promoting the product authoritatively. Establishing a strong connection with the creator adds authenticity to the sales cycle.   

• The influencers collaborate with brands for the long term.
• Consistent and continuous ads from influencers promote brand advocacy.
• Followers start relating to the brand since their influencer keeps recommending it.   
• Let the influencers tell the followers of the loyalty programs and referral rewards to get in more customers.
• The influencer builds a sense of community around the brand.

When an influencer keeps endorsing a brand, followers stick to it to make a repurchase, buy an upgraded product or other products of your brand.

Brand loyalty is not built in a day. The right influencer and an effective influencer marketing campaign make the followers stick to the product.

Brands miserably fail in influencer marketing campaigns because they do not have a long-term vision. An effective way to counteract this is to hire influencer marketing campaigning services from QuikPlace.  

QuikPlace is an influencer marketplace to hire the right influencers and have the influencer marketing campaign designed by the experts. It is a place where brands and influencers connect on a single platform to launch instant campaigns to generate brand awareness and sales.???????