Influencer Marketing
Due to the way influencer marketing is increasing in popularity, how can you ensure you’re picking the right influencer for your brand? What are the best methods to approach influencers around the idea of creating an optimized strategy for marketing? This is what we found is best to consider:
The influencer’s base of followers
You should get the fine details of the influencer’s community:
- It needs to be in line with your target audience as much as humanly possible.
- Influencers with more modest audiences that are still in line with your customers and their interest are going to result in a greater ROI.
- They have the ability to communicate more closely with followers and are in a better position to deliver your company’s message.
Credibility and authenticity
What are the things to look for when you want to know if an influencer is credible and authentic? Looking at the content they post is an easy tell. It’s best if the audience feels that the content is genuine. Let’s say an influencer is marketing a beauty product. The audience should get the impression that the influencer has used the product and has no agenda in promoting it.
Be on the lookout for customized content. You want to avoid working with influencers who just copy and paste whatever the PR contact person gives them.
Audiences on social media can spot a “salesy” post from miles away. A lot already know that this is how influencers can make money. Being salesy is a surefire way to make an audience lose trust in an influencer and what they are promoting.
The best influencers are the ones who are “themselves,” first and foremost—even when it comes to something like product promotion. When the tone used for regular content is professional, it better be professional for product promotion.
Your brand’s top fans
An influencer who already knows and loves your brand can be one of your best assets. Try to determine who’s your biggest fan and if it would make sense to influence other buyers with their enthusiasm. It’s highly likely that you can build a strong relationship with this kind of fan and that is invaluable for your company.
Here are a few tools you can use to make finding your biggest fans easier:
- Keyhole
- BuzzSumo
- SocialRank
Passion for your niche or industry
Be on the lookout for influencers who are more passionate about your industry than about holding a following. A certain influencer might have a huge following, but may not be interested in the niche. This also serves as a way to make sure that you’re working with someone who telegraphs genuine credibility to the targeted audience.
Passionate influencers typically have content that is related to your industry or brand, engage in discussions and could also be involved with events or conferences.
Understanding the brand or industry
Although passion is an excellent characteristic for an influencer to possess, it isn’t great in the long run if he or she doesn’t know the niche or brand well enough. To measure the influencer’s knowledge of the industry, check out how involved the influencer is in industry-related events and activities.
Final Thoughts
We’ve looked into the best ways to recognize the influencers who would best help your marketing strategy, who is the best choice, the best ways to approach them and the best ways for influencers to share content. It’s now up to you to incorporate what we discussed into your marketing strategy.