Influencer marketing is all about building relationships with mutual benefits.
Under Influencer marketing, brands partner up with influencers and use their influence on social media to reach to the Brand's target market through the follow base of the influencers.
Mutual benefits means through collaboration, the brand gets exposure to a new audience and the influencer gets to provide content that they know their network will appreciate.
If a brand collaborates with influencers whose voices and opinions align with the brand’s, the brand will not not only receive additional online impressions, it will also help develop a real and trusting relationship with members of the target audience.
However, with the success of social media and its ever increasing reach, the number of social influencers on the web is huge. So, choosing the right influencer to partner with requires a lot of research. One will have to dig deep into the social media networks, monitor audiences, track trends and outline possible threats in as much detail as possible. Once you find the right influencer, a PR strategy will have to be put together in order to maintain a strong relationship and keep up appearances.
For the campaign to have the best results, it’s important to pick the right influencers. When it comes to choosing the right influencer for your brand, knowing where to look and what to look for can be difficult and time-consuming – especially as social media networks appear to grow and evolve every day. This blog will attempt to answer the same.
Five steps to find the right influencer for your brand
Find influencers who share similar values
In order to choose the best fit for your brand, you have to pick an influencer who is relevant to your product or services. One has to invest in social listening to achieve a list of these candidates. Before delving into the social media web, one should explore the social circle your brand already has. Take time and research for influencers who are already users of your brand. Also, research the influencers your fans are following. This will help you to find the right influencer who already has your brand’s target audience’s attention. Moreover, if they’re already following your brand’s story online, it will be much easier – and possibly much cheaper – to engage and partner with them for a promotion.
For searching Influencers outside your immediate social circle, begin by searching for hashtags which relate to your brand on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. After you have identified the most likely hashtags to be associated with your brand and look for popular users who use them. Once you have found different relevant digital influencers, follow them and monitor their activity. Don’t rush into a partnership, take time to learn a bit more about them and find out whether their work resonates with your own.
Research different types of influencers
There are many kinds of influencers on different social media platforms today. It is very difficult to find the one influencer who fully fits the description. Depending on the goals of your brand, the budget, the target audience, one might be better for you than another.
Here are a few different types of influencers:
Micro-influencers: Typically such influencers have small tight-knit group of followers with high level of trust and engagement.
Expert influencers: are leaders in their industries and may include executives, bloggers or even members of the media. They are thought provoking and are viewed as credible sources. Moreover, their following looks to them to learn about new trends, industry advancements and their general perspective on relevant topics.
Celebrity influencers: attract a high level of followers from all walks of life. This means that their audience are broader in interests and content dissemination. Teaming up with a celebrity influencer will most likely come with a price tag.
Look at the important metrics
Once, you have shortlisted the influencers and followed them on social media monitor their audience and join in the conversation. It is important to find out how responsive the audience is towards the influencers content. Remember to not judge the engagement of the influencers with their audience depending on the number of audience. Just because an influencer has 5 Lakh followers that does not mean everyone is paying attention. An influencer with only 5,000 followers may have a tighter-knit group that has a higher engagement rate. A good way to evaluate engagement is to read the comments and the type of feedback the influencer typically receives.
Outline possible threats
Many times influencers face a lot of backlash and trolling. Before choosing the right influencer for your brand, go through their earlier content and make sure that it won’t become a problem for your brand in the future.
Also, check the influencer’s partnership history with other brands. Whether they left comments on various platforms which harmed a brand’s reputation. Whether they have entered into a partnership with a brand but left the campaign only halfway through?
If you see any red flags then it’s better to look somewhere else. The motive is to mitigate risks by putting steps in place to avoid making mistakes.
Make sure you get what you pay for
Once you have chosen the right fit for your brand and built a relationship with the influencer, make sure that they are aware of the brand’s goals and expectations. It would be better to draw up a formal agreement or provide them with specific content to share or promote. While it's important that you give the influencer enough room to let them be authentic and post organic material, it is also important to remember that you’re paying for their services.
Choose the right influencer for your brand carefully because at the end of the day, it is through the influencer’s content that your brand is going to gain an audience. So make sure that the influencer is the right fit and has his/ her personal goals aligned with the goals and values of your brand.