As a person, you’re likely well aware that social media is an important part of daily life. And as a business owner, you know social media platforms are a great way to grow your brand, advertise your products, and reach new audiences. Social media marketing has morphed into much more than being active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Another large part of social media marketing is influencer marketing. Influencers have a loyal following and can be used to increase brand awareness, leads, conversions, and sales. In 2019, it’s projected that two-thirds of marketers will increase the amount of money they spend on influencer marketing.
If you’re interested in working with an influencer to become more competitive and well-known in your industry, there are some questions you’ll want to ask before deciding which influencer is best for your brand.
Keep reading to learn more!
What Are Your Company Goals?
Before you start your quest to find the perfect influencer to work with, take the time to figure out what you want to achieve by investing in influencer marketing. Do you want to grow your number of followers? Generate more leads for sales? Introduce a new product?
Make sure that your influencer goals are in line with your social media marketing campaign. Your goals will drive the type of influencer that you work with. For example, if you want to generate more leads and sales, you will want to find an influencer that is known for giveaways and contests.
Who Is My Target Audience?
Another question you’ll want to answer before working with an influencer is to determine who exactly your target audience is. You should not only know demographic information about your audience, but it’s also important to know other details.
For example, you’ll want to learn:
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When your target audience is most active
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What type of content they prefer
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Which influencers they follow
The more you know about your target audience, the more likely you are to find an influencer that has connected with those exact people.
Does the Influencer Like Your Brand?
If you want to maximize the benefits of working with an influencer, one of the first things you’ll want to ensure is that you choose an influencer that already likes your products. Working with an influencer that has already posted and talked about your brand makes the partnership more genuine and natural.
Instagram followers are smart, and it’s easy to spot a forced relationship for the sake of sales. When selecting an influencer, you don’t want your partnership with that person to seem or feel out of place; otherwise, it won’t produce the results that you want.
Save & Comment Metrics
Just because an influencer has tens of thousands of followers doesn’t mean that they’re the best option for your business. When deciding which influencer will be most beneficial for your brand, you’ll want to ask for save and comment metrics.
Successful influencer marketing relies on choosing on influencer that gets daily engagement and interaction from followers. Don’t base your decision solely on the number of followers that someone has. We all know that people can buy Instagram followers. While this offers inflated numbers, it doesn’t really produce results.
When asking for save and comment metrics, you’ll want to know:
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Which posts get the most saves
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Which posts get the most comments
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The average number of saves and comments
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Who is most likely to save and comment
With this information, you can determine if the influencer has the engagement rates that you want. You can also make sure that the influencers following is made up of people that fit within your target audience.
What Other Partnerships Does the Influencer Have?
Competitors in your industry have likely also reached out to influencers. You may want to make sure that the influencer you choose hasn’t promoted products from your top competitors. An influencer that is promoting a similar product may not be the right one to choose, as the competition is closer than ever.
If you do work with an influencer that has worked with a competitor, there may be some things that you can leverage. For example, you can identify how the audience responded to certain types of content. In turn, you can create videos and post images that resonate with those you’re trying to target.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing can have a profound impact on your business. Whether you’re looking to increase your Instagram following or want to build your brand as a way to drive leads, sales, and conversions, influencer marketing can help.
Be sure that you know the answers to these important questions before dedicating dollars and time into finding the ideal influencer for your company.
