It Actually Is Like Rocket Science
Social influencers are fast becoming powerful Internet marketing drivers as well as media-savvy entrepreneurs. They produce niche content, amass a large number of followers, and work with brands to promote relevant products to their audiences. It’s a strategy any major brand should have up its sleeve, but despite how simple it sounds, influencer marketing is not always easy to get right.
For one thing, it’s not all about social media following. Several other factors will determine whether your campaign is a wasted investment or a mutually beneficial working relationship that will help strengthen your brand. To help you find the best social influencer for your business. In this blog, Hollywood Branded shares five qualities to look for in a social influencer.
#1 - Branding
An influencer’s social media channel should be representative of his or her passions, morals, and behaviors. In this sense, the person becomes the brand, and he or she must be marketed as such in order to attract a specific following.
Bear in mind that an influencer’s “brand” should have a connection to the product that you’re advertising. Otherwise, it won’t be relevant to his or her audience. For example, it makes sense for a make-up brand to collaborate with a beauty blogger, but not necessarily with a sports personality. Securing a notable influencer doesn’t come cheap, so you need to know you’re making the right choice before you blow your marketing budget.
Most professional influencers have managers or agents who take care of their branding for them, but this isn’t always the case. Some use logo creation software like Adobe Spark and smart web design to create their individual branding. If this approach works, and the influencer amasses a large following, some might say their business acumen is even more impressive.
#2 - Communication
However creative an influencer’s medium, it needs to serve your brand and relay your advertising message. Top social influencers know that their social media channel is their business, so they treat it as such. This means they will communicate regularly so they can meet your requirements.
The influencer should also demonstrate good knowledge of marketing and branding, as well as social media. To get an accurate picture of an influencer’s marketing prowess, ask them what campaigns they have worked on in the past, how their followers reacted, and whether the brand wanted to work with them again. Long-term relationships with brands are also reassuring, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should avoid influencers with no marketing experience.
#3 - Engagement
While communication between influencer and brand is important, you should also look for someone who engages with his or her followers. In this sense, follower count isn’t everything – and someone with a smaller number of followers who regularly comments on, likes, and shares content is more valuable to your business than someone who doesn’t communicate.
To check an influencer’s engagement, you can ask to see examples of their previous campaigns or social media pages to see how they interact with their followers. Don't always expect that you'll find campaign examples on their pages - many influencers take down paid brand partnerships after a pre-agreed upon timeframe from the brand. So if your partnership is something you want to have stay up... make sure you contract that as well.
#4 - Authority
As exciting as partnerships with big influencers may be, they will not be successful unless the influencer is knowledgable about the product they are promoting as well as the industry in which the product is in.
For example, an influencer who runs an account for a dog likely would not be a great partner for a car company. It's vital to do research on the persona that an influencer has created for themselves when looking into brand partnerships. Not only will that create a better partnership in the long run, but it will also make the influencers' followers more likely to interact with sponsored posts and purchase the products within the posts.
Many followers appreciate authenticity with their favorite influencers and that authenticity cannot shine through if they are promoting products that don't align with their values. When this happens, followers get angry and are not afraid to voice their opinions. When brands partner with influencers that don't have the same values, it quickly shines through and often leaves a bad taste in followers' mouths. So, as you're looking for the next big influencer to partner with, make sure you do your research on their values and follower base!
# 5 - Post Frequency
While the phrase "quality, not quantity," always rings true, it is important to partner with influencers who post on a regular schedule. Although there are no doubt content creators out there who make stunning content but with very little frequency, those influencers are not the best to partner with when it comes to brand deals. When it comes to social media marketing, the important thing is getting your products in front of as many people as possible, in an aesthetically-pleasing way!
It is vital to partner with an influencer who posts multiple times a week; because of social media algorithms, the more engagement a post receives, the higher up on users' feeds future posts from influencers will be. When influencers post infrequently, very few users will see their posts as they are published. Partnering with influencers who post frequently and in creative ways are surefire ways to gain new customers; followers like supporting the brands that their favorite influencers love!
Ready To Work With An Influencer?
To learn more about influencer marketing, check out these five blogs we've written that dive more deeply into how you can successfully create an influencer marketing campaign:
- 3 Insights To Create Affordable Influencer Marketing Campaigns
- 3 Things Brands Need To Understand About FTC Guidelines On Influencers
- 3 Tips To Make Your Brand Appealing To Top Social Media Influencers
- 5 Signs Your Brand Should Invest in Influencer Marketing
- 8 Step Guide On How Much To Spend On Social Influencer Marketing
- Why An Influencer Isn't Responding To Your Inquiries
Be sure to download our Everything You Need To Know Guide To Social Influencers, to learn some more insider tips and tricks to make your next campaign shine with influencer power!
