How to Choose the Perfect Influencer

Choosing the right Influencer for a campaign can be a daunting task. From potential PR disasters to unnecessary overspending, a lot can go wrong without following the right advice!

UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INFLUENCE

We’re going back to the basics here, but understanding that there are different levels of influence for Influencers is a crucial first step when deciding who to work with. From nano to mega and everything in between, the options are endless, and going back to the basics is a failsafe way to make sure your campaign gets off on the right foot. Of course, budget is a key element here. Micro-influencers will always cost less than macro-influencers, but that doesn’t mean to say they’ll be ineffective. In fact, it’s quite the opposite! If your brand’s budget isn’t huge, using micro-influencers provides the perfect opportunity to raise awareness for your brand without breaking the bank. Macro-influencers, those with over 100k followers will cost more and generally include social media celebrities, too. While these types of Influencers are more likely to get you further reach than micro-influencers, it’s important to remember that more often than not their engagement will be lower – typically due to appealing to a broader audience rather than a specific niche. The next most common group of Influencers are the mega-influencers, those with 1M+ followers. These Influencers will inevitably cost more but are guaranteed to give your brand huge exposure!

ASK YOURSELF, ARE THEY BRAND FIT?

If an Influencer isn’t a good fit for the brand, the likelihood is that customers will be left feeling confused about your key messaging. Influencers should be used to protect and enhance your brand, not complicate it! Tone of voice and style is key here and it’s important to ensure that your Influencers fit your brands’ characteristics and the way that it speaks. If these things don’t match, it’ll be clear that more thought should have gone into the partnership. Similarly, going with an Influencer who isn’t actually interested in your brand is a huge red flag. If a post is disingenuious, your audience will be able to tell, and will be instantly put off purchasing your product. It’s also crucial to check whether the Influencers’ values align with your brand. For example, if your brand is centred around the environment and sustainability, an Influencer who lives a jet-setter lifestyle and has no content related to sustainability isn’t (perhaps obviously!) going to be the best fit for your brand.

CHECK OUT THE IMPORTANT METRICS

Admittedly, it’s a minefield out there when it comes to campaign metrics and statistics. But, there are ways around this and we’re here to help. Influencer Marketing will always have a number of goals, like increasing your reach, growing your audience, driving engagement, and increasing traffic to your site. Yet, as will all types of marketing, the primary goal is always driving growth and sales – which is where conversion rate KPIs come in handy. Reach and awareness is also hugely important, referring to how many people you reached with your campaign and how many new prospects became aware of your brand. Tracking impression data is the best way to measure this is through tracking impression data on your various posts Instagram Reels and TikToks, and any other content you create specifically for the campaign. There are a number of programmes that will allow you to check this for popular Influencers, where you’ll be able to access things like their bio keywords, follower ranges, overall engagement and more.

LOOK OUT FOR RED FLAGS

There are some things that are pretty obvious when it comes to checking for red flags with your Influencers, like having loads of followers but a very low engagement rate, or their feed is entirely filled with sponsored posts. However, there are a number of things to look out for that are far less talked about. For example, are they using proper disclosure and following guidelines correctly? As well as, do they have hundreds of thousands of followers but only a few posts? It’s crucial these questions are raised when working with any type of Influencer, no matter how brand-fit they are. It’s been estimated that up to half of all sponsored engagement is fake, so to protect yourself from throwing your money down the drain it’s important that the right paperwork and expectations are agreed upon from the beginning. This is something that agencies are perfect for, as we take all of that stuff out of the equation for you. Checking out any potential problems with Influencers is one thing, but vetting their audience is key, too. If there are comments from followers that could be deemed inappropriate or offensive, this should also be seen as a red flag.

EVALUATE THEIR PREVIOUS CAMPAIGNS

If a company or brand It’s inevitable that every campaign will have clear goals. Before the campaign even begins, we more or less know how we want it to look at the end. So, it’s key you select Influencers who will actually be able to help you achieve that vision. A great way to do this is to look back at their precious campaigns, and see whether their past work shares a similar theme to the one that you want to portray. Be sure to look closely at the engagement rates, content produced, and even the comments. If an Influencer can be seen to have some ongoing partnerships under their wing – even better. This shows a committed Influencer who has proven themselves to be great to work with on an ongoing basis. As we all know, no brand would choose to undertake a recurring campaign with somebody who doesn’t get those all important results!

At The Good Egg, we’re experts at finding the perfect Influencers for any type of campaign – we’ve really done it all. If this article has interested you and you’d like to get in touch so we can help you run your own Influencer Marketing campaign, feel free to email hello@thegoodegg.agency!