Influencer marketing for small businesses and startups | by Mark Schaefer | Oct, 2023

Some benefits of social media and content marketing are normally inaccessible for small businesses and startups because:

• It takes time to build an audience and establish an emotional connection to that audience
• It also takes time and a good bit of skill to create content that can contribute to SEO benefits or establish authority in a niche that results in customer action.

I’m not saying NOT to do it because nearly every business should have an effective social media presence. But it’s unlikely startups will get the quick jolt in sales they need through social media/content alone.

That’s why when I work with startups, I almost always suggest influencer marketing as an option.

An influencer doesn’t have to be Kim Kardashian or a famous sports star. It just has to be a person who 1) already has an established, passionate audience and 2) has some natural affinity to your business and what you produce.

I have had good success with this small business strategy and I wanted to pass along a great case study today.

I’ve had fun helping out with the Maker Movement in my hometown of Knoxville, TN. In fact, Knoxville is known as The Maker City because of the large number of successful craftspersons and small businesses building the economy here.

At our Maker City Summit last year, I met John Phillips and had a little coaching session with him. John is the founder of Phillips Forged, a most unusual business. John reclaims steel from old structures, plows, and saw mill blades to make heirloom quality, hand-crafted knives.

I suppose you could say his business is on the cutting edge.

Sure, that could probably be categorized as a “Dad Joke.” So be it.

Point is (ha ha) … every piece John produces has a treasured story behind it. And people love buying stories.

A year after I first met John he told me about a business breakthrough.