A Seafood Brand’s Beginners Guide to Influencer Marketing
In case you missed it, in the last article of our influencer marketing for seafood series, we dropped a boatload of hot benefits, but did you think we’d leave you without tips on how to put it into practice? Of course not! We love a good follow through to drive the ball home, especially in strategic social.
Remember how we said Instagram marketing lands so well it will have you buying peanut butter through Instagram DMs? If anyone questioned the reality of that purchase, we know it’s true because we clicked ‘Get It’. That’s right - we’re the target audience for influencer marketing strategies, we know how those gears fit together, and we know how to leverage this epic opportunity to make it happen for seafood brands.
Here, we’re getting into the mechanics of influencer marketing step-by-step so that seafood businesses can actually start to engage with influencers strategically to help grow both their online presence and their bottom line.
Define Your Goals: What do you want to accomplish here? Brand visibility? Drive sales and promote new products? Build trust and cred? Get crystal clear on your intentions. They will guide your influencer selection and campaign strategies.
Pinpoint Your Target Audience: Who are you talking to? Identify their age range, interests, likes and dislikes. Are they health conscious? Adventure lovers? Busy mamas? This will help you choose influencers with followers in your audience.
Find Relevant Influencers: Research influencers who specialize in food, seafood, sustainability, or related niches. Look at their follower numbers, engagement rates, content quality, and (of course) audience.
Make Friends (for real): Remember, influencers are real humans! While you want to keep it respectfully professional, you can be a bit more relaxed and conversational about getting to know each other. High value currency in the social media marketing world is connection and relatability. So start a conversation! Show genuine interest in their content and discuss potential collaboration ideas that will benefit you both.
Collaborate on Content: Working with influencers to create awesome content means sharing ideas of how you think your product shows best, and then allowing the influencer to stir that up with their own expertise and flavor. They’re the pro when it comes to the delivery, so let them do what attracted you to them in the first place - be creative!
Set Clear Expectations: Clarity is the new black. Everyone feels more solid in their work when they know the deal, so clearly outline deliverables, timelines, compensation, and brand guidelines to make certain that everyone is aligned on expectations to avoid misunderstandings BEFORE the work begins.
Leverage Multiple Platforms: Different demographics gravitate towards different social media platforms. The TikTok space is a popular gen Z zone, while millennials lean towards Instagram for their scrolling pleasure. Hopping on a variety of platforms helps you reach different audiences, and skilled influencers know how to tailor their content to suit each platform.
Track and Measure Performance: This one’s an extension of those crystal clear goals from pt. 1. Analytics tell the story of how those goals are being met, or not. Use tracking tools to monitor and evaluate key performance metrics such as engagement rates, reach, conversions, and ROI. This gives you a picture of the effectiveness of your influencer campaigns, lets you adapt in real time and make data-driven changes as needed.
Encourage Engagement with Followers: A huge part of the allure of influencers is that they don’t feel like a far-away celeb being paid to sell. They’re real people that your audience can interact with, and may even feel like friends. The trust factor is built when influencers engage with their followers by responding to comments, answering questions, and encouraging user-generated content, helping transfer that credibility to your brand.
Nurture Long-Term Partnerships: There’s nothing like a cozy LTR, so if things are going strong, consider nurturing extended partnerships with successful influencers who align with your brand values. If they’re proving great to work with, consistently deliver positive results, and feel the same about working with your brand, why not turn that date into a marriage? Long-term partnerships can yield ongoing benefits, build on audience familiarity, and strengthen brand loyalty over time.
Reaching new audiences organically and authentically has historically been a difficult nut for seafood to crack. Influencer marketing is a key to tapping into these markets (without using old school marketing tactics to shove fish sticks down their throats. It’s not a hot look anymore).
We hope this guide has helped clear any remaining fog, but if you’re still feeling overwhelmed with how to integrate influencer marketing into your overall strategy, don’t stress! We get it. This is mostly uncharted territory for seafood companies, and we’re here to help you through it.
Like we said, we’re the target market, we ‘bought the peanut butter’. Who better to help you execute your strategy than the very people you’re looking to build that strategy for.
