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The Complete Guide To
Influencer Marketing In 2020
What is a
Social Media Influencer?
QUITE SIMPLY, AN INFLUENCER IS SOMEONE WHO CARRIES INFLUENCE OVER OTHERS
A social media influencer is someone who wields that influence through social media.
The form of influence can vary and no two influencers are the same.
The right influencer is someone who can reach your target audience, build trust and drive engagement.
They will create original, engaging content that is in line with their own brand (rather than following a template advertising style provided by a brand).
For this reason, it’s critical to work only with social media influencers whose creative vision aligns with your own.
Find the right influencer
For Your Brand
BEFORE REACHING OUT TO AN INFLUENCER, YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER "THE THREE R's":
-
RELEVANCE
The influencer is sharing content and has an audience relevant to your business and industry.
-
REACH
The number of people you could potentially reach through the influencer’s follower base will bring value to your business.
-
RESONANCE
The potential level of engagement the influencer can create with an audience that’s relevant to your brand.
Bigger isn’t always better. A huge follower count is meaningless if those followers aren’t interested in your business’ offerings. And a smaller follower count can be very powerful if it’s a niche area and the potential influencer has a dedicated and engaged following.
Tapinfluence found that engagement rates are often higher for “micro-influencers”—those with 5,000 to 25,000 followers.
Know who you’re
Trying To Influence
YOUR INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN CAN'T BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE
An effective strategy requires you to speak to the right people using the right tools (and, in this case, the right influencers).
The first step is to define who your audience will be for this specific campaign.
Developing audience personas is a great way to make sure you understand who you’re trying to reach.
Once you’ve done that, create a matching set of influencer personas.
This will help you understand the qualities you’re looking for in your influencer partners.
Look for engagement
and trust with
The Right Audience
FOR MARKETERS, THE KEY IS TRUST
Your audience must trust and respect the opinion of the influencers you partner with.
Without the trust component, any results will be superficial and you’ll struggle to see a tangible business impact from your efforts.
How do you tell if your potential influencer is trusted? Engagement.
That means plenty of views, likes, comments, and shares—all from the precise follower segments you’re trying to reach.
A good engagement rate also means a loyal following, rather than an inflated follower count bolstered by bots and fraud accounts.
Read more about how to increase social media engagement here.
Go for:
A Consistent Look,
Feel, tone and values
THE TONE MUST BE APPROPRIATE FOR THE WAY YOU WANT TO REPRESENT THE BRAND
Besides finding a fit for your own niche, you need to find someone who’s producing content with a look and feel that complements your own. This will ensure things don’t feel disjointed in either party’s social media posts.
It’s also important to check for shared values. The Body Shop’s Integrated International Brand Communications Director told traackr.com that they don’t work with influencers who wear fur because it’s inconsistent with their mission to end animal testing. Instead, they like to work with vegan influencers as they command the right audience.
Keep an eye out for
Sponsorship Saturation
TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT YOUR POTENTIAL INFLUENCERS ARE POSTING
How often are they sharing sponsored content?
If they’re already hitting their followers with a barrage of paid posts, their engagement rate may not hold up over time.
Look for plenty of organic, non-paid content to keep followers interested, enthusiastic, and engaged.
We recommend to only having one in every five to 10 posts sponsored.
Keep this in mind when thinking about what you’ll ask the influencer to post, as well. Asking for too many posts in a short timeframe will make your offer hard for the influencer to accept, even if it comes with a large paycheck.
Be Willing To Give Up
Some Creative Control
AFTER ALL, INFLUENCERS ARE CONTENT CREATION EXPERTS
A social media influencer who has worked hard to build a following will not accept a deal that makes their own personal brand seem inconsistent. You’ll get the best value from their work by allowing them to showcase those skills.
Busabout launched a search for four influencers to be the “ultimate travel squad,” touring around Europe and posting on social. While all worked on the same campaign, the content was varied and showed each person’s unique style.
It’s a good idea to provide some guidelines about what you’re looking for, of course, but don’t expect to stage-manage the entire campaign.
Measure Your Results
UNDERSTAND ITS VALUE IN TERMS OF RETURN ON INVESTMENT
When you launch your influencer campaign, it can be tempting to focus on vanity metrics like likes and comments.
If your influencer has a much larger following than your own, you might feel a little dazzled by the sheer number of likes that can rack up.
To measure the effectiveness of a campaign, you have to understand its value in terms of return on investment.
You should also request that the influencer to send you detailed reports on the reach and engagement levels of their posts.
This is especially important for channels like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, where engagement happens out of the public view.
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