Finding the Perfect Influencer

3 things to consider when searching for an influencer

Influencer marketing has become an effective, word-of-mouth marketing tool for brands to reach a target audience. Because influencers have loyal followers that trust their opinions, they have the potential to drive traffic to a brand's website and increase a brand's exposure. Influencers certainly have the power to promote a brand, but in order to get desired results from a marketing campaign, it is important that you find the right influencer with the right audience to represent you. Here are 3 things to consider when searching for the perfect influencer:

Engagement and Reach

Many people often make the mistake of believing that an influencer with a higher number of followers has greater influence. This is not necessarily the case. Rather than monitoring the number of followers an influencer has, you should look at how an influencer's audience is engaging with the published content by sharing, retweeting, liking, or commenting on it. This indicates what kind of reach the influencers' posts and tweets have, and whether their audience is actually interested in the content being posted. If an influencer has 100k followers and an average of 50 likes, the level of engagement is low, which means that the likelihood that your brand's message is spreading is also very low. Influencers' relationships with their audience is a valuable aspect of influencer marketing. Influencers with good engagement levels probably have a meaningful relationship with their audience, and would likely have more influence than those who have a larger audience, but little engagement with their published content.

Content Quality

When you collaborate with influencers, you should be willing to give influencers some creative freedom over the content of the promotion you want to share. Your brand's message may not feel authentic if the influencer is not creating the content of the post and is, instead, posting generic images and captions. Authenticity is key to a successful collaboration. Remember, influencers know what type of content their audience would enjoy and how to create it. Since the influencer may have some control over your brand's message, it is important to find an influencer that produces great, quality content. The influencers you collaborate with will be representing your brand, and they will be promoting it using their voice and creativity, so find an influencer that shares your brand's values and produces engaging, quality content that would represent your brand's voice and image well.

Relevance and Compatibility

Make sure the influencer you choose for your marketing campaign fits your brand image. An influencer that matches your brand image will likely have an audience that is relevant to your marketing campaign, and if an influencer's audience matches your target market audience, they will probably be interested in your products or services. This means that the influencers' promotions of your brand will likely resonate with their audience, which would make your marketing campaign a success! An influencer on Instagram may have 2+ million followers, but you need to decide whether it would be contextually appropriate for that influencer to advertise the products and services you are offering. For example, you want to advertise a real-estate service, and you may want to collaborate with Katy Perry, who has millions of Instagram followers. Even though Katy Perry has millions of followers, you probably wouldn't get much traction from collaborating with her because real estate does not fall under Katy Perry's expertise. If you want to promote real estate, you should try to find someone who posts content related to the real estate industry or someone who posts about interior design.

The success of your marketing campaign will, in part, rely on the influencer that you select for it, so try keeping these tips in mind when you search for your perfect influencer! Now that you know what you're looking for in your search, you should read our guide: how to find influencers on Instagram to find the tricks and tips that will make your search easy.

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