Why should I search for influencers?
Influencers are people who have built a reputation and audience around a specific niche or industry. They have the power to affect the opinions and purchase decisions of their followers through social media. As such, partnering with relevant influencers can be a highly effective way to reach your target audience and promote your brand. There are several key benefits to influencer marketing:
- Increased brand awareness – Influencers provide exposure to large, targeted audiences that are likely to be interested in your products or services.
- Improved credibility – Audiences tend to trust recommendations from influencers more than traditional ads.
- Higher conversion rates – Influencers can drive action by directing their followers to your website, landing pages, etc.
- Valuable content creation – You can repurpose influencer content across your own social channels.
The key is to find the right influencers whose followers align closely with your target market. With millions of influencer options to choose from, you need a strategy for effectively searching and evaluating potential partners.
Where can I find influencers?
There are several techniques you can use to search for relevant influencers:
Check out your competitors
See who your competitors are partnering with and consider those influencers. Chances are their followers will also be interested in your brand. You can learn a lot by studying your competitors’ influencer marketing campaigns.
Use influencer marketing platforms
Influencer marketing platforms like Traackr, Upfluence, and others allow you to search for influencers based on criteria like location, niche, audience demographics, engagement metrics, and more. These tools provide a database to filter and identify potentially relevant influencers.
Look at engagement
Search social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter to find influencers in your industry. Look beyond follower counts alone and evaluate engagement metrics like likes, comments, click through rates, etc. Higher engagement indicates a stronger connection with their audience.
Ask customers
Your existing customers can provide recommendations on influencers they follow and trust in your niche. Reach out and ask who they would be interested in seeing partner with your brand.
Use hashtags and keywords
Search relevant hashtags and keywords related to your products, brand, industry, etc. Sort by most popular or most recent posts to discover influencers posting about those topics.
Browse by location
If you want to target a specific geographic area, browse location tags on social platforms to find local influencers. Their regional followers may be a great fit.
How do I evaluate potential influencer partners?
Once you’ve identified prospective influencers, the next step is vetting them to determine if they truly are a match for your brand. Consider the following criteria:
Audience demographics
Look beyond just audience size and evaluate the composition of an influencer’s followers. Consider crucial factors like age, gender, location, interests and buying habits. Their demographics should closely mirror your target customer.
Relevance to niche
Ensure the influencer’s niche and content aligns closely with your products, services and brand values. Mismatched context can work against you. Look for influencers with high domain authority in your industry.
Content quality
Review the influencer’s social feeds and blogs. Assess the quality, consistency and aesthetics of their content. High-quality content that engages their audience is required to convert followers into customers.
Engagement metrics
Analyze key engagement metrics like likes, comments, click through rate, etc. for each post. Higher engagement demonstrates greater connection and trust with their audience.
Partnership history
Research the brands an influencer has worked with in the past. Relevant, reputable partnerships indicate the influencer is experienced in brand collaborations in your niche.
Reviews and testimonials
Check for client testimonials and reviews on the influencer’s website or social media. Positive feedback on collaborations signifies they will be professional and easy to work with.
Hashtag performance
Track use of your brand’s hashtags. Influencers who drive high volume and engagement for relevant hashtags may be worth reaching out to.
How do I reach out to potential influencer partners?
Once you’ve identified well-matched influencers for your brand, it’s time to reach out. Here are some best practices for contacting influencers:
Personalize each email
Avoid mass emails and copy/paste messages. Personalize each email with details on why you think that specific influencer is a great fit to partner with your brand. Demonstrate you did your homework on aligning with their niche and audience.
Highlight what’s in it for them
Explain how featuring your brand can benefit the influencer, beyond monetary compensation. Are you offering access to products or experiences relevant to their niche? Outline the incentive for them.
Provide detailed guidelines
Be clear upfront on what your expectations and requirements would be for the partnership. Provide deliverable specifics like number of posts, product specs, hashtag requirements, visual aesthetic, etc.
Keep it short
Influencers get tons of partnership emails. Keep your initial email clear and concise. Focus on introducing yourself and piquing their interest. Give details on compensation in a follow up message.
Offer your other assets
In addition to monetary compensation, explain how you can support influencers with assets like high-quality product images, sample products, email subscriber reach, social media cross-promotion, etc.
Follow up politely
Don’t aggressively follow up if you don’t immediately get a response. Wait at least one week before checking in again. Politely reiterate why you think they are a great match for your brand.
Suggest a phone call
If an influencer seems hesitant or has questions, offer to hop on a call to discuss further. It can help bridge the gap from digital to real human interaction.
What compensation and agreements should be used?
Before partnering with an influencer, you’ll need to sort out compensation and formalize the agreement in a contract. Here are some tips:
Set a budget
Based on your marketing goals and costs per conversion, determine an overall influencer marketing budget. Then allocate budget by factors like follower count, engagement, deliverables, etc.
Leverage non-cash perks
Supplement monetary compensation with non-cash perks like free products, exclusive access or experiences, early access to launches, co-branding opportunities, etc.
Base pay on deliverables
Clearly outline all the deliverables, including number of posts, stories, reels, etc. Then base compensation on the type and volume of that content.
Consider bonus commission
You can incentivize influencers to drive action by offering bonus commission for sales, clicks, sign ups or conversions generated from their promos.
Require exclusivity
To maximize impact and avoid saturation, contract exclusivity within your niche for a limited time frame, like 3-6 months.
Agree on content approval
Specify in the contract your right to review and approve content before publishing to ensure it aligns with your brand standards and messaging.
Secure usage rights
The contract should secure rights for you to repurpose influencer content on your own website and social channels beyond their original posts.
Outline disclosure rules
Set clear expectations for proper FTC disclosure stating they are being paid to promote your brand. Transparency is key.
How do I track and measure influencer marketing success?
It’s important to track measurable results from your influencer campaigns in order to assess effectiveness and optimize your approach. Here are key performance indicators to monitor:
Engagement on posts
Analyze likes, comments, clicks, reach, video views, etc. for Sponsored content. Are followers highly engaging with the influencer’s promos for your brand?
Conversions and sales
Use tracking links and promo codes to quantify how much website traffic, leads and sales are directly driven by influencers.
Web traffic
Measure increases in overall website visits, time on site, pages per visit etc. during and after influencer promotions go live.
Brand mentions and tags
Monitor brand name mentions, tags and hashtag volume generated by influencers. Increased branded engagement shows growing awareness.
Audience reach and growth
Beyond dedicated posts, assess the total new audience exposure driven by influencers through shares, stories, etc.
Content resharing
Track how often influencer content gets organically reshared and reposted across other platforms to expand reach.
Social listening
Monitor what people are saying about your brand and products. Sentiment tracking helps assess changes in perception.
Analyze this data over time to calculate your return on investment and identify top performing influencers. Use those insights to refine your influencer strategy going forward.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing can deliver impressive results when done right. The key is properly vetting and aligning with influencers that closely match your niche, brand and target audience. Do your research to find authentic influencers with engaged followers. Offer compelling incentives to secure their partnership. Use agreements to clearly define content expectations and compensation. Track performance metrics to optimize efforts over time. With a strategic approach, influencer marketing can rapidly boost brand awareness and drive conversions across multiple channels.