Chapter 10: Influencers
Influencer marketing in today’s world is an incredible way to get the word out about your new product or service. However, influencer promo campaigns can be hit or miss depending on the influencer’s size, niche, and general audience engagement. The best goal to aim for when partnering with influencers is brand awareness, since direct conversions can sometimes be tricky to obtain or track. For this reason, influencer promotions are generally most profitable when part of a larger campaign, ideally with many different influencers promoting your company at the same time for maximum cross-promotion and customer retention. This can be an expensive process, so this section will focus on what to look out for when dealing with influencers and their managers/agents, and how to get the best bang for your buck.
When deciding to launch an influencer campaign, the most important part of the process is choosing who you partner with. Many (if not all) influencers are fairly desperate for brand deals, so remember, the power and leverage is in your hands. Sometimes influencers might even reach out to your company directly via Instagram DM’s asking for brand deals. In these circumstances, the influencers generally fall into two categories: people in your niche who genuinely believe a partnership would be mutually beneficial based on shared interests, and people who are just looking for any type of promotion. Before moving forward with any deals, it’s up to you to tell the difference, and make sure an influencer is the right fit for your brand.
Whether an influencer approached your company or you found them, here’s a few things to look for when evaluating if somebody is a good fit:
How many followers do they have, and what is their average post engagement (likes, comments)? What is their average engagement rate (average engagement / total followers)? Modern ringers in the influencer world boast 30-60% engagement rates, although anything 5-10%+ is generally considered “good”. Note: engagement rate is one of the single best predictors of partnership outcome. Better engagement means more people engaging with your ad, and higher retention. Engagement rates less than 10% should be treated with higher scrutiny, although it’s not an intrinsically bad idea to partner with them based solely on that reason.
Does their account have a niche or style, or is it simply photos of the influencer? Niche or themed accounts can be great for partnerships if their style matches your brand. For example, if you sell custom built gaming PC’s, popular gaming influencers would be a great thematic match. Themed accounts generally don’t have the reach of larger influencers with no niche, meaning there is a certain advantage to that IG model girl with 3 million followers. Influencers with no theme to their accounts generally have a more personal connection with their follower base; their followers like the influencer for who they are, not what they do. This can yield disproportionately higher promotion results if there is strong engagement and connection between the influencer and their followers. However, an unthemed account with sub-par engagement is generally always a bad idea for partnerships.
How frequently do they do brand deals or promotional content? When they have done brand deals in the past, how have the posts been received by their audience? If an influencer posts brand deals every week, there’s a chance some of the magic has been lost on their audience. Conversely, if an influencer only does brand promotions once a month or so with more original content mixed in between, followers are more likely to pay attention to the promoted post. If a follower isn’t expecting a brand deal post from their favorite influencer, they’ll be subconsciously more likely to pay attention to the post when it hits their feed, and maybe read the caption. The opposite is also true, as people don’t like being blasted with ads, and can easily filter them out if it’s expected or obvious. Also take a look at the engagement rates on previous brand deals compared to their overall average engagement. If branded content is only getting 10% of typical engagement, this is a huge red flag. However if promotional posts seem to trend similarly or slightly lower than typical original content, this shows a higher influencer-audience connection and a stronger willingness to support the influencer from the audience.
Is the influencer on brand? Have they been involved in any recent scandals or behavior that could reflect poorly on your company? It’s important to do a little background research on influencer prospects, and make sure that they are going to properly represent your company’s values. This is somewhat tied to niche and theme, but it’s always good to do your due diligence. Certain companies have higher tolerances than others when it comes to who is representing their brand, but partnering with that influencer that just got out of jail for a DUI is generally considered a bad move.