Everyone paying attention to the digital marketing world knows that using influencer marketing for SEO is one of this year’s biggest tactics. And it’s easy to see why. It is an efficient way to create a buzz about your brand, expand your market reach, boost conversions, and form deeper customer bonds.
These are the things that every business can’t get enough of. Influencer marketing efficiency is the main reason why 93% of marketers swear by this strategy.
Last year alone, the influencer marketing industry in the US was estimated to be worth 16.4 billion. Yet, embarking on influencer marketing for SEO can be risky unless you know what you are doing. For one, the rising number of influencers also means you need the right information to make the best selection for your marketing needs.
It can be confusing to know exactly how influencer marketing for SEO adds value to your link-building campaigns and what you should do to reap these benefits. This article will explore these concepts and guide you through the whole process step by step.
Influencer Marketing for SEO: How Can It Benefit Link Building?
Using influencer marketing for SEO is one of the most efficient and fastest ways to earn organic links. A backlink must be credible and lead to high-value content to bring great results.
Naturally, there are several ways to acquire these kinds of quality links for your site. For example, each guest posting option provides a new opportunity to share your knowledge, introduce your brand to new audiences, and get a new backlink for your website.
Yet, you can achieve a similar result by collaborating with an influencer. When you partner with a famous person in your niche, you form a strategic relationship that gives you better link-building opportunities.
As an influencer spreads the word about your brand, product, or services in their videos, websites, or social media, they are actually creating backlinks for your site that people can follow.
Besides, with their posts, you gain better social proof, which boosts your authority and credibility. In turn, your search rankings increase, leading to even more exposure for your brand. This means more visibility and traffic for you, which results in better conversions.
Do You Need Both Influencer Marketing and SEO?
Now you might be thinking, if influencer marketing is that great, why do I need to combine it with SEO? The answer is simple. Even influencers rely on search engine optimization tactics to maximize their results and reach more people. So you need to do the same if you want to maximize your return on investment (ROI). Besides, there is more to search engine optimization than you might think.
When you invest in SEO, you research keywords and, therefore, the needs and wants of your target audience. Then you use your SEO insights to optimize your website and create the best content aligned with your bigger goals.
Still, you need more than that to improve your search rankings and generate leads, especially if you want quicker results. Besides, influencer marketing and SEO work well together because search engine optimization helps you make better decisions. How? When you do your research, you can understand the exact profile of a relevant influencer who represents your brand values and has the right audience.
Since influencers operate on a multiplatform level, they can also help your brand gain varying backlinks across these different channels. Utilizing influencer marketing for SEO gives you the most sustainable results: better SERP ranking, increased traffic, and a high-quality backlink boost.
Additionally, if done right, it can even count for a small PR campaign to reach new potential customers and spread the word about your company.
How to Use Influencer Marketing for SEO and Effective Link-Building
Influencer marketing can be the missing part of your link-building strategy. Yet, finding an appropriate way to go about it can also come with a new set of challenges you must navigate carefully. Here are some tips to get you on the right track to finding quality influencer links.
#1 Take Your Time to Choose a Relevant Brand-Aligned Influencer
This is one of the most challenging aspects of influencer marketing for SEO. Picking the wrong influencer can lead to the opposite of the desired results and turn out to be a massive waste of time and money. And that’s not counting the many fake influencers waiting to take advantage of unsuspecting brands and individuals on social media. So you want to ensure that you make the right choice before moving on with the rest of your strategy.
You should choose a credible, active influencer with a high engagement rate. If your choice of influencer does not match your target market, you will likely see little to no audience engagement or even negative feedback. That’s why you want to ensure that your choice fits into your niche and aligns with the image and values of your brand.
How do you find a blogger like this? The best way to do so is by utilizing a powerful influencer marketing tool. There are many platforms online, but few of them are as competent as Ainfluencer.
Ainfluencer is a free influencer marketing platform that allows you to search for influencers based on niche, location, hashtags, engagement rate, etc. By using this platform, you won’t have to worry about collaborating with the wrong influencers. You’ll be able to find the right influencers in your niche with an authentic follower base and maximize your revenue.
Another way is to master your Google search with a custom query. For example, if you need to find a yoga instructor, try searching for “best of yoga coaches/trainers/instructors.” You will likely get several blogs that list appropriate influencers in your search results.
Besides, you can use the following search query: site:instagram.com (twitter.com) + yoga/yoggie/yogi. You can also use Ahrefs, Semrush, or similar SEO tools to find do-follow backlinks, leading you to websites you can skim for influencers.
#2 Do Strategic Outreach to Influencers to Gain Quality Backlinks
This is the next stage in your grand plan for using influencer marketing for SEO to drive long-term growth. But be careful. This can quickly become frustrating if you do not plan well. You want to craft concise value-driven email campaigns.
Chances are really great influencers get tons of such emails, so you want to be sure that yours stands out and offers actual value proposals. Luckily, many good templates and tools can help you.
And if you’d rather not go through all that trouble, you can also consider collaborating with any of the top-rated influencer marketing agencies that can help you connect with the best fit in your niche, such as Ainfluencer. Some oversee your entire campaign from start to finish and provide insightful reports.
Still, even if you don’t have the budget for this, you can successfully collaborate with influencers. You just have to be consistent, patient, and goal-driven.
#3 Invest More in Different Types of High-Quality Content
The impact of quality content simply cannot be exaggerated. There are several content types that can affect your influencer marketing for SEO efforts. You want to ensure your blog pieces are well-researched, search-friendly, and people-focused.
Besides, ensure that the influencers you choose have a reputation for the same. Trying varied types like videos, podcasts, and text-based formats is also a good idea to reach a wider pool of people.
For example, many popular brands partner with YouTube influencers to get their products in front of as many people as possible. At the same time, it is also a great idea to produce well-written blogs, participate in a podcast, and maybe run paid ads too.
This will give you multiple opportunities to engage and interact with your audience, boost brand awareness and earn all that sweet backlinks benefits.
#4 Have a Clear Goal and Concise Metrics to Track Performance
Finding the perfect metrics to track performance when doing influencer marketing for SEO can be challenging. One reason for this is that many variables can affect conversions, so it can be difficult to pinpoint just how much of it was due to your collaboration with influencers.
This is why it is vital to have clear goals and a picture of what you hope to achieve from the beginning. Still, there are several ways to measure performance and impact. For example, affiliate links, coupon codes, or even dedicated landing pages can give you insights into your efforts’ effectiveness.
Tools like Google Analytics or UTM tracking links can also help you see your influencer links’ reach and engagement rate. You can use these to monitor and track results. Remember to always focus on the big picture, and don’t be afraid to change your tactics if something is not working right.
#5 Make Plans for Long-Term Collaboration Where Possible
It is true that influencer marketing for SEO can be a bit tricky as most bloggers are likely also collaborating with many brands at the same time. In some rare cases, they could also be working for your competition. All of this makes it necessary to form long-term partnerships when you find the perfect fit for your company.
This has a lot of positive outcomes for you. For one, you form better bonds, which also affects your communication. The relationships formed over time help create a genuine connection that makes communication more honest, meaningful, and efficient. There is more authenticity, creativity, and brand stability which the audience can pick up on.
#6 Take Calculated Risks
If you want to be successful with influencer marketing to gain organic links, you must be willing to take some risks. Think about it, how do you try any digital marketing strategy if you are unwilling to take some chances?
You do the same when you decide to run a new link-building campaign with an influencer, especially one who has not previously worked for your brand.
You will also need to repeat the same process after a while. Most likely, by that time, you will have enough data into the content types various audience segments respond to. But this also presents a new opportunity to test new ideas, make better forecasts and develop something innovative.
Bonus Tips for Building High-Impact Marketing Links
The good news is there is plenty of SEO influencer marketing and link-building resources. For example, this article explains how anyone can earn the kind of backlinks that Google loves. You can expect to see many more by simply running a quick online search.
Still, to save you some valuable time, here are some hacks for building high-impact marketing links.
#1 Find ways to promote your web pages
The truth is that if you decide just to write quality content and wait for someone to notice and link to you, chances are you may never get any backlinks at all. Over 55% of web pages do not have any inbound links. If you don’t want to be one of those, you must find ways to promote your sites.
#2 Make data-based decisions
Much of marketing is learning to understand human behaviors. With modern SEO software, you can gain deep insights into what drives certain conduct. Paying attention to such behavioral analytics can help you crack the user experience code, which will guide you to create effective marketing strategies and more. For example, you can key into such insights to identify the most effective content formats and marketing channels and optimize them for better ROI.
#3 Referrals, loyalty programs, or rewards
You can use these to encourage your customers and some influencers to become your brand advocates. If you offer affiliate programs, discounts, or special perks to people who refer your products, chances are that some bloggers will reach out to you or talk about your brand, especially if you have great products. These brand mentions create more visibility for you.
#4 Key into marketing trends
Knowing how to leverage top current e-commerce trends can impact your influencer marketing and SEO strategies. For one, trends present unique opportunities to try new ideas, especially in content creation. By keeping up with marketing trends, you can maintain a competitive edge, boost your relevance, and attract new customers.
#5 Refine and optimize your marketing strategy
This is essential for building powerful marketing links. You want to ensure that you maintain relevance and continually offer value. Don’t be afraid to try something unique and fresh. Creating new variations of your link-building strategies can help you determine what works best.
#6 Monitor or track link performance
You must understand the various performance metrics and choose the best for you. Use relevant data visualization tools to gain better insights and easily picture your progress over any period.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing for SEO can be both a challenging and rewarding experience in equal measure. For many digital marketers and brands, it presents a powerful method for driving business growth. Yet, it is essential to be deliberate, strategic, and well-informed before embarking on it.
Apply the tips here to help get the best out of your efforts. With a bit of patience and consistency, you can expect to see a boost in your website’s authority, better search rankings, and all the other good elements that come with it.
