by Google
Influencer marketing is one of the fastest growing online marketing approaches and we believe that for every company there is a form of collaboration with influencers that will greatly benefit their business. This is also confirmed by a finding from Digital Marketing Institute, which claims that 74% of people trust social networks and influence them in purchasing decisions. Influencer marketing does not have to be only for large companies or corporations that have contracted marketing agencies. If you are considering investing in influencer marketing on your own, we have some tips to help you find an influencer for your brand.
• Macro or micro influencer? Who to choose?
• Check if influencers work with competitors
• Do influencers share the same values as your company?
• Where can you find a suitable influencer?
SET YOUR CAMPAIGN GOAL
Before you start looking for and reaching out to influencers, it is very important to outline your goals. What do you want to achieve by launching the campaign? What metrics will you choose to evaluate the campaign? Influencer marketing offers different approaches depending on the goals you want to achieve. For example, you can focus on:
1. Brand Awareness
2. Creation of content
3. Sale or download applications
4. Getting followers on social networks
Depending on what you are trying to achieve with the campaign, you can choose the method of cooperation with influencers. For example, if your goal is to sell cosmetics, you should focus on influencers who have experience in the industry and can authentically present your product to a potential customer.
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET GROUP
With every advertising campaign, it is important to know your target group, and it is no different with influencer marketing. Once you've determined the target group you want to reach with your campaign, it'simportant to check if your target audience matches the influencer's audience. If you're going to try to reach adults, working people in aged 40+, it will be very difficult for you to succeed if you cooperate with influencers on Tik Tok, where mainly the younger generation hangs out. The wrong choice of influencer will significantly affect the results of the campaign and can give the impression that influencer marketing is not working. Therefore, always make sure that your target audience matches the audience of the influencer you are working with.
MACRO OR MICRO INFLUENCER? WHO SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Another important point to consider when choosing is the "size" of the influencer, or rather the size of his audience and influence. Does one macro influencer with a large audience fit into your campaign strategy or rather several micro influencers? For an easier decision, we have written down the advantages and disadvantages of both options for you.
CHECK OUT IF THE INFLUENCERS WORK WITH THE COMPETITION
Before you agree to work with an influencer, check whether he has not worked with a competitor at the moment or in the very near past. Promoting two directly competing brands at the same time would not only damage the name of the influencer, but also the name of your brand.
When choosing the right influencer, also view his current collaborations. How does he approach their communication? How many collaborations do you see on his profile? Does the paid collaboration label correctly? If you notice that an influencer is unsystematically promoting many different products or services without indicating paid cooperation, it is probably not the right one for you. Such an influencer approachlooks untrustworthy to followers and can reduce the performance of the campaign or damage the brand name.
START FOLLOWING INFLUENCERS
Meet the influencers you want to work with. Of course, in influencer marketing as well as in other marketing activities, numbers are important. Numbers like reach or number of followers are important, but don't let them blind you. An influencer is not a billboard or a banner on Facebook, so we can't just look at numbers when choosing. Prepare a short list of suitable influencers for your campaign and give them a follow. Watch what they create, how they communicate with the audience, how they approach ongoing collaborations and get to know them more personally, humanly.
DO INFLUENCERS SHARE THE SAME VALUES AS YOUR COMPANY?
By following influencers on their platform, you can find out what their values are. What they value, what they promote and, conversely, what they fight against. Why is this important? Imagine a situation where you offer cooperation to promote a new line of cosmetics that is tested on animals to an influencer who has been fighting against animal testing for a long time. In addition to the fact that this collaboration does not even begin, the influencer may mention you as a negative example of their initiative against animal testing, and your brand will be exposed to negative PR. You can discover the values and beliefs of influencers just by getting to know them. That is also why it is important not to miss the step mentioned above and to start following influencers with whom you are interested in working.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND A SUITABLE INFLUENCER?
The answer to this question is simple, the Internet. Look for influencers on the platforms where they create content, Google various articles and rankings about them or search for agencies.
1. GOOGLE
When discovering suitable influencers for your marketing campaign, Google can be of great help to you. All you have to do is enter the relevant keywords for your campaign in the search. Let's say you're looking for the biggest Slovak influencers for your awareness campaign Alcohol does not belong behind the wheel. Your goal is to create brand awareness and ensure the greatest possible reach. In this case, you choose cooperation with big influencers, and in order to find them on Google, you can use keywords such as "top influencers 2021" or "top influencers in Slovakia". By entering the right keywords, you will come across several articles and lists of successful Slovak influencers, from which you can subsequently choose whom to approach with an offer of cooperation.
On the Internet, you can also find a number of different tools and platforms that give you the opportunity to choose from a range of influencers who are registered on the platform. This type of site can help you broaden your horizons and meet new influencers.
2. SEARCH THE PLATFORMS WHERE THEY CREATE
Is YouTube, Instagram or Tik Tok their dominant platform? First of all, itis important that you decide on which platform you will launch your marketing campaign. If you've chosen Instagram for your campaign, for example, you can search for influencers using hashtags. If you are looking for a suitable influencer to promote fitness centers, search for hashtags from the fitness category such as #fitnesssk or #fitnessslovakia. Searching for influencers on Instagram using hashtags works very similar to searching on Google, you need to find relevant keywords.
3. CONTACT AGENCIES
If you are planning to invest more money in influencer marketing, want to play it safe and make sure you choose the most suitable influencer for your brand, then it is a great option to approachagencies that specialize on influencer marketing. As they have long-term experience with influencer marketing, know a large number of influencers and maintain good long-term relationships with them, thanks to which they can easily recommend the most suitable influencer for your brand. Cooperation with we highly recommend agencies, especially if you are interested in including several influencers in your campaign, as they can cover effective communication with several influencers for you and save your time.
Influencer marketing is growing every year and it is up to you whether you translate its benefits into your marketing strategy. We believe that with this blog post we have clarified and facilitated the process of finding an influencer, and if you have any questions or are interested in cooperation, do not hesitate to contact us.
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