The market of brand influencers has exploded and become so saturated in recent years that it’s important to sift through and differentiate between influencers who can benefit your brand and those who won’t help your brand in any way.
There is an interesting relationship between influencers and their followers, unlike anything we’ve seen before. They’ve developed strong relationships with their audience and built up a level of trust that is favourable for brands. At The Ideas Suite, we recommend consumer brands work with influencers on Instagram as its visual nature allows for minimal effort and ease for followers to engage with content.
Many people look at the number of followers an influencer has as the deciding factor on whether they’ll be an effective influencer for your brand. While followers in the thousands may look impressive, the key is to look for high engagement among the follower base. This gives you an indication of the power and strength an influencer has with their followers, and will therefore enable your brand to work with someone that has a strong connection with their audience. It can be tempting to engage an ‘A-list’ influencer when a mid-level influencer with a smaller following but strong engagement can get your brand more engagement.
In a saturated influencer market, finding genuine influencers has never been more important. Find people who really love your brand and products, and be weary of those just working for a pay cheque, looking for a freebie or seeing this as an opportunity to simply grow their social page or their own profile. The influencer you want should relate to your target market and also have followers who align with your brand. There’s no point in engaging with a high-fashion influencer with a following of similar tastes if your brand sits within the fast fashion space. You’ll be wasting your efforts on an audience whose values and interests are opposite to your product offering.
In your search for influencers, look at the quality of an influencer’s content and see whether it fits with your brand. A great match between influencer and brand will look more authentic to their followers and create greater trust in the product being advertised. You also want to make sure that their style of content and brands they work with don’t overshadow or hide your own brand. You want your brand to be the core focus rather than drowning in a sea of other things.
While many influencers are still happy with gifting, a large majority of A-list influencers ask for payment. It’s important to weigh up the dollar worth of sponsoring an influencer, by looking at their engagement and who they’re reaching. We recommend you work with experienced social influencer specialists such as The Ideas Suite, if you’re seeking to run a successful influencer campaign based on product gifting. We are able to use our experience and knowledge of influencers in the market to provide you with proven best results.
The social and public relations advantages from using influencers are immense. Some brands actually use their influencer programs in their product look books. This can be a great way for businesses who are just starting out or have minimal budget, to have beautiful images that showcase their products. Not only can it cut down on budget by not having to hire a photographer and model, it also allows your customers to see the products on everyday people and in a real-life context.
Some considerations when working with influencers:
- Pitch widely among the right influencer categories. This can be a good way of getting your brand out there to the highest audience possible
- Be selective. If you’re working with a small budget, target a few influencers who really align with the brand and have great engagement.
- Influencers aren’t just for big businesses. Even small businesses who don’t have a high budget can benefit from influencer marketing.
