Finding the right influencers for your campaign
It’s no revelation that influencers have taken over the advertising game in the last five years.
With the industry largely unregulated due to the fast rise and ever-changing nature of the platforms and influencers who work within them, it can seem like an unruly task to select the talent who will work best for your brand and objectives.
Sabio has managed countless local and national influencer collaborations, both paid and contra-based. These experiences have formed the team’s thorough understanding of working effectively with talent across many brands and industries. So… we wanted to share our learnings with you – particularly on how to find the right influencers for your campaign.
Our tips for finding the right fit:
Tip 1: Who are your audience/s?
Identify who you are trying to reach through your influencer marketing activity. Pinpoint your primary and secondary audiences and consider how these demographics differ, what motivates them, their likes and dislikes etc. Knowing who you are trying to engage will impact the type of influencer and content strategy you will employ for an effective campaign outcome.
Tip 2: Where are your audience/s?
Consider how your potential customers are consuming content. If they are after decoration inspo or party planning ideas, it’s likely they’re looking at Pinterest. If they want short workouts or aesthetic self-development quotes it may be Instagram. If they’re after quick cooking hacks it could be TikTok.
Think about the geographic AND online location. If your product is only available for delivery within a small remit or in-store, ensure you are looking into where the influencer’s followers are based. There is no use reaching people in Brisbane if your service is only physically available in Perth. Knowing who and where your audiences are is pivotal in actually reaching them. And don’t forget – just because you aren’t on these platforms, doesn’t mean you should disregard them.
Tip 3: What content resonates with your audience/s?
How are your current and potential customers interacting with content across social media? Are they looking for inspiration? Education? Motivation? Aesthetic? Consider these aspects when working with influencers to develop the creative concepts. With a paid partnership, you have control to steer talent in the desired direction so take advantage of that and be clear with your creative direction. Remember influencers generally know their audience best – the most successful results often occur when the partnership encompasses the influencer’s preferred aesthetic and content-style, in combination with your key messaging.
Tip 4: What do you want out of your campaign?
There are several reasons you may want to work with influencers and it’s important to consider how these goals will translate and be achieved throughout your campaign. If you are looking for an ambassador to promote your brand on an ongoing basis, think about how the partnership could extend beyond social media. Could they also be used in media interviews to promote your campaign with the press? You may want to create aesthetic content that can be repurposed across your own platforms and channels. If this is the case, reach and awareness may come second to a creator’s style and technical photography or design skills. If you’re after sales conversions, consider which mediums and platforms allow you to track these metrics, such as Instagram stories with their trackable swipe up link.
These points should intertwine when considering who, what and where your audience/s are and help narrow down the talent pool when it comes to identifying a potential list of influencers for your campaign.
Tip 5: Getting the facts and figures
Once you’ve shortlisted your ideal influencers, one of the first things you should request when reaching out to them is their media kit and/or social media insights. We recommend asking for the following items to give you a deeper understanding of the talent’s followers:
- Demographic breakdown of gender and location.
- Recent examples of reach, impressions and engagement across a variety of posts.
- Data from similar campaigns if the influencer has worked with a competitor before/ in a similar format
Tip 6: What’s your budget?
As an unregulated industry, there is no rule of thumb for the price influencers charge for collaborations – the power is in the hands of the talent and their management team. As a result, it’s important to get all the facts and figures to ensure you can evaluate if the return on investment is worth it for your company. Just because an influencer has hundreds of thousands of followers, doesn’t mean they receive hundreds of thousands of likes, comments and strong engagement.
You have the power to negotiate so always scope flexibility in the influencer’s pricing to ensure you are getting bang for your buck. If someone is out of your price range and you can offer access to your service or send product, use these contra items as a bargaining tool.
Don’t forget that talent agencies who represent influencers often include a 5-20% agency fee to cover their costs, as well as GST on top of the quoted amount. Be sure to have contingency within your budget to cater to these requirements.
Tip 7: Cementing relationships & maintaining connection
Once the campaign has wrapped and the transaction with the engaged influencer/s has been exchanged, consider the collaborations that worked for your brand. Are there opportunities to extend your partnership with an influencer who generated a strong alignment with brand? Maintain your relationships with talent and their management – this can be a positive ongoing awareness exercise and create long term connections between your organisation, talent and their followers, leading to strong customer loyalty in some cases.
Overview
Finally, there are a few additional considerations to keep in mind when developing and working through an influencer marketing campaign.
- Even if you find the perfect influencer, they may not want to work with you. Unfortunately, this is the name of the game and influencers have the power to knock back opportunities due to budget, misalignment, and time, among many other reasons.
- You will likely deal with talent directly and their management. They communicate differently to one another. For example, management is generally quicker to respond, but may not always have the answer straight away. They are the middleman. In the same vein, talent without a manager can sometimes be less expensive as they are not paying an agency to handle their workload and deals.
- For paid influencer activity, always have a contract in place outlining the campaign brief and key messages, deliverables, specific ‘dos and don’ts’ to ensure everyone is on the same page
If you’re interested in hearing more about our influencer campaign and collaboration options, get in touch with our team or reach out to me directly via [email protected]