5 STEPS TO FINDING THE RIGHT INFLUENCER FOR YOUR BRAND

By Sabrina Messaoudi

Influencer marketing has completely changed the way we market our brands. It has allowed us to target specific audiences that are already interested in our service/product, making it faster, cheaper and more efficient than mainstream advertisements, like banners and billboards. Furthermore, the influencer-to-consumer interaction is more personal and trusted. According to the Digital Marketing Institute, 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendation and 40% of consumers have bought something after seeing it on social media. However, finding the right influencer is crucial to achieving these goals. Here are five steps you can take to find the right influencer to work with.  ​

1. Figure out your goal first  
When choosing the right influencer, you will be looking for someone that can help you reach your goal; so, it is crucial to know what that goal is. Examples of goals you could be trying to achieve are building brand awareness, getting more engagement, making more sales, building customer loyalty or creating brand identity.  

2. Figure out your influencer campaign  
Once you have your goal figured out, you should start brainstorming about the type of campaign you want to run. Will you be offering the influencer a free product/service in exchange for posts? Are you setting up a discount code for them to promote? Or are you looking for a brand ambassador? Whichever marketing  strategy you pick, make sure to have your plan ready before you start reaching out. This will give you the opportunity to reach out to the influencer with a concrete plan, so they know what is expected, as well as allow you to find the right influencer for that specific type of campaign.  

3. Find influencers who share your audience  
When you have your campaign strategy planned out, you can start looking for influencers to reach out to. The first thing to look out for is an influencer that shares your audience or is in the same industry as your company. An influencer can have a large following count, but it will make a campaign impractical if these followers are not interested in your products.  

4. Research the influencer’s KPI's  
Once you have narrowed down influencers in your industry, you may start considering ranking factors, such as follower count, engagement rates, quality of content, the depth of niche coverage and other KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). Finding out these statistics will give you a better idea of how much ROI (return- on -investment) this influencer could possibly bring you and help you determine the right price to pay the influencer.  

5. Research the influencer’s likeability 
Businesses can piggy back off the trust influencers have already built with their audience. For that reason, it is important to research the influencer’s likeability. An influencer who has built a positive reputation, will do the same for your brand. Moreover, an influencer can have lots of engagement and a big reach, but have a negative reputation. A negative reputation can affect your company when choosing to work with certain influencers.

As mentioned before, the key to achieving your goals is finding an influencer that is the right fit for your brand. However, the research does not stop there. Once you start collaborating with an influencer, make sure to track your results as well. Lastly, consider building a relationship with the influencer for any future campaigns and to build your network.  ​