How to Find the Best Influencers for Your Brand

 

 
As a search engine, Google is first and foremost a noun, but it has also earned ‘verb status’ over the years thanks to how popular and powerful that engine truly is.

Maybe their overall engagement rate is low, but of the people they do spark interest in, they have a high conversion rate. Or they could be amazing Content Creators, which allows you another avenue to purchase UGC-style (user-generated content) assets for owned and/or paid tactics.

Maybe their overall engagement rate is low, but of the people they do spark interest in, they have a high conversion rate. Or they could be amazing Content Creators, which allows you another avenue to purchase UGC-style (user-generated content) assets for owned and/or paid tactics.

Barring any red flags, go for it. Data-driven strategies are important, but so are your instincts and experimentation. Running the numbers doesn’t have to mean that you won’t pursue a partnership if their follower counts and engagement rate (likes, comments, views, and more) aren’t as high as someone else, but it can heavily influence the price you’re willing to pay, and/or the results you project for the partnership.
 
This is key; you need to go through your potential partner’s social channels to ensure they don’t have content about anything your brand would consider inappropriate. This can include, but isn’t limited to: violence, illegal activity, language, etc.
First and foremost, influencers are people with their own likes and interests. If they are already familiar with and following your brand, chances are good that they’re a genuine fan, or at least have a high level of interest. But this time, the fall is intentional.
“In Influencer Marketing we need to consider an influencer’s characteristics & demographics, but a larger priority is the Influencer’s audience makeup—we know that their audience is who we are trying to reach with our messaging, so we can’t forget to review who is following our Influencer to ensure they are the right fit.”
Price Range: –
“For every Influencer Marketing campaign, you need to start with the “Why?”; what are you trying to achieve by leveraging these partners? If you don’t start with a strategy that answers this question, you’ll be building on a foundation that isn’t solid.” Be open, honest, and detailed but brief in your outreach, letting them know how you discovered them, your proposal, and clear next steps. Many popular influencers and content creators receive hundreds of messages each day, so be sure you take all necessary steps to not get lost in the shuffle.
 
eMarketer forecasts estimate that the number of companies using influencer marketing will climb to 72.5% in 2022, with a corresponding spend of .14B. To be certain, that’s a sizable number of influencer campaigns slated for the year ahead, and a considerable chunk of change fueling them.
There are a variety of ways to search for Influencers, and many Influencer marketing tools and companies that can help in the sourcing part of the process.
Tip: Be mindful of any common themes you note in the comments, as well; these can help you identify certain deeper demographics a particular influencer is popular with, when that might not be immediately apparent from a quick review of their content itself.  

 
Hashtags are a digital researcher’s best friend, helping you unearth content from Influencers, creators, and everyday social media users with ease. Looking for keywords or hashtags in your Influencer sourcing tool, or even just through social platforms, will be helpful.

• Begin by identifying 2 or 3 popular influencers in your space
• While reading their posts and watching their videos to learn more about their voice and the style of content they produce, be mindful of any other influencers they might mention, jotting down their names to research later
• Also review the comments their followers leave on their organic and sponsored posts; you may find they mention similarities or differences between this influencer and another in the space (ie. Love your review of this lipstick, and the swatches! Between your and Bethany’s review, I’m sold!)
• Once you have a list of mentioned influencers to research, dive in and repeat, reviewing their content and comments in a similar fashion

— Hope Herline, Influencer Marketing Strategist at Tinuiti
 
Provide influencers guidance on which elements you want them to focus on, but remember that they are their own business, as well. Most influencers will require that they’re given creative freedom to bring the content to life in an authentic way that preserves their own brand integrity.
 
Some influencers may simply make better partners for some KPIs over others, and that’s OK! Not all your campaigns have the same goals or outcomes, and your influencers don’t have to either.
  Some relevant hashtags to search that can help you find social media influencers to partner with:
When you partner with an influencer marketing agency like Tinuiti, we take all the heavy lifting off your plate. Learn more about our full-funnel influencer marketing services here, and reach out to chat with an expert for more information!
 
Some questions to answer include:

• Follower to engagement ratio (how many followers they have in relation to how many of those followers like, share, and/or comment)
• The influencer’s audience insights (ask them to share any insights they have, including their top audience demographics, and account and past campaign statistics—reach and impressions are a good start)
• Any data they have on conversions or sales they have driven in the past; many Influencers won’t have access to this data, but if they do, it is like striking gold! You can understand exactly how much product they can move prior to moving forward into a contract.

If you’re in an industry like food, CPG (consumer packaged goods), travel or restaurants, for example, competitive separation isn’t as necessary because consumers in those spaces often purchase from multiple brands.
 
Consider something as simple as ‘Friday Favorites,’ where you share content from and tag 5 of your favorite accounts/posts from that week each Friday. People love appreciation and acknowledgment, so just be honest and authentic in your own posts, and see if you can forge a genuine connection that might lead to a partnership.

It is important to remember that an influencer is a person, and as such, their potential impact can’t be fully measured and estimated by past engagement, including likes, shares, and comments. Perhaps the energy they bring to a particular campaign will earn incredible reach, or perhaps your product or service just won’t land with their audience, despite general relevance. Source: eMarketer
None of these are necessarily positive or negative unto themselves; it’s simply about finding the right fit for your brand.
 
 
There are an increasing variety of Influencer outreach executional platforms available to help in researching, vetting, and connecting with relevant, interested influencer partners.