5 Ways to Identify the Perfect Influencers for your Brand
A perfect brand/influencer partnership adds credibility to any marketing strategy
Contrary to what you may think, influencer marketing isn’t new. Michael Jordan is as synonymous with Nike as he is with basketball. Think about it! While Michael Jordan is a celebrity, he has influence because of his legendary basketball career, which propelled him into the spotlight. Influencers don’t necessarily have to be considered celebrities. They need to have a loyal and committed audience with whom they’ve built a trusting relationship.
A loyal and committed audience doesn’t mean an influencer has hundreds of thousands of followers either. To learn more about other important factors when choosing the perfect brand advocate, read on!
1. Identify the Influencer Criteria
Before narrowing the possibilities, start with a list of the specific requirements that must be met by a prospective influencer. Do they need to live within a certain key market? Have a certain demographic of followers? If you’re specifically trying to reach more working moms, a good brand influencer selection would already have a strong connection to individuals within that demo! Knowing these key factors before beginning your search will make for a much easier process.
2. Determine the Priority Platforms
If your brand is looking to grow your Instagram following, make sure to consider the reach of prospective influencers on all social media platforms. Many influencers have varied followings per platform and possibly different audiences too!
3. Diversity is Important
Inclusivity and diversity needs to be front and center during your search for the perfect brand advocate. Influencers should be able to represent different demographics and connect with those demographics on an authentic level. A sea of sameness is not setting up the brand for partnership success.
4. Consider Levels of Influence
While having hundreds of thousands of followers might initially seem impressive, the engagement rate is more important to focus on. An engaged following is filled with individuals who are more likely to follow up on a call-to-action and click the link to buy because they are already used to interacting with the influencer’s content.
Nano (1k-10k), micro (10k-50k), macro (500k-1m), or celebrity (1m+) influencers all come with different pros and cons. The larger the name, the higher the price of partnership — though a big name (like a Michael Jordan-sized big name) also brings big influence.
It is important to do your research prior to committing to a partnership. Paid followings and bot engagement can skew statistics and make an influencer seem like their audience is more keyed in than they really are.
PR PRO TIP
When looking through an influencer’s audience, here are some signs they may have fake followers or bot engagement:
Followers with no photos or posts
Tons of private accounts and/or “spammy” usernames
Accounts lacking “tagged'“ data (no photos or posts, empty bio, and no tagged images)
The same type of comment made repeatedly
5. What’s the ‘it’ factor?
Lastly, it’s important to think about what makes the influencer in question unique. What about them draws you in and makes you want to learn more?
This can be as simple as a certain level of relatability, a specific sense of humor, or an aesthetic unlike any other.
Above all, if the partnership doesn’t seem like a match made it heaven, it might not be. A brand advocate should seem like a natural extension of a brand — not one that makes the brand stretch and shapeshift in order to fit the influencer.
If you're ready for more insight and refined strategies when it comes to your brand, you're in luck!
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