Before you ever partner with an influencer, you should do your diligence. Influencer marketing is like any other form of marketing in that it requires a lot of thought and consideration before launch. Every aspect of your campaign should be created with thought in mind to the final outcome to have the best possible performing outreach. This will require developing a comprehensive influencer marketing strategy that factors in several key aspects.

Whether you are working with an influencer marketing firm or not, you’ll still need to put some thought into several different things before you launch your influencer marketing campaigns. Foresight is critical on any social media platform, including Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok influencer marketing. Let’s look at four different factors an influencer marketer should consider before they launch their campaign and partner with an influencer.

Target Audience

This is largely the most important consideration when influencer marketing and forming a partnership with an influencer. Alignment between your target audience and the audience that the influencer has attracted is important. This will require awareness on the part of your business. Before launching a campaign, you need to have a high-level understanding of exactly who your product or service is geared towards. You can create buyer personas or Ideal Customer Profiles to help with this.

Once you’ve figured out exactly who your target audience is, find influencers that align with that audience. There are social media influencers in every category, from home décor to dog owner influencers. Find ones that have cultivated a strong brand in the specific niche that your product is targeting, and build a partnership with them. If you are working with an influencer with an audience that aligns with your target audience, you will reach the right kinds of buyers for your product.

Reputation

This factor might require some research on your end, but it is incredibly important to be aware of. When you work with social media influencers, it is not behind the scenes. It is an extremely public association with your company and your brand. This can be extremely beneficial or have extensive drawbacks. If you partner with an influencer with a reputation as a well-liked, non-controversial figure, their positive association with the public will lead to good attention for your brand. However, if you work with someone with a bad reputation, this could hurt your brand.

In the court of public opinion, partnering with the wrong influencer is a serious faux pas. Not all influencers are experienced with having a large spotlight on them, and some will do or say things that you don’t want your brand associated with. To ensure you are working with social influencers with a positive reputation, Google their name. Scroll through their comments and previous posts, and make sure you partner with a positive figure you want to be associated with your brand.

Statistics

If you want to learn about an influencer, there are a lot of data indicators that can help you gauge the value of what you would be getting. For starters, the number most people consider critical is an influencer’s follower count. Influencers are broken into different categories based on their follower counts, ranging from nano-influencers and micro-influencers to macro-influencers and social media celebrities. Follower count provides some perspective into influencers’ reach, but be wary of fake followers.

If you want to see an influencer’s impact relative to their platform size, look at their engagement rate. The engagement rate shows interactions generated relative to follower size. This shows how invested the people that follow the influencer are in their typical post. Engagement rate is a great way to figure out exactly what an influencer provides, and finding an influencer with an engaged following is critical to successful influencer campaigns.

Previous Experience

Unless the influencer you are considering partnering with is a nano-influencer that has just rocketed to fame, chances are they’ve partnered with brands in the past. Unfortunately, not every influencer will make for the best brand ambassador, but there should be evidence across their social media pages that indicate what type of endorsement you could expect. Before you partner with social influencers, browse their page and see how they have posted for brands in the past.

When looking at an influencer’s previous sponsored content, picture your brand in their place. Is this how you would want your marketing outreach to look? Would it be beneficial to your business to pay money to receive something like what you are looking at? Read the comments and see how the influencer’s audience has responded to the post. If they spark discussion, generate engagement, and have created sponsored content that is appealing and interesting, chances are they’d make for a good component of your campaign.

Influence Hunter is a top influencer marketing agency with years of social media marketing experience. Influence Hunter has helped brands across industries develop customizable influencer campaigns that reach the right audiences and deliver major results. Contact Us Today to find out how we can help grow your brand.