Words: Belinda
Influencer marketing can help your brand go from meh to mind-blowing engagement levels. But how do you find the right influencers for your brand? And once you’ve found them, how do you ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck? Whether you’re a Business-to-Business (B2B) or a Business-to-Customer (B2C) brand, discover the best tips for finding and working with an influencer.
How to find the best influencer for your brand
Before starting your influencer hunt, you need to understand your target audience. Who are they? What are their interests? Which platforms do they prefer? Knowing this information will help you narrow down influencers who genuinely resonate with your potential customers. You want an influencer whose personal brand aligns with your company’s values to ensure that any collaboration feels natural and authentic.
After you’ve streamlined the search to several good fits, you need to analyse your potential influencer’s audience and online habits. Are they posting regularly? Do they respond in an open, engaging way in the comments? This helps determine if their audience aligns with your brand’s target demographic.
Don’t overlook these factors
High follower counts can be misleading. Instead, focus on engagement rates, a key metric that shows authentic audience engagement. Use this equation to define the engagement rate:
Engagement rate = total engagements on a post divided by total followers ×100%
While it might be tempting to go after influencers with massive followings, don’t discount the power of micro-influencers.
On TikTok, micro-influencers with zero to 50,000 followers had an engagement rate of more than 30%, proving that smaller accounts with highly engaged, niche audiences may provide a better ROI for your marketing spend.
What to know before signing an influencer
Before entering into any agreement, it is important to set clear goals and expectations. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or launch a new product? Setting specific, measurable goals will help you and your influencer stay focused.
While providing guidelines is important, allow your influencers some creative freedom. They know their audience best, and their unique voice is what attracted that audience in the first place. Trust in their ability to present your brand in a way that resonates with their followers.
The content creation and approval process should be discussed and clearly stated in writing prior to signing an influencer. Ideally, initial brainstorming, concept development, brand messaging, platform-specific trends, audience preferences, content format selection, and hashtag and caption creation should be discussed and agreed on. Don’t forget to discuss the approval process including processes, systems, and deadlines.
There are legal and ethical considerations to be aware of when running an influencer campaign on social media. Make sure you know the regulations and best practices on:
- Disclosure requirements: In Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) regulates the disclosure of sponsored content in influencer marketing.
- Ensure your audience understands it is an influencer post by using transparent, clear and prominent language such as “ad,” “sponsored,” or “paid partnership” to indicate the commercial nature of the content or at the beginning of the sponsored content.
- Mentioning the brand name or using vague terms like “sp,” “spon,” or “collab” may not be sufficient.
How to measure success
Use tracking tools to measure the success of your influencer campaigns. This data will help you refine your strategy and make informed decisions about future collaborations. With more than 60% of marketers finding it difficult to measure the ROI of influencer marketing campaigns, you need to ensure you’re using everything at your disposal.
Tracking tools will also help you:
- Identify top-performing influencers for long-term partnerships.
- Adjust content strategies based on audience preferences.
- Allocate budgets more effectively by focusing on high-ROI collaborations.
- Demonstrate campaign value to stakeholders with concrete metrics.
Have a contingency plan
Unexpected situations can arise at any moment in digital marketing. A robust contingency plan is crucial for maintaining campaign momentum and protecting your brand’s reputation.
Establishing an emergency protocol can help avoid the stress of last-minute issues. Ensure the influencer is aware of the decision-making hierarchy and has pre-approved alternatives that can be quickly deployed if the original content becomes unsuitable.
As in life, document everything: record all approvals and changes for future reference to ensure accountability.
Remember, authenticity is key in the world of influencer marketing. Your chosen influencers should genuinely love your products or services. Their enthusiasm will shine through in their content and resonate with their followers.
Need help with influencer campaigns? The Bubble Co. run influencer campaigns for our clients across various industries and undertakes due diligence to ensure a perfect fit. Speak to us about how we can work with you on your campaign.
