Social influencer concept. Media content to grab like from social audience. Vector Design.
Whether you like it or not, Instagram influencers are here to stay and are an essential in internet marketing. There are now more than a billion users that are active on Instagram per month. People have grown so dependent with social media and online marketing campaigns. From their news, entertainment to their form of communication, these practically gave way to the birth of influencers. They exist to satisfy the existing demand of brands to be given attention in this platform.
Everything has its pros and cons and there has also been backlash with influencers. Most of which come from those who use apps and other programs to buy likes and followers. It’s been revealed that 30% of US and UK influencers do not have an organic audience and this is even higher when it comes to micro-influencers. Their audience comes from likes, comments and follows which are dummy accounts in the platform. This is why it’s vital to choose the right influencer to promote and market your brand.
These are some considerations you have to take into account to choose the right influencer for your business:
1 / Study the Influencer’s engagement metrics and other insights
Look closely on their audience engagement as this is an optimal way to inspect their authenticity. Apart from numbers, you should also look into data analysis to make an effective marketing plan. Once you are aware of both the strengths and weaknesses of the influencer, you can find out their target market. There are many tools you can use for marketing both your brand and inspecting the influencer’s.
From there you will know if they are appropriate in your own marketing framework. You can make use of HypeAuditor’s audience quality and engagement analytics tools for an ensured accurate study.
2 / Take time to invest in Social Listening
In order to choose the best fit for your brand, you have to pick an influencer who is relevant to your product or services. You have to invest in social listening to achieve a list of these candidates. How do you do this? You take time and process which influencers are already fans and/or users of your brand. It also goes into studying who your fans are following. This can easily match you to who your brand’s target audience is in line with. Upon creating this detailed image of your social media findings, you can then look for the perfect influencer who suits these categories.
3 / Look into their Technical Skills
As of the moment, practically anyone can be an influencer. Having a good enough camera and a influencer sort of look already puts you ahead of the pact. Some may compensate having a more different look with their personality through captions or stories. These put them on top because it means they have the social skills to keep up with the attention they will be getting.
Apart from all that, you have to remember the relevance of technical skills. It’s more than likes, engagement and communication to market a brand especially when trouble arises. It’s a big bonus when they’re skilled in crisis management in their campaigns or a touch of knowledge in graphic design. These seem insignificant but are actually essential for them to maximize the platform and develop their brand.
4 / Communicate with them
It’s vital to maintain a bigger perspective upon choosing an influencer. Sometimes, you think that a simple look at their page and they’re already in line and perfect for your brand. It’s actually much more than that. This is why it’s also important to reach out beforehand to these options that you have and get to know them more. You can ask about previous projects and campaigns they’ve had and the results that have come from these.
Based on their answer, you can see how they dealt with the less successful ones and if they improved from there. Meanwhile, if they’re on the newer end of the business, you can ask how they deal with problems generally. These small factors are significant in ensuring the success of the marketing strategy. At the end of the day, choosing the influencer comes out as a job interview wherein both ends require effort on their part into creating a good relationship.