By Rachel Feddema
Working with influencers can be an efficient way to generate awareness for your brand and increase consideration among your target audiences on social media, but how can you ensure that your campaign is delivering your brand message accurately?
- Find individuals whose values align with your brand
Selecting the right people to work with is the most important step. Consider not only the size of each individual’s following but also the amount of engagement they have with their audiences. Influencers are generally grouped into three categories based on the number of followers they have:
- Macro influencers are known for producing high quality content with a well-defined personal style. They usually have over 500,000 followers who are fans of their personal brand.
- Micro influencers are local content creators, they typically have more engagements with their followers than macro influencers which makes them appear genuine. They have around 5,000 to 10,000 followers.
- Nano influencers are considered the most approachable influencers and valued for having close relationships with their followers, but they often have a less polished style. Nano influencers have 1,000 to 5,000 followers.
There are pros and cons of working with each category of influencer. Macro influencers typically produce polished content, but have higher fees due to their level of experience and large following. Working with micro and nano influencers can present logistical challenges if they are unfamiliar with brand partnerships, but their endorsements usually appear more genuine because they have close relationships with their followers.
The individuals you choose to work with will depend on your budget and the goals you wish to achieve with the presentation of your brand online. When planning a campaign, set aside time to review the profiles, follower engagements, and content produced by each individual, and budget extra time for your potential partners to get to know your brand as well. This process is important because you are selecting a brand spokesperson, finding a good fit is key to success.
2. Share a clear project plan that includes your brand objectives
Provide an outline of the goals you wish to achieve when discussing the opportunity with potential partners. Be sure to include:
- An overview of your brand values
- What you are hoping to achieve with the partnership
- Expectations for how your brand or branded products are displayed
- Account handles that should be tagged, and if Facebook/Instagram Branded Content tools should be utilized
- Any hashtags that you’d like to have included in their posts
- Any requests to repurpose the content they create for future brand marketing initiatives
- Any stats on engagements you’d like them to report
This transparency is important as it allows the influencer to gauge for themselves whether this partnership is a good fit with their style and values, and this information also empowers them to create content that contributes to your campaign objectives.
3. Give your new influencer partners space to create
Influencer campaigns can be a very cost effective way to reach new audiences, but if executed poorly they can be seen as intrusive, and lower brand credibility. An important factor in making this relationship successful is to allow the influencer to lead the content creation aspect of the campaign. They know their followers best and trusting their creative decisions will often produce the most effective content, as long as they’ve been made aware of your brand values and brand communication goals. To maintain your brand standards, simply request to approve all content before going live to ensure that your brand is represented accurately.
