In the early days, the influencer marketing arena was restricted to celebrities and famous personalities, along with a few dedicated bloggers. Actors, sports figures, supermodels and the like were considered influencers. But now, marketers are able to choose from a wide variety of influencers who work in their niche who have the ability to lure potential customers to products or services.
There are many ways to evaluate an influencer for a brand. Below are 10 top ways:
1. Portfolio
It is important to search for a portfolio or media kit to see the creative strategies an influencer offers. This will help with not only choosing the best match but also with evaluating the brand’s influencer investment. The portfolio should include feedback from other brand investors for review.
2. Social media followers
Social media followers help in establishing business and increasing customer reach. As followers repost, comment and share, the reach increases and more and more people become aware of the product. An influencer’s followers should also reflect the brand’s target audience.
3. Content on social media
This is a major part of every influencer’s journey. It is important to take a close look at the influencer’s social media posts, and on which platforms, to get insight into their fan base and audience and determine whether that content style is suitable for the product your brand is offering.
4. Communication
Influencers on digital marketing platforms should have a high level of interaction with their followers, and should be generating engaging content on a regular basis, and not just for the sake of promotion or marketing. The less interaction, the less likely they are the right choice for you. Active influencers should be posting at least five posts per week, along with regular conversations with their audience.
5. Engagement
Engagement is a pillar of marketing. When choosing an influencer, it is important to see whether their “brand” has substantial follower engagement—influencers who do not have an active base of followers is not a wise investment.
6. Cost
Reliable influencers often with a brand repeatedly, and there are many who agree to promote products for extended periods of time. Therefore, it is important to discuss all terms of payment before finalizing any partnerships. Secure an agreed-upon contract to avoid having problems arise afterward.
7. Reciprocal rate
A strong connection between the brand niche and the influencer needs to exist. In order to do that, a thorough search should be made to find those influencers who are suitable for that niche which the company follows. There are several cases where influencers fail to engage the audience when more diverse content is given to them. While on the other hand, promotions can get a massive response if the influencer attempts to do it in their own way.
8. Persuasive messages
The tone of the influencer must be checked. There are some influencers who can approach their followers directly, while there are some who have the ability to promote brands or products in a more natural way and create good content for the brand. If products are pitched artificially, audience won’t be interested and will probably the post, video or article. It is important to create good content to promote any brand successfully. Going through influencers’ profiles will help marketers figure out which one to choose. Pressured sales communication strategy must be avoided as it causes a negative impact on the business. If marketers are not aware of such influencers, they should contact web development instead.
9. Sustainability
Most good influencers won’t agree to promote offensive content, and they do not prefer competitive brands, services or products. Profiles that show these promotions should be avoided.
10. Authenticity
There are many celebrities available online who have active social media pages. They have several accounts on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on. They have millions of followers on every social media platform. But it is a fact that thousands of followers can be bought within a week. So it isn’t wise to judge these accounts strictly on the basis of follower numbers. It is very important to judge every influencer’s authenticity before choosing one. It’s not easy, but technology has its way. There is plenty of software available such as FakeCheck to help deduce the exact number of real followers and identify the fake ones. It’s wise to check the list of followers before making a final decision.
