Ten ways to elevate your influencer and author marketing

You are an expert, influencer, thought leader, business owner or author with big plans. Or maybe you aren’t quite there yet—but are working hard at it. Either way, in order to grow your audience, readers, and brand, you need great content and strong visual assets to build your platform and achieve your goal of world domination.

So how does a busy author or influencer create dynamic, professional-quality graphic content fast, in-house, and without spending a lot of money? The answer is creativity and consistency—with a bit of help from PosterMyWall.

PosterMyWall recently worked with author Stephanie Miller to create dynamic graphics and videos to promote Stephanie’s new book Zero Waste Living: The 80/20 Way. Stephanie’s excellent marketing illustrates how a thought leader who has a good understanding of their mission can create a strong brand.

Working with Stephanie is fun. We’ve come to think of her as the good friend up the street who happens to be passionate (and highly knowledgeable) about doing her part to protect the environment. She is equal parts creative, passionate, and accessible—traits that are reflected on her website (www.ZeroWasteInDC.com), her Instagram feed (@zerowasteindc), her presentations, and other channels.

"Great videos and high-quality graphics from PosterMyWall have really helped me boost my visibility on social media. It's also been great to introduce PosterMyWall videos into my PowerPoint author talks...this seems to really grab the audience," Stephanie said.

While partnering with Stephanie, we identified ten key areas where influencers and authors can really stand out. They are:

Spotlight live and virtual events and appearances

Whether you’re being interviewed by 60 Minutes, hosting a webinar, or doing a quick Facebook Live appearance, the number of people who attend your event depends on your effectiveness at notifying people where you’ll be and what you’ll be talking about in advance. And a concise, professional announcement graphic also helps encourage the people on your list to share your announcement with their friends.

While the organizations who host Stephanie for podcasts and Zoom presentations always do their own promotion, Stephanie amplifies their efforts by posting her own versions of their filers and promotions on her own social media.

Punctuate cornerstone content

Every influencer, business operator, and author has her own cornerstone content. This might be the pillars of her platform, statements that sum up what she stands for, or a catchphrase or motto. In the case of a fiction author, the cornerstone content might be short excerpts taken from their novel.

Stephanie’s cornerstone content is the three big opportunities she has identified to reduce the largest amount of waste with the least effort. She calls these “The Magic Three.” They focus on food, purge plastics, and recycle right.

 On Stephanie’s website, she identifies “The Magic Three” and lists many specific tips for how to reduce waste in these areas. For social media, she breaks each of these tips down into individual posts.

Using PosterMyWall, (and with accessible stock photography and video libraries in the PosterMyWall editor) we transformed Stephanie’s cornerstone content into dynamic social media graphics—all of which maintained Stephanie’s brand and included thumbnails of Stephanie’s book. With PosterMyWall’s one-click resize, we adjusted these memes to the ideal size for each social media platform.

Show yourself walking the talk

Photos of you doing the things you advocate make strong social media content. For instance, Stephanie often shares images of herself shopping at farmer’s markets and visiting recycling facilities.

Showcase interviews and soundbites

Authors and thought leaders have a lot to say—and people love to watch short video clips of them saying it. This strategy works well on both social media and on your website.

A simple video shot on an iPhone will do the job, but your video will be even more effective if you add graphics or a news ticker (similar to what you see on a network newscast) at the bottom of your video. These graphics can reiterate your name and encapsulate your point—making it fast and easy for people scrolling through their social media feed to understand who you are and what you’re about. You can also include your logo or book cover for additional branding.

Promote giveaways and special offers

People love freebies and they can help build your audience. The trick is to make sure the giveaway relates to your brand or message and that you require the people who participate take a specific action that benefits you. 

Stephanie recently created a clever giveaway—a recreation of the image on the cover of her book featuring a real cotton tote filled with reusable jars and wooden utensils. In order to enter to win the tote, people had to (a.) follow Stephanie on Instagram, (b.) reply to the post with the photo of the bag naming one thing they intend to carry to avoid a single-use plastic alternative, and (c.) tag a friend in their comment.

Form synergistic partnerships

Teaming up with a partner who appeals to a similar audience can accelerate the growth of your audience. For Stephanie’s bag giveaway, she partnered with a local zero-waste store, Mason and Greens. Because of the partnership,  Stephanie and her giveaway were promoted in Mason and Greens’ Instagram feed.  

Weave eye candy into your presentations

A deck of PowerPoint slides can get dull. But variety can help you to keep attendees’ attention. We worked with Stephanie to punctuate her author presentation deck by replacing just a few of her static images with videos created in PosterMyWall. 

Bring your message into the 3D world

From water bottles and tote bags to COVID masks and greeting cards, POD (print on demand) companies such as Vistaprint or Society6 make it easy to put your logo, book cover, photo, or message onto virtually anything.

We designed this reusable cotton tote with Stephanie’s logo (as well as a water bottle design and an apron design) entirely in PosterMyWall—and it only took ten minutes. The steps were to:

1. Go to the POD company website to obtain the recommended pixel size for the design.

2. Create a custom size canvas in PosterMyWall that matches the pixel size recommended by the POD company.

3. Import a png file of Stephanie’s logo. Copy the logo several times and change the sizes of some of the images to create a variety. Drag and adjust the logos until you’re happy with the layout.

4. Download a high-res file.

5. Upload the high-res file to the POD company’s website and follow their directions to create the item.

Create community through activities

A great way to start a dialog with your followers and readers is to create an activity everyone can do in their own space—then come together online to discuss. Stephanie’s version of this is a cookalong. Every week, she selects a vegetarian recipe that is available online and free, then invites her followers to cook that meal.

Later that week, Stephanie cooks the meal, then posts photos of her prep and the final dish on Instagram—along with her review of the meal. She also includes the hashtags of the chefs whose dishes she cooks for a little extra visibility.

Influencers and authors marketing isn’t easy, but it is possible to do it well, affordably, and in-house. All you need is a streamlined content plan and tool like PosterMyWall to effortlessly create your visuals.