Last Updated On: December 27th, 2018

You’re just getting started with influencer marketing, and you have a lot to learn. Or maybe you’re already familiar with it, but you still want to improve your tactics.

While influencer marketing may be complicated, you don’t necessarily have to take a class to get better at it. You just need to find and use the right influencer marketing resources to guide you through the various aspects of an influencer marketing campaign.

#1: Influencer Marketing for Beginners

In this post, I’ve compiled 10 of the best influencer marketing resources to help you become better at influencer marketing. Check them out:

If you’re new to influencer marketing, there’s probably a lot you don’t know yet. So you’ll need a comprehensive guide to help you gain a better understanding of this powerful marketing channel.

That’s why Hootsuite’s, “Influencer Marketing 101,” would be a perfect influencer marketing resource for you. In this guide, you will learn all about the biggest mistake you should avoid when launching an influencer marketing campaign. It will teach you how to focus more on the target audience, instead of only on the influencers.

The guide also takes you through the process of identifying the right influencers to work with. And finally, you’ll also find out how to measure the ROI of the campaign.

Overall, “Influencer Marketing 101,” is just what you need when you’re launching your very first influencer marketing campaign. It teaches the basics of influencer marketing in ways that even the most novice marketers can understand.

#2: The Right Approach to Influencer Marketing

While, “Influencer Marketing 101,” covered the basics of influencer marketing, there’s still a lot you need to learn. For instance, you might not yet know how to come up with an effective strategy to pull off your campaign. Or you might struggle to optimize the distribution of influencer-created content for best results.

Whatever the case may be, “The Ultimate Influencer Marketing Guide” by TapInfluence is an all-in-one guide to help you plan and execute your campaigns. It also links to a few other valuable influencer marketing resources on:

How to get started with influencer marketing

Developing your influencer marketing strategy

Identifying influencers to work on your campaigns

Unleashing the power of influencer content

Optimizing content distribution

Leveraging influencer marketing automation tools

It covers a number of aspects that can help you effectively strategize, monitor, measure, optimize, and scale your influencer marketing campaigns.

#3: Winning Over Influencers

For an influencer marketing campaign to be successful, you first need to convince influencers to work with you. It’s important to remember that influencers aren’t just another advertising tool, even if you pay them to promote your brand.

You have to make them want to work with you, so you have a genuine relationship with them, and your campaign becomes more authentic. This is where IZEA’s influencer marketing resource on, “How to Get Creators to Want Your Social Sponsorship,” enters the picture.

This ebook is one highly curated influencer marketing resource that can help you attract more influencers to your brand. It talks about how your brand reputation can affect an influencer’s reputation, which could affect their desire to work with you. You will also learn all about creative freedom and its impact on the quality of your influencer-created content.

#4: Influencer Marketing Case Studies

Sometimes, the best way to learn is to observe and analyze how others pull it off. This holds true for influencer marketing as well.

You can learn a lot from brands that nailed their influencer marketing campaigns to get more exposure or engagement. Examples of successful campaigns from reputable brands can help you understand what works and what doesn’t. This can help you plan and execute your next influencer marketing campaign in a better way.

The collection of case studies from HYPR can give you actionable insights into how you can use influencer marketing to boost your sales.

For instance, one of the case studies is about a brand that managed to increase sales by 200% with the help of brand advocacy groups. You could take a closer look at what worked for this brand, and how you can experience similar (or better) outcomes with your own campaign.

If studied properly, these case studies can act as one of the most beneficial influencer marketing resources behind the success of your upcoming campaigns.

#5: Advanced Influencer Marketing for Expert Marketers

You may already be familiar with influencer marketing and might have executed several successful campaigns. But you still want to take it further, and drive even better results from your next influencer marketing campaign.

If that’s the case, you can learn a lot from “Influence 2.0: The Future of Influencer Marketing,” an in-depth study sponsored by TopRank Marketing and Traackr. The report is a result of a survey of 102 brand leaders from reputable companies such as American Express, Adobe, and Amazon Web Services.

As another valuable influencer marketing resource, this study speaks about the evolution of relation-driven marketing. According to predictions, the game of influence will shift from tactical influencer programs to long-term influencer relationships that live beyond a single campaign.

To keep up with this trend, you’ll need to make influencer relationships a priority. This guide can also help you learn how to use the top influencer relationship management (IRM) platforms to build and strengthen your relationships with influencers.

This influencer marketing resource will also help you discover new ways to align your strategic content with influencer engagement. You can learn how to leverage influencer marketing to reshape your content marketing and customer journey optimization strategies.

Image via Influencer Marketing Hub

This can enable you to yield more productive results with a proper understanding of what influences customers’ decisions and how to integrate this knowledge into your own campaigns.

This report on the future of influencer marketing also covers the aspects of budget and resources, enabling you make better strategic investments. So you’ll be able to gain thorough insight into how you can advance your influencer marketing game plan.

#6: Regular Updates on Influencer Marketing

As mentioned earlier, influencer marketing is constantly evolving. So naturally, there will be new insights every now and then. If you plan on advancing your influencer marketing efforts, you need to stay updated with those insights.

Maybe it’s an insight about generating greater ROI through long-term influencer collaborations, or how authentic partnerships can be the key to your success. You can find all of these insights on the, “Influence Pros,” podcast by Convince and Convert , which makes it one of the top influencer marketing resources for marketers.

“Influence Pros,” is a weekly show where you can get regular updates on the latest success stories and tips to help you boost your influencer marketing ROI. You’ll get fresh and actionable tips that will help you adapt to the changes in influencer marketing.

And you can find out how to improve on your current strategies – whether it’s building trust and lasting relationships with influencers, or developing your core values before working with an influencer.

#7: Understanding Influencer and Content Marketing

If you’re a marketer, you already know the importance of content marketing, and its role in promoting a business. It’s also important to note that influencer marketing and content marketing can be blended together to create a highly effective marketing campaign.

To better understand the developments in these two channels, you can read up on IZEA’s, “2017 State of the Creator Economy.”

This influencer marketing resource can help you gain a better understanding of influencers’ perspectives on influencer and content marketing. You can find out useful insights, such as the platforms content creators are leaning towards, and how you can use this for your benefit.

You’ll also understand the perspectives of influencers and marketers on various marketing approaches. And find out which techniques seem to win the majority vote. The study also determines the overall usage of various social media platforms by U.S. consumers.

You can use all of these insights mentioned in this influencer marketing resource to change or optimize your influencer marketing strategies.

#8: Understanding the Fine Print of Influencer Marketing

Brands choose influencer marketing because it’s likely to be less promotional and more authentic than traditional advertising. At the same time, many brands tend to overlook the fine print because they’re trying too hard to take the soft-selling approach.

For example, a brand sends out samples of a product to an influencer and additionally pays them to promote the product. The influencer promotes the product on social media but fails to mention that the post is sponsored by the brand.

Failing to disclose sponsorships or incentives in an influencer’s content could land you in serious trouble with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). So if you need some more information and tips regarding FTC disclosures and sponsorship rules, you can check out a Business Grow article on the topic.

The article is a great influencer marketing resource that can help you launch influencer marketing campaigns that are in-line with the FTC guidelines. The article illustrates the danger of failing to heed the FTC guidelines with a real-life example from Lord and Taylor. The brand previously got into trouble with the FTC for sponsoring influencer content in which there was no disclosure about the sponsorship.

You can protect your brand from any trouble with the FTC if you follow the tips mentioned in this article.

#9: Understanding Influencers

You already know that your relationship with an influencer plays an important role in the success of your influencer marketing campaign. And to build a strong relationship with an influencer, you’ll need to understand them better.

Although influencer marketing has shifted focus from the influencer to the audience, the influencer is still a major aspect you need to understand. To develop that understanding, you can check out the TapInfluence and Altimeter report.

This report is based on an in-depth study of marketers and influencers. You can learn all the basics, like the challenges marketers face with influencer marketing, and how marketers measure ROI. But what’s unique about this influencer marketing resource is that it also helps you understand influencers better.

Through this report, you can learn more about influencer marketing from the point of view of an influencer. You can find out how influencers measure the effectiveness of campaigns and the value of influencer marketing to them. You can also learn what kind of mistakes brands make when working with influencers, so you can avoid those mistakes.

#10: Understanding Influencers

All of these influencer marketing resources can help you significantly improve the ROI of your influencer marketing campaigns.

Along with these influencer marketing resources, you can also use Influencer Marketing Blueprint, an ebook that I’ve prepared as an ultimate step-by-step guide to launching successful campaigns.

This ebook can help you to identify and then approach the best influencers to work with. You can also learn how to engage with influencers in a better way and build lasting relationships with them. It also includes a few ready-made outreach templates that you can download and use for free along with a list of some of the most effective influencer marketing tools.

Conclusion

You now have a complete set of influencer marketing resources to guide your next influencer marketing campaign and improve your existing strategy. These influencer marketing resources cover pretty much every aspect of influencer marketing. You can learn a great deal from them, whether you’re new to the channel, or you’re an expert in it.

If you know of any other influencer marketing resource that needs a mention here, please let me know in the comments below. And if you have any questions, you can always reach out to me for a consultation. I’ll be happy to help you upgrade your influencer marketing strategy in ways you can’t even imagine.

