Since its conception using a social media or considering an influencer for your company there has been a debate on whether the returns are worth it. As you may question – surely that depends on the amount of money invested in an influencer for your company and your question is valid.
This is a tough question to answer though. But before a business even decides on whether or not to use an influencer you should know exactly what to look out for when considering an influencer for your company.
It is a really good investment to complete a digital marketing course or a social media course to fully understand how and why your company can benefit from using an influencer in your digital marketing strategy.
Why influencer marketing has become so effective?
There’s a whole new level of engagement when using an influencer to help market your company online, particularly on social media platforms, in fact, it’s all the rage now. Although influencer marketing has been around for quite a while now, recently it’s become a hot topic – and there are plenty of ‘influencing’ reasons for its rise in popularity.
One of the main reasons why influencer online marketing has become popular is the pleasing fact that it’s accessible to both small and large companies, which means this method of digital marketing is extremely budget-friendly. So, whether you’re a large corporate or a budding small business you can take advantage of this market your brand online.
What you should look out for when considering an influencer for your company
So, you’ve decided that your company will benefit from the use of an influencer to market
your business online. Great move! But how do you seek out the right influencer to suit your business?
Above all else it’s important to understand that choosing the right influencer for your company could make or break your brand. So, no doubt you will want to consider an influencer who is above all else authentic but is also relevant, engaging, and well-suited to your brand.
So where do you start?
The only place to start with your social influencer marketing campaign is to seek out the right influencer for your brand. Finding a perfect match is rule number one.
Here are a few more points to keep in mind when thinking about what you should look out for when considering an influencer for your company:
- Relevance – For an influencer to be a good idea, the person you choose must be relevant to your brand. There’s not much point in choosing a hairdresser if you are in the plumbing business.
- Reliability – check out whether they seem relative to your brand and try to get a feel for how reliable they are, for example, are they quick to respond to a question you may have or are they a slow communicator.
- Authenticity – Another very important characteristic that any influencer absolutely must have is authenticity. Without this trait, no brand will benefit from an influencer who is not authentic.
- Know the influencer’s audience – Don’t take on an influencer if you are unfamiliar with their audience and exactly who they are able to reach and make sure they have a following that is relative to your business. Try to do some research on their follower patterns. Also, read up on comments that are left on their posts to get an idea of how their audience is receiving their input.
- Review an influencer’s content – Do a little investigation into the type and quality of a prospective influencer’s content. Ask yourself if you’re captivated by their content? Make sure they use high-quality images and video content too.
- Engagement rate – Make sure you check out an influencer’s engagement rate as this is a good indicator of how well an audience resonates with their content.
- Post frequency – Before securing an agreement with an influencer make sure you check out their post frequency and you agree on a certain number of posts per week or month. Make a note of how often an influencer posts sponsored content too. Things can get quite messy if this basic requirement is not agreed upon beforehand.