Influencer marketing has gotten bigger than ever, with an estimated value of around $5 billion worldwide as well as gaining a fundamental role in defining the power of social media, especially in terms of conversion and PPC.
Brands and companies of any size are choosing to invest more and more budget towards influencer campaigns, as they recognise the quality of the customers they attract and the actual results in terms of ROI. Research indicates that around 54% of marketers plan on spending more than $250,000 per year on influencer marketing – astounding figures that show huge growth and huge potential.
With its rapid and constant growth, influencer marketing is an opportunity you can’t miss; however it can be extremely daunting to navigate. Here’s our list of factors to consider before implementing a successful campaign.
Fix your objectives
It is important to set your campaign objectives prior to starting. Influencer campaigns can seem very promising but they’re not always the right strategy for a brand, as they depend on what product is being promoted and what audience you are planning to reach.
First, have a discussion with your client to set realistic goals and see what can be achieved. Involve them in the project and pay attention to what they are looking for. This will help you not only define the limits of the campaign itself (and to understand what’s in your power) but also understand what type of content you are looking for, from the influencers and the platforms that are best for your campaign.
Don’t compromise authenticity over complete control
It’s true, paid partnerships with high-quality influencers can guarantee control over influencers’ content as well as gain higher reach and engagement but…reaching larger communities doesn’t necessarily mean that they will all be interested in your products.
Micro-influencers are a great alternative if you are aiming for high levels of engagement and if you want to connect with users that could turn into buyers. Their communities are smaller but tend to have similar interests to your buyers, so there’s a higher chance that the message you are trying to get across will be received by more people.
Micro-influencers generally are considered to be more genuine and authentic, and brands should embrace their great potential for a real edge over the competition.
Verify the audience
Fake followers are one of the biggest issues for an influencer campaign, because they lead to poor results and bad ROI. Before starting your collaboration with influencers, analyse their audience. At the same time, you will get many essential insights about engagement rate, their audience age range and locations (useful if your campaigns are location-sensitive), and are more likely to avoid poor results.
Purchased followers is another big problem to look out for: they present themselves as normal followers and generate just as much engagement as the real ones, with the main problem being they don’t actually convert into buyers.
Influencers use fake or purchased followers to increase their communities and therefore obtain more paid collaborations, but this vicious circle can be stopped using the right influencer platforms that help you analyse their audiences and find the best fit for your campaigns.
Follow the rules
Remember that a paid partnership still needs to be considered as a type of advertisement and therefore is ruled by specific requirements that can differ depending on the country. Make sure you build disclosure guidelines into your agreements with the influencers and obtain legal advice for your agreements.
Our winning influencer campaigns
Here at agency:2 we’re influencer marketing enthusiasts! Our collaborations with Moroccanoil for example, and many other global brands have helped us build customised workflow processes that start with research and analysis and end with great results!
Our influencer campaigns are paired with our award-winning ATOM technology, which collects engaged audiences and maximises further drive impact and ROI via a second phase media activation.
If you’re interested in our influencer marketing services or you want to know more about our campaigns
