Make Sure Your Influencer is Relevant to Your Audience
Categorized in: B2B Digital Marketing
Many people think that having an influencer post about their brand is enough to get the word out there when in reality, it takes a lot more than that.
The truth is an influencer’s audience follows them because they like the way they do things, so forcing your product down their throat will never work. If you want your campaign to be successful, you need to make sure the person posting about your brand or product is relevant to your target market, or it could backfire.
For example, if you are trying to sell baby clothes but hire someone who mostly talks about cars and fast food to promote for you, chances are this won’t bode well with the viewers of said influencers’ accounts. This is because even though they may have a large following on social, their followers might not be the people you would want to target.
So how do you go about picking an influencer who is relevant but still has a large enough following? Here are some steps to follow:
1. Conduct research on what types of posts have been shared in the past by looking at popular hashtags used by the audience; the trending hashtags will give you an idea of what they like and respond to.
2. Define your audience demographic (age, gender, location, etc.). You can then search for this information and keywords related to your product or brand, e.g., baby clothes + mommy blogger – areas = UK, USA, etc… If an influencer is located in your country or has followers, this will work well.
3. Check out their engagement and the number of people viewing their page and if it matches up with what you’re looking for. If they have a lot of views but not many likes or comments, the chances are that the content they post is boring or irrelevant to their audience.
You want to look for high engagement where followers like and comment on posts regularly (it should be at least every other day). Of course, suppose you find someone with millions of views but few comments or likes per post. In that case, chances are this person doesn’t respond much to comments, meaning even though they may have thousands of people viewing their page, only a few hundred are engaging with their content.
4. Look at the types of posts they share and how often. Do these posts contain images or videos? Are they long or short? If you’re trying to sell a product, chances are a 5-second video will not do your brand justice – you want someone who can explain what your product is entirely, or take pictures that show off all angles, etc.
It’s essential to consider the number of time influencers spend on each post and how much detail it contains – if they get paid to promote your brand, you don’t want them taking hours over 1 picture/post.
5. Be sure to check out their bio and see if there’s a way to contact them directly. If the person is based in your country, it’s a bonus, but if they aren’t, you can still give them a shout-out via email or social media and ask if they would be interested in producing some content for you.
6. If you’re the kind of brand that likes to be hands-on and involved in your campaign, I suggest connecting with them beforehand. This way, if there are any questions about the product/brand, you can answer everything for them or help with editing, etc.
7. You may not find an influencer right away, so give it a few weeks. Once you’ve followed these steps, chances are you will have found someone who will create solid content that offers your product exposure and legitimizes it, and provides detailed information that consumers want to hear about.
8. Don’t underestimate the power of influencers, and don’t go about it by simply throwing money and expecting them to do all the work for you. If you want influencers to help promote your brand, give them a reason to – whether that be a discount code or promotion giveaway.
9. Once you’ve found the right person for your brand, give them a heads up about what you’re looking for to ensure you both are on the same page. For example, if it’s a video, let them know how long and where they can find any images or clips that may be helpful for them to create the content
10. Last but not least, don’t be afraid to say “no” if the content isn’t up to par or not what you were looking for. If it doesn’t work out, don’t feel bad about cutting ties and finding someone else – there are so many people out there who will love the opportunity to promote your brand.
Remember, because someone has many followers doesn’t mean they’re an influencer. Make sure what the potential influencer has achieved with their following so far is relevant to your brand. Take time before deciding who should represent your company – after all, the money you are spending on your chosen influencer should be worth it.
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