How To Succeed At Influencer Campaigns As A Small Business
For small businesses, influencer campaigns can be an affordable and effective PR strategy - as well as a fresh marketing approach that aligns your brand with the right people.
Kamiqua Lake, CEO of comms agency Coldr, took us through her tips for working with influencers to build hype for your product in our recent masterclass, The Power Of PR. Ultimately, choosing the right influencers is about more than just follower count: it’s about alignment, engagement, and knowing what kind of impact you want.
From nano- to mega-influencer: Know who’s best for your brand
First of all, Kamiqua recommends knowing your megas from your nanos. Influencers have varying reaches: mega-influencers—think 1m+ followers—have celebrity status with massive followings, but can come with huge price tags.
Macro-influencers, like YouTuber Patricia Bright, have less (but still substantial) followings and influence in specific industries. Micro-influencers have smaller but highly engaged audiences, while nano-influencers—those with fewer than 10,000 followers—often pack a punch with niche, loyal followers who truly trust their recommendations.
For small businesses, nano- and micro-influencers can be a smart choice. They offer access to engaged audiences without the high cost. As their followers are invested, their recommendations can feel more authentic, driving stronger results and making them highly effective partners for targeted PR efforts.
Audience fit matters more than follower count
When it comes to selecting influencers to work with, don’t get distracted by their follower numbers. What’s more important is understanding who their followers are and how they engage with their content.
For example, you might think an influencer resonates well with your brand - but looking at their existing content, do their posts drive sales, or simply likes? “Sometimes we follow influencers or brands we never shop from,” Kamiqua says. As a small business, you should dive into who the influencer’s audience is, how they engage, and what types of products they promote. This focus on audience fit over numbers can help you ensure your brand message resonates with the right people.
Set clear goals for your influencer campaign
“What does ‘good’ look like?”, asks Kamiqua. If you want to evaluate how impactful the campaign is, start by setting a clear goal to achieve with it. Whether the aim is raising awareness, driving website traffic, or increasing sales, it’s crucial to outline specific KPIs (key performance indicators) that define success.
For example, if the goal is to build brand awareness, the reach might be more important than direct engagement. But if conversions or leads are the goal, engagement metrics and specific call-to-actions become vital to track. Testing, tweaking, and evaluating the campaign's results helps refine future influencer strategies and maximize impact.
Background checks and influencer agreements
Before jumping into a collaboration, make sure you understand the deliverables, expectations and risks of working with each influencer.
“Before big brands work with any influencers, they’ll do a background check,” Kamiqua says. She suggests doing some research into your target influencer’s history, topics they talk about, and any potential controversies that could harm your brand. Ultimately, you need to uphold your brand’s values and integrity.
This is where a formal agreement comes in: Kamiqua recommends setting up a formal contract outlining deliverables, expectations, and contingency plans if the influencer’s actions later harm the brand. Even if it’s a small-scale partnership, a contract helps protect both of you, and ensures everyone is on the same page about the campaign’s scope and goals.
Foster creative freedom and collaboration
Influencers know their audience best. Allow them creative freedom within the campaign brief if you want content that’s more engaging and authentic to their followers.
As Kamiqua suggests, “collaboratively… produce content that people really love.” Building this rapport and flexibility can mean campaigns that are not only powerful but memorable.
Creative campaigns on a smaller scale
Kamiqua highlights how small businesses can take inspiration from big brands’ creative campaigns. She mentions Aldi’s use of a Kate Moss lookalike to spark social buzz during a Chanel fashion show in Manchester was a savvy, low-cost way to grab attention.
As a small brand, your budget is lower but you can still apply similar creative thinking, such as partnering with micro- or nano-influencers to create fun, relatable content that plays to current trends.
Influencer collaborations can ultimately be an innovative way to elevate brand PR. By choosing influencers carefully, setting clear goals, and fostering genuine partnerships, you can unlock an authentic connection with your audience - without breaking the bank.
