Nowadays, one of the main factors that impact consumers’ buying decisions is the content they see on social media and the internet. Gone are the days when ads in newspapers or radio were enough to persuade people to buy or avail of a product or service. Modern consumers are becoming more skeptical about what they purchase. Once they see an ad on TV, radio, or even social media, they automatically lose interest and skip the whole advertisement.
Thankfully, one marketing strategy has emerged over the years and is now considered one of the most reliable and effective ways to build brand credibility. Influencer marketing is a marketing campaign that uses popular influencers to help advertise your product or service. Think of this as a spinoff of word-of-mouth marketing. Instead of regular buyers and consumers, you use influencers to positively talk about your brand to hopefully convince their followers to check out your product or service.
Who Are These Influencers?
These media-savvy individuals called influencers are people who have a massive following on their social media accounts. Influencers can be vloggers, celebrities, content creators, thought leaders, or industry experts.
The best thing about collaborating with these influencers is that they often have a specific niche and thousands or millions of people who follow this niche look up to them. It means that whatever content they produce, there’s a high chance that their followers will go after their recommendations, influencing their followers’ buying decisions. So, it's ideal to acquire their services to promote your products because there's a high chance that their large following will buy them.
How To Find The Best Social Media Influencers For Your Brand?
Although hiring influencers to promote your brand brings apparent advantages, influencer marketing may not work in your favor if you’re not choosing the right ones. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your investment on influencers advertising your brand to the wrong audience. And so, this article will give you five tips to help you identify the right social media influencers for your brand.
Check The Influencer’s Niche And Its Relevance To Your Brand
The most crucial factor to look for in an influencer is the relevance of their niche to your brand. You don’t want to collaborate with an influencer whose niche is different from the product or service you’re selling. Otherwise, aside from wasting money, your influencer is probably reaching for the wrong audience. Whether your target influencers have public or private accounts, always check their social media content or archived posts and get a sense of how their niche or content can relate to your brand.
Now, to ensure that you hire the best influencer for your brand, if you own a clothing brand, you may need to find an influencer who regularly talks about fashion or gives fashion tips to their followers. But if you own a travel agency or a tour package company, a travel blogger may be the best influencer to represent your brand.
It’s also best to check out influencers with private accounts. If you’re viewing an influencer with a private Instagram account, you can find applications from WP Dev Shed and other similar ones to help you assess their content without trouble. Remember, just because they’re private doesn’t mean they won’t count as influencers. Sometimes, setting their accounts private is their strategy to stir curiosity from their non-followers and increase their follower count. If their current followers find their content relatable and would like to share their posts, they can share the link with their friends and encourage them to follow the said account.
Study Their Engagement Rate
The influencer’s engagement rate indicates how that person actively interacts with their audience. Remember that just because a particular influencer has thousands or millions of followers doesn’t mean they’re interactive. There may be instances wherein an influencer only gets followers from fake accounts. These fake followers don't produce genuine engagement. So, ensure to spot them and avoid hiring accounts with such a following.
You may use the analytical tools to check and study their engagement rate and determine how often they comment, share, or respond to their followers. You can find them online and choose the best one that you think will work well for you.
Identify Your Target Audience And Compare To The Influencer’s Current Reach
Just because an influencer has lots of followers doesn’t mean they’re the best person to widen your brand’s audience reach. For example, if you’re a hotel chain or a travel agency, a travel blogger with 10,000 followers can reach your target audience better than a fashion blogger with 200,000 followers. So, when measuring the influencer’s audience reach, identify your target audience first and compare it to the influencer’s current audience.
Aside from that, it’s also ideal to consider the other social media platforms your target audience may use. For example, if you’re a travel agency and your target audience is primarily active on Instagram or Pinterest, you’ll need to find an influencer who has a large fan base from the said platforms.
Find Out How Often They Post
It’s hard for influencers to promote your brand on their respective platforms if they rarely post content. Thus, ensure your chosen influencer consistently posts high-quality content on their social media accounts. The more frequent they are with their posts, the more their audience will likely return, respond, and share. Plus, influencers who post regularly also have more profile visitors and a larger loyal number of followers than those who rarely post content. Consistent content posting is what keeps their followers engaged.
Opt For An Influencer Who Is More Authentic And Relatable
Suppose you finally found an influencer who has ticked off all the criteria mentioned above. But, if they’re not relatable or their content is hardly authentic, their target audience will have difficulty relating to their post. They will also find it harder to trust the products/services promoted by that influencer.
So, when choosing a social media influencer, opt for someone whose content is filled with personal stories that will mention how your brand, product, or service has positively impacted the influencer. This authenticity will make it easier for your target audience to relate to the influencer and develop trust in your brand.
Key Takeaway
Marketing strategies have evolved throughout the years. From advertising through television, radio, and newspapers, businesses now have a vast array of options, and one of those is to engage in influencer marketing. Working with the right social media influencers is key to a successful influencer marketing campaign. So, consider the tips in this article because they will help you select the best influencer for your brand.
