5 Truths About Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is here to stay with nearly 90% of marketers saying that the ROI of influencer marketing compares to or exceeds other marketing tactics. Brands and businesses across industries are partnering with influencers to help drive engagement, reach a broader audience, and provide social proof for their products. Influencers are highly trusted by their followers, whether they have one thousand or ten thousand. Knowing which influencers to partner with, which platforms to use, and how influencers can impact your campaign goals is key to a successful influencer marketing program.

Here are the five truths about influencer marketing that you need to know!

Choosing your influencers matters

The type of influencers you choose for campaigns and partnerships matters, from choosing the influencer with the right number of followers to identifying potential partners that are the right fit for your brand.  The best influencer partnerships happen when a brand’s products and aesthetics mesh naturally with an influencer’s existing profile and posts.

Do your research into potential influencers to make sure their values align with your brand’s and to confirm that their audience is authentic.  You’ll want to allow your influencers some creative control over their content, so if their values and style don’t match your brand, that’s a sign to keep looking. Focus on influencers in your industry or niche who use your product or products like yours to find the best fit.

Size doesn’t always matter

So many people think that the more followers an influencer has, the better their campaign will perform. But, that’s not necessarily true. Influencers come in a wide range of sizes, from nano to micro to macro.  Influencers with fewer followers are just as valuable as celebrity influencers, if not more. If your brand is smaller (or has a smaller budget) micro influencers are a great way to get more value with a lower investment.

Potential reach isn’t the most reliable metric when evaluating potential partners. Micro Influencers are highly trustworthy and can have much more influence than macro influencers. Focus on the influencer’s engagement, how they communicate with their audience, and how engaged their audience is with their content instead of only looking at their follower count.

Authenticity is key

To be really effective, influencers have to be authentic. Their audience needs to trust them and their recommendations. Focus on partnering with influencers who are transparent about their partnerships and who work with brands that are a natural fit for them and their audience — including your brand.

Make sure their followers are legitimate and that they post honestly about sponsored products. Look at the engagement on their posts to see how they interact with their audience. When you work with an influencer, let them use their own voice to promote your products. Don’t give them a script they have to stick to word for word. Instead, trust that they know their audience best.

Quality matters more than quantity

When you’re considering partnering with influencers, focus on quality instead of quantity. If you’re building out an influencer program or trying to scale, it’s tempting to want to activate a slew of influencers at once. But, working with influencers requires vetting and building relationships. If you start activating too many of the wrong partners, it can negatively impact your strategy and your campaign results.

It’s better to have a smaller number of partners who consistently perform well than to have a lot of partners who don’t perform well. Focus on identifying influencers who are the absolute best fit and turn them into VIPs and brand ambassadors instead of trying to get as many influencers as possible. Since authenticity is so important, building relationships with a few influencers and converting them into loyal brand ambassadors will have more success than activating a lot of influencers who don’t know your brand well.

Your platform matters

When you work with influencers, you have to pick the right platform. Instagram is probably the platform that people associate most with influencer marketing, but it’s not the only one. Each platform (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok etc.) will yield different results and reach different audiences. Be sure your choice of platform for your influencer partnership aligns with your goals for your campaign.

The first step is figuring out where your target audience is spending their time online. Next, look at the influencers who are trusted on that platform and have a highly engaged following. When you partner with these influencers, get their input on how they use the platforms to get the biggest ROI for your campaigns.

Influencer marketing is a great tool for brands and marketers who want to reach more of their target audience and create authentic user-generated content to promote their products. An effective influencer campaign starts with picking the right influencers. Ignoring this crucial step can be the difference between campaign success and campaign failure. Remember these five truths about influencer marketing and focus on finding influencers who are the best possible fit for your brand and products.

Request a Demo

Related Articles