Influencer marketing is a hot topic at the moment – are you doing it? If you are, are you doing it correctly? And if you’re not doing it, why not? After all many bloggers and influencers these days have as big a reach as traditional media, plus you’re able to see a detailed report of activity, click throughs and ROI following it.
Here we’ve pulled together 5 top tips for working with influencers and bloggers to maximise your campaign.
- Engagement not followers
Yes, believe it or not, the crazily high follower number shouldn’t be the only thing that you look at on social media. For an effective influencer marketing campaign you need to look into their engagement stats. It’s all very well and good having 10k followers, but if only 10 of them are engaged in the account’s posts then the other 9,990 aren’t going to be engaged in your campaign. Always ask for a breakdown of engagement from similar campaigns before beginning the work.
- Choose the right influencers for YOU
When it comes to influencer marketing there is no magic circle of influencers who prove effective for every campaign. First of all look at your product/event/business and come up with 5 key traits of your target audience, be it location, gender, age or interests. This is how you choose your influencers. If your event is in Bristol and mainly aimed at 18-25 year olds, then targeting a large scale national influencer is all well and good, but in fact a local micro-influencer would probably prove far more effective. Again, don’t be blinded by follow numbers and risk overlooking great opportunities on your doorstep.
- Don’t TELL the influencers what content to post, but work with them
Bloggers are usually very passionate about what content they cover. Whilst most are delighted to get approached by brands and PR companies to discuss a campaign, what they don’t want is to be told exactly what they should be posting. Always leave a little room for their own interpretation. If you run an influencer marketing campaign and every post reads and looks the same, is that really effective?
- Carefully consider the campaign payment
Influencer marketing can be a very efficient marketing tool, but what it shouldn’t be is a way to market things for free. Bloggers especially put a lot of time and effort into their content and many have a fantastic reach with their posts. For many it is now becoming a full time job and they work carefully to engage with brands that suit their audience. Take time before you begin the campaign to calculate your budget and approach influencers who will fit within this financial scale. Whether you offer the collaborators payment in the form of products or a set fee, don’t slip into the mindset that it should all be a freebie.
- Follow up
Believe it or not, bloggers and influencers don’t want to work on every campaign that is offered to them. Many are in such demand now that even from the paid campaigns they’re happy to pick and choose those that fit best with their audience, and they certainly don’t want to work with any brands or companies who don’t value their input or, dare I say, don’t pay on time. Their feedback of how the campaign went for them should be of importance to you. Did it work well for them? Would they work with the brand on another campaign, if not, why not? Feedback is vital for you to know how well you managed the influencers.
If you’re looking to start a new influencer marketing campaign get in touch to find out how we can help – [email protected].
