The #1 Method for Promoting Your Business While Making a Social Impact at the Local Level

As business leaders, we all know the importance of effective marketing. We can have the perfect product that solves our audience's problems.

But unless we know how to reach people and persuade them to purchase our services, our businesses remain obsolete.

Marketing is best understood as proper positioning in a targeted market. Once positioned, you use different communication strategies that highlight the value your product brings to a community, tribe, or audience.

Marketing also entails public conversations. Get the masses talking about your business, and you will remain a staple within their minds for a lifetime.

Inside the Conscious Conservative Media Academy, I spend a great deal of time teaching the science behind this skill set to our premium members.

Most business leaders have elementary knowledge about this marketing field; and too often, they position their product in a market that isn't interested in their works. 

Consider my virtual platform and its products or services.

I do not promote my works to just everyone. I am positioned strategically in the independent, book-publishing market and the conservative political space.

Therefore, the content, books, and services I deliver are easily received by those who are interested in both topics.

Essentially, that is how effective marketing works; and when you're just beginning this journey of entrepreneurship or business leadership, it's difficult to cultivate a space for yourself in such a competing market.

For this reason, brands have leveraged the influence and power of famous people to help promote their products or services. In other words, they practice influencer marketing, which is the #1 strategy for promoting your business or brand.

Think about the celebrities you see in various commercials. At times, you purchase a product because your favorite icon was featured in the ad. 

This is the basic premise of influencer marketing: It involves outsourcing key leaders in the virtual space who will bring awareness to a brand. By purchasing sponsored content (i.e. blog posts, social media posts, video content, website ad space), a business leader can rely on an influencer to promote one's products or services to a niched audience.

And over the last decade, this strategy has dominated the social media sphere.

Social Media Marketing: 2010 and Beyond

We know the power of social media. It is the one area where brands can fish for their ideal customer for virtually free. This is also a perfect place to locate buyers who will be empowered by your products and services.

Since 2010, social media marketing has enabled people to become instantly famous. In fact, the barrier to entry into the fame life is so low, cat-lovers have discovered ways to become well-known.

Celebrities who have taken to Instagram, Facebook, and even LinkedIn have discovered ways to monetize their platforms by selling their influence to businesses who want to promote to a wider audience.

And over the years, smaller accounts (what we call micro-influencers) have emerged, giving other brands opportunities to advertise their products.

Types of Online Influencers and How Each One Leverages Their Platforms

​Not all influencers are the same, and not all influencer platforms deliver the same results for each brand that hires them.

A great article from SenseiMarketing analyzed the various types of influencers, so let's discuss them here:

1. Mega-Influencer: These are celebrities whose name alone carries more fame and influence. They don't necessarily focus on a subject matter, but their influence is felt among millions of followers. Brands that have the marketing budget to pay for mega-influencers can expect to receive instant traffic and sales with just one Instagram post, for example. Some celebrities are known for charging up to $1 million for just a single post, because their social media presence commands so much persuasive power. This, of course, does not automatically translate into massive sales for a brand. And in this case, the best strategy for hiring a mega-influencer is to increase brand awareness.
2. Macro-Influencer: Like celebrities, these influencers have a large platform, generally consisting of 100K-1M followers across all social media sites. Such individuals include podcasters, bloggers, and political influencers. Ideally, such influencers are subject-matter experts. They are the go-to individuals for all things related to education, technology, empowerment, etc. Brands that pay for macro-influencer marketing can expect to reach a niche audience that focuses on a specific topic. 
3. Micro-Influencer: Individuals who have managed to create a following of 1,000-100,000 followers fall within this category. These are voices who, like macro-influencers, focus on a niche audience. They are intimately acquainted with their followers, and are supreme subject-matter experts for a given topic. As a Twitter influencer, my platform fits within this category. When promoting a brand, I help you establish authority and credibility among an audience we both have interests in. For example, if your product focuses on women empowerment, your resource would be a perfect tool for our women’s ministry. Because I have such a connection to a specific audience, and that audience engages with my content on a deeper level, positioning your brand on this platform is more profitable long-term than if you hired a macro- or mega-influencer (which may exceed your current marketing budget).
4. The Advocate: Think of these influencers as the ones who will engage in meaningful conversations with online audiences around your product. For example, let's say you have a book that will truly empower women. As an advocate and micro-influencer, I could host a weekly women's Bible study, using your book as the secondary resource in our discussions. This marketing strategy goes deeper than simply asking me to promote your book to my audience of 20K+ followers. In this case, you are paying me to promote your book AND engage in discussions that guarantee book sales.
5. The Referrer: I'll characterize this influencer as one who is brand loyal to one specific business, and will readily refer one's audience to the same business time and time again.
6. The Loyalists: Here is where every brand wants to get in the market. Such influencers are the people who are loyal to your business, i.e. your social media followers, readers, viewers, and listeners. I remember back in 2019 when I decided to cut politics from my Facebook platform. I assumed all my followers would cease in promoting my messages. As I stepped away from this platform to focus on my e-mail subscribers and Twitter scholars, I watched as some from Facebook instantly followed me where I was. Today, these followers are my main promoters. They share and re-tweet my content and products for me. They purchase my offerings without me persuading them. They are absolutely loyal to this virtual work because I am constantly bringing them empowerment on a daily basis. As such, they promote my brand joyfully.

The Stats Behind Influencer Marketing and What They Mean to Business Leaders

In the online space, the way to thrive is by studying the current marketing trends, which can inform a person’s next moves. And in this section, I want to highlight 10 stats that prove why influencer marketing is key to your business's success.

1. For every $1 a business spends on influencer marketing, that business generates $5.20 in marketing exposure (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). And with the right influencer package, the return on investment can be much higher if that person creates evergreen content with your business as the featured resource.
2. The best influencers to work with are those within your niche or industry, ones who can promote your product most effectively (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). I cannot stress this enough: To see the most return on your investment, you must put your products or services in the hands of an influencer who functions within your current space.
3. Influencers are strict about the products they promote, selecting only that which is most relevant to their audiences (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). It is not uncommon for me to reject a brand whose product does not minister to or empower my audience. Although I would receive compensation for the promotion, such partnership would negatively affect my relationship with my audience, which I value above a brand’s dollar. As you seek to find influencers to promote your business, understand your product must be in perfect alignment with that brand’s network and platform.
4. Print advertising is decreasing as influencer marketing increases (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). Perhaps you’ve been thinking about creating more flyers or other forms of advertisements to promote your business. Good news! You can stop now. With the rise in influencer marketing, digital promotions reduce the costs associated with printed ads. 
5. 40% of Twitter users said they made a purchase based on a tweet from their favorite influencer (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). A few months ago, I recommended a $47 e-book to my Twitter audience. Bryan Sharpe, aka “Hotep Jesus,” wrote the #1 guide on Twitter marketing; and after observing his strategies first-hand, I recommended my Beloved audience purchase the manual to help them build their own platforms. Within weeks, at least one of my connections purchased the book after asking me if I truly believed in Sharpe’s product. I assured him this product was legit, and he eventually made the purchase. That’s exactly what happens when an influencer tweets a product to a specific audience. While sales may not happen immediately, they will eventually come because an audience trusts an influencer’s word.
6. When searching for influencers, it’s important to find brands that are already into your products (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). As you seek an influencer for your product or service, find someone who will love your brand and message. She will enthusiastically sell your product for you, which brings more awareness to your business.
7. 91% of millennials say they trust influencer or online reviews in the same way they trust recommendations from family and friends (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). Millennials are astute shoppers, and they are more likely to purchase products based on their favorite influencer’s recommendation. Why? Because that influencer has built an online relationship with her audience; and just as they trust their family and friends to recommend the best products, they have that same trust with their influencers.
8. 50% of consumers will take action to purchase a product after reading a positive review (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). I have seen this in action, literally days after a business partner posted my reviews on their platforms. Most consumers are impulsive with their purchases. And all they need is the right influencer to give them the go-ahead to purchase the right product.
9. The most effective influencer marketing campaigns are the ones that are organic to an audience (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). Rarely do I use paid advertisements when promoting my partners' businesses because I’ve built such rapport with my online audience that they trust my reviews. The whole purpose of working with influencers is to find voices who have persuasive power; and too often, paid advertisements do not deliver that personal touch. If an influencer has not proven her ability to connect with an audience, paying for her to promote your work is fruitless. (You can hire a social media ads manager to do that job for you.)
10. Influencers with 10K - 100K followers offer the best results for organic engagement and reach (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub). It is a fact: the larger the follower count, the less organic engagement an influencer receives. Therefore, it is best to work with micro- or macro-influencers who are experts in their industry, ones who will promote your business so effectively, your brand becomes addictive to that niche audience.

How Business Leaders Can Leverage Influencer Marketing and Reach Millions without Saying a Word

By now, you get an idea of how influencer marketing can work for you as a business leader.

The purpose behind influencer marketing is to level-up your own platform exponentially and within a shorter time frame.

If your business's platform only has 1,000 followers, and only 10% of that audience has purchased your services, then working with a micro-influencer can take your brand to the next level.

The more leverage you pull with an influencer, the quicker your own platform will increase, because audiences love being a part of a collective.

I've discovered this within my own political network. The influencers connected to my brand willingly share my content and books with their followers, because we are all preaching a similar empowering message. And our followers often follow the same influencers, which gives them a holistic online experience.

If you can implement this same strategy for your business, you will discover how easy it is to position your work before millions.

Steps You Can Take to Leverage This Infleuncer Marketing Powerhouse

Now that you understand the science behind influencer marketing, let's discuss how you can get started in this process.

1. Determine to make influencer marketing a part of your annual marketing budget. If you have been in the game for a while, you know how important it is to set aside a specific budget that will go towards promoting your business. And if you make influencer marketing a part of your aggressive strategy, you will see a positive return on your investment.
2. Generate a list of influencers you wish to work with. It's important to remember that influencer marketing is a brand partnership. Influencers do not work for you. Therefore, you should not treat the expert as an employee. Rather, they work with your brand. That person knows how to reach her own audience, and it's to your advantage to respect that connection. Do not ask the influencer to say this or that when it comes to marketing to her followers. Instead, let the influencer decide how she will promote you to her network. 
3. Reach out to the influencers via email or social media. When I connected with my first set of brands, I turned to Facebook author groups. I needed experts who could deliver the proper services that my audience needed, and we communicated via email to set up the partnership. As you search for influencers, present yourself professionally. These experts are a part of the marketing industry and should be approached as such. Do not ask for favors. Do not present yourself as anything other than a professional. The Influencers will respect you immensely.
4. Hire the Influencer whose platform and services match your brand's goals. Never pay for a platform that doesn't reach your target audience or whose mission isn't in alignment with your business's values. 
5. Be prepared to work long-term with your selected Influencer. Remember that with influencer marketing, longevity is key. You need to see this marketing opportunity as an ongoing relationship. You may not see instant results with their services; but you will experience positive long-term effects if you make this marketing powerhouse an ongoing relationship.

At The Felecia Killings Foundation, We Welcome Fellow Business Leaders to Partner with Us to Get Their Brands Featured on Our Platforms

Since 2020, we’ve implemented this solution for business leaders by crafting compelling content that features their business's products or services to our massive audience.

Our online community is an integrated one, comprising of Black and White Americans who are learning to work together to build social, cultural, and political alliances to improve communities nationwide.

Using Twitter as our primary communications channel -- and our Conscious Conservative Media Network -- we bring brands to the forefront who have solutions our audiences need to prosper in spirit, soul, and body.

As a partner with The Foundation:

• Your business's name, brand, products, and services will be featured to a larger audience, one you could not reach on your own.
• Your reputation as a credible business leader is well-received because our audiences trust our recommendations.
• You can ethically "hijack" our dynamic platforms, which leads to sales, website traffic, and more for your business.
• And your sponsorship makes a social impact at the local level by helping us fund our single mothers initiative (KillingsVille Communal Living) and our scholarship awards to rising leaders in our Movement.

​To learn more about our sponsorship package, download our guide and contract below. Then schedule a 15-minute consultation with me directly at CoachFeleciaKillings@gmail.com to get your 30-day booking set.

If you’re looking to scale your business, influencer marketing is the #1 solution. 

This strategy has done wonders for our current partners, and I know it will surely empower your business in record time.