Influencer marketing is fast becoming a key component of every brands’ marketing campaign and with established players tapping in the segment, the market is seeing inflation like never before.
Still, if you are an MSME brand looking to spread your reach among consumers then influencer tie-ups are still a great option for. A little creativity with your campaign can go a long way to get you positive ROIs from the campaign.
Here are the 7 most important checks you must perform while choosing a social media influencer for your brand:
1. Clearly determine your campaign objectives:
As a marketer, It is crucial that you are able to communicate clearly what your expectations from the influencer are going to be. Be sure to set definite goals for the campaign you are running, as greater clarity enables influencers to use analytics better for the set objectives. Some examples for campaign objectives are:
- Generate brand awareness
- Drive in-store sales
- Drive traffic to a page
- Generate engagement around the brand
2. Look at multiple platforms:
Instagram is king when it comes to influencer marketing, but when choosing an influencer for your brand, we suggest you look at their activity and reach on other platforms as well. Many times influencers are focused on Instagram but also have a healthy following on other platforms which they might include for much lower pricing. This helps out a lot in achieving your RoI and provides multiple sources of traffic and engagement to your brand.
3. Engagement Metrics:
While for an established brand higher reach is enough as their brand has its own reputation, for new and smaller players it is key to check the engagement metrics of influencers. All major social platforms provide engagement analytics to their influencers and for some that don’t there are several tricks marketers can use to gauge influencer engagement ratios. This is key as higher engagement might reduce your reach but will give better conversion ratios.
4. Micro Influencers:
Identifying up and coming influencers and supporting them early on their path is a no-brainer for marketers. But in practice, social media influencer accounts are not set in stone and engagement levels spike and dip very fast for them. Predicting who is on the rise and fall is far more difficult then everyone thinks it is and inexperienced influencers often end up hurting brands more than they promote them.
5. Post Frequency:
Another major factor that many brands miss on is the frequency with which the influencer posts on the platform of their choice. This is a crucial data point in understanding the influencers relation with their audience. Higher frequency with high engagement is amazing for any brand but getting such influencers can prove difficult.
6. Reading Comments:
One of the most simple and effective strategy when choosing an influencer is to go through their comment section. Many social media influencers communicate with their audiences in their own comment sections and you can always find replies and conversations between them and loyal fans. The tone and handling of the comments sections can give insights to marketers which will help them choose the right influencer.
7. Be Ready from your side:
In many instances, with smaller businesses the low RoIs is not the fault of the campaign but of the company and marketers themselves. They make a budget for an influencer tie-up but are not fully prepared to take advantage of all the traffic and engagement their brands receive from the campaign. If something like this has ever happened to you don’t be disheartened but learn from your mistakes and prepare better for the next time.
In conclusion, 2018 is all set to be the biggest year in digital marketing and their seems to be no end to the growth of the industry. A bit of learning and help can take your business to unbelievable heights, just remember to keep yourself open to new ideas and keep taking calculated risks for your future.
Let us know what are the key factors which are important to you when associating your brand with online influencers?
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