I’m sure you’ve heard stories of brands who have paid £100,000s to get a single mention in an Instagram post. Or brands that invested in a campaign that has resulted in absolutely no sales increase. Our view is that influencers can be incredibly valuable to both your long term brand image and short term conversion uplift IF, and I must stress IF, they are used strategically in a planned and methodical way.

Influencers not only amplify your brand reach on social, but they also add an element of authenticity to your message. Customers look to influencers because they trust their opinions, their point of view, perceive them as an expert in a particular niche or are looking for validation in their purchasing decisions. Data from MuseFind shows 92% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement, with 71% of marketers say the quality of customers and traffic from influencer marketing is better than other sources.

Here are our tips for making sure that you get the most out of your influencer strategy:

1. Not all influencers are created equal.

The most important part of any brand partnership is to have an alignment on values, the brand identity and the visual aesthetic of the brand. Nothing reeks of inauthenticity louder than if there is a mismatch between what you as a brand stand for and how the influencer is perceived by their audience.

2. Size matters?

You won’t achieve success with one influencer alone. For maximum impact hire as many influencers as possible. You want to be able to create the perception that your product is the latest must-have, and they need to get involved/become associated with you.

3. Influencers are characterised depending on the size of their audiences.

You won’t achieve success with one influencer alone. For maximum impact hire as many influencers as possible. You want to be able to create the perception that your product is the latest must-have, and they need to get involved/become associated with you.

Macro- 500k+

Mid tier 100-500k

Micro 10-100k

Nano 2-10k

Where you sit will depend on where you are in your product life stage and your budget. For the top tiers, payment would be expected, but for the lower tiers, these influencers are often starting out in their career so are often happy to post in exchange for gifted products.

Many brands have enjoyed huge amounts of success by using micro and nano influencers, so don’t dismiss them just because their followings are smaller.

4. Engagement counts

Choose influencers with a 3-5% engagement rate.

But it’s not just a numbers game. Look for influencers that have a genuine rapport and relationship with their audience. Influencers that have the most influence will likely be interacting visibly with their followers. Ones that take the time out to answer questions and respond to queries.

5. Create the perception that you are everyone

When selecting your portfolio of influencers, think about the interconnection between them. It can be an effective strategy to tap into clusters of influencers (friends). It is likely that there will be a significant overlap in their audience. This is not a wasted opportunity for reach, but rather a chance to reinforce that their product is everywhere. Like more traditional means of marketing, multiple touch-points will reinforce the brand purchase and increase the propensity to purchase.

6. Be clear on expectations

Influencers add authenticity to your brand message because they know how to engage their audiences. Allow them the space to use their creative flair, but be clear on what success looks like to you. How many posts, what are mandatory inclusions/messages that you need them to convey.

Provide them with all the information they need so that they can quickly and effectively answer product questions on the behalf of the product.

Plan how you are going to reuse their content to further amplify the brand message.

7. Remember you are a human not a robot

When you are reaching out, go for the human angle. Talk about your mission and what you hope to achieve and why you would love them to be involved. To get the best output, you want to establish an open dialogue from the start.

8. Measure return on investment

If you are a D2C brand you will immediately see the update of an influencer campaign. So that you can attribute success, create customised codes for each influencer so you can track which people created the biggest uplift for your product

If you are a product-based business, who still needs a bit of a helping hand. Get in touch to see how we can build an influencer campaign that will deliver significant sales uplift.

Influencers, are they worth the Hype?

Build a brand DON’T sell a product.

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