Ways to find the best & relevant influencers for your next influencer marketing campaign.

 Influencer marketing is the golden hen for marketers struggling with customer acquisition. As many as 63 % of marketers plan to increase their influencer marketing budgets in the coming year.  Collaboration with a credible influencer marketing agency can revamp your brand-building effort. Finding the right influencer can help you leverage their authority to reach your target audience and drive organic traffic to your site. Businesses can build brand awareness and increase their brand loyalty thanks to influencer marketing. 

Given the staggering number of influencers on Instagram alone, finding the ones that are the right fit for your business is like finding a pearl in the vast ocean. Difficult but doable

1.      Define your goals. 

The Influencer marketing platform or agency you choose, the influencer you decide to partner with or the type of content you create come into play once you have set the goals of your digital marketing campaign.

2.      Know Your Audience

The way you engage with your audience, your style, your brand values, and your personality is your brand voice. You need to ensure that your target audience follows the influencer you intend to collaborate with. When your target audience is the same as your influencer's, you can rest assured that your product will reach the right audience.  

3.      Influencer Outreach

When looking to find the best influencer, you should look at the influencer's outreach on various social media platforms, particularly where you wish to run your influencer marketing campaign. Outreach is the total number of followers of the influencer. Alternatively, you could sign up for an influencer marketing agency for a streamlined marketing campaign.

4.      Relevance-centric Hunt

Check out the social media sites to see the influencers in your niche whose interests and posts align with yours. For example, a food blogger may be a perfect match for an organic condiments brand. You can set up an alert for industry-specific terms to see who is consistently posting content in your industry. You can also check out industry-specific hashtags to find the relevant influencer. Relevance is the key to finding the best-suited influencer.

5.      Loyal Followers

The influencer you are looking for could be a 'macro influencer' with a large fan base or a 'micro influencer' with small but dedicated followers. The important metric is loyalty. Someone with a loyal following will attract more likes, comments, and more engagement per post. So, look for someone who has spent time engaging with their followers on various social media platforms.

6.      Honest Influencers

When aiming for influencer marketing, you need to go through your chosen influencer's past collaborations and content. The posts should not look like they are saying something because they have been paid to say so. Rather it should be an authentic recommendation. Personal stories that mention genuine use of a product, engaging and compelling posts, and honest reviews are more trusted than straight product reviews.

 In the End

In the end, an in-depth understanding of your own business and your audience help you pick the right influencers to work with; filters like outreach, engagement and genuinity of content further narrow down the choice and help you reach the right influencers. 

  When you opt to hire an influencer marketing agency, they vet the best influencers for your business.