Most Furniture retailers operate on a small scale and sell products that are conducive to local tastes. They do not have the scale or resources that branded retailers do. For them, marketing means promoting their wares at a very local level. Many uses paid ads on TV, radio, and print to increase brand awareness.
Many furniture retailers are indifferent towards modern digital marketing mediums to get leads. Many are worried about the costs of such a campaign- they do not realize how well an influencer can help them increase brand awareness and sales. As far as costs are concerned, you do not need thousands and millions of dollars for a local influencer marketing campaign, you could redirect the money you would have used for other marketing mediums for influencer marketing.
For anyone, choosing a piece of furniture isn’t easy, there are so many options to choose from. If your need can be satisfied with store-bought products, that’s OK. What about those who require custom-built solutions? Here is where you, as a local furniture retailer, have to help them make a decision.
Nowadays, most people go online to solve any such challenges, that is where you need to be. Only influencer marketing can help you be where your customers want you to be. If you are new to this whole experience, this article is for you.
How to go about your influencer marketing campaign
Focus only on your local target audience
The biggest benefit of an influencer marketing campaign is that you can target the right audience without needing to spend a bomb. As you work on a local level, you can tailor the campaign for your target audience.
Many social media influencers have a niche following at the local level, ideal for furniture retailers like yours.
Choose an influencer that fits the bill
As your audience is your neighborhood, you can search for social influencers from an influencer marketing platform that matches your requirements. Many people call themselves social influencers to get lucrative marketing contracts, but most will not have the qualities to get you sales. If you hunt manually for the right influencer, it is as challenging as finding a needle in a haystack. To save time and money, a social influencer search tool can help you choose the right influencer that could get you leads.
You should narrow down your choices not only according to the number of followers he has but also how well engaged he is with his followers. As we are looking to hire an influencer on a local level, you need an influencer who has a social influencer following within a specific area, the total number of followers does not matter that much.
Another thing to consider is how interesting his posts actually are, how many shares, likes, and comments he gets for each post, and how consistently he replies to all comments.
Lastly, you have to check if he has done any influencer campaigns previously and how well they performed.
Do not pay for reviews
This is not only unethical but also hurts your brand’s reputation. If you get someone to write a paid review, people will start losing trust in your business. Instead, you can get a local influencer to visit your store and create an honest post describing the products you sell. The influencer will take relevant photos, videos and interview you to create a unique post that will interest users. You could pay them with a special discount or freebies.
Think outside the box
Why do things everyone has done before? Why not stand out from the crowd? You could collaborate with your influencer to do something different to promote brand awareness. Some examples could be-
Hand them the reins
Some brands have literally handed over control of their social media pages to social influencers who use their heft to create content that resonates with people. You could give your YouTube channel rights to the social influencers who work within your niche. They could help you increase your audience reach and brand awareness.
Do a Live event
Facebook and Instagram Live events are very popular these days. You could get your influencer to interview you and give a virtual tour of your business. This is a great way to collect leads.
Give them creative freedom
Let your influencer decide how he wants to promote your business. He could buy something from you discreetly and review it or post an informative video helping customers to choose the right furniture. There are so many ways your influencer could help you promote brand awareness.
In a nutshell
Influencer marketing is the most cost-efficient way to promote your business. You can reach new horizons with the help of the right influencer. You need not have to shell out a six-figure amount, a local influencer with an engaged following can work wonders yet fit your budget. Everyone would want honest reviews before buying an asset like furniture. The only way to get your business noticed is through an unbiased review or informative post from an influencer.