Social media influencers have fast become a popular marketing tool and present a number of excellent communication and relationship-building opportunities for businesses of all shapes and sizes. But how do you right the right social media influencer for your business?
Perhaps the most significant benefit of working with an influencer is that they can give you access to a pre-existing, captured audience who are already displaying interests or purchase intentions related to your product. Influencers act as a credible source of information to this audience and can transfer trust from their followers to your business or service.
It is important to note, however, that the wrong influencer partnership has the potential to do more harm than good. Some influencer content may come across as generic with little care or understanding for your brand, and it can be extremely challenging to find the right candidate for you.
To help you to navigate the complexities of this process, we’ve put together some top tips and best practices for finding the best influencer or partner for your business
Take the time to delve into different options, understand what is working for your competitors and set specific goals. Search engines and blogs can be a great place to start looking, including influencer-specific platforms, or you can explore the top posts in a hashtag collection to gain inspiration and identify popular or successful accounts in your industry. Always practice caution when your accounts are approached by an influencer; their enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily mean that they suit or care about the story you want to tell.
Carefully define your brand identity, values and target audience, ensuring that each matches that of the influencer you are considering. Remember that more followers may not lead to high-quality engagements. The tone, aesthetic, language, audience and content used are all more important. Compare your own content and theirs to identify similarities, differences and opportunities for collaboration.
Follow potential candidates over a good period of time. Grow familiar with their techniques, schedule, partnerships and how they comply with platform policies. Pay close attention to the amount of sponsored or “gifted” posts they share, and whether they appear to be delivering on their promised content output. As another general rule of thumb, the less you feel you are being advertised to, the better the influencer.
For further advice on social media marketing, explore our other blog posts or get in touch to discuss your priorities with our team.
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