Choose the perfect social media influencers for your business

So, you’ve heard the buzz about Influencer Marketing on social media and want to get involved, but you’re not sure where to start.

One of the most central decisions you will make for your influencer marketing campaign is deciding what kind of social media influencer you want to collaborate with. There are a variety of different influencer options for you to work with, from a local mummy blogger all the way through to social media queen Kylie Jenner.  

Where do you start? The following steps will assist you in choosing the best social media influencers to represent your business.

Social media influencers can have anywhere from 1,000 to 10 million + followers, and their prices tend to be reflective of their follower count. In other words, the more followers an influencer has, the more expensive they are to work with, generally.

For this reason, it is good to know your campaign’s budget before even beginning to look for influencers. There is no point wasting your time researching social media influencers with 1 million followers if your goal is to get them to feature your product in exchange for the product itself.

If you have a smaller budget, it may be worth considering working with citizen level influencers (1,000 to 30,000 followers) for your campaign. If you have a more substantial budget, you will have the capability to work with a higher-level and costlier influencer, providing your brand with exceptional engagement and increased exposure.

It is absolutely crucial to know who your target audience is before choosing your social media influencers.

Prior to activating your influencer marketing strategy, tapping into a specified audience that is interested in your product and in line with your brand ethos is crucial to your campaigns success.

For this reason, it is important you do as much research as possible surrounding your influencers and their audiences to ensure they align with your target demographic.

For most influencers, you can get this information by monitoring a combination of the content they are posting, their language, their engagement and from their media kit which has more in depth analytics about their followers.

The main take away message here is to make sure your influencer hits your exact target demographic, otherwise any investment you make will be wasted.

Each influencer has their own style which they reflect through their content on social media and represents their personality on the internet. These can range from colourful, crazy, minimalist, arty, photography based or anything in between.

When aligning yourself with someone, ensure that their digital style correlates with how you wish your brand to be represented.

Once you have done your research and found a range potential influencers that you think may work for your campaign, put them all in a master list categorizing them by name, contact details, follower count and style.

Creating your master list before reaching out to any influencers will ensure you have your bearings on who you want to touch base with and avoid any unnecessary contact.

After compiling a master list of influencers, create a short list of your top choices you want most for your campaign.

Conduct a final audit on your short list to confirm their social media statistics are an accurate reflection of what you’re after for your campaign and that their most recent posts align with your brand.

Time to make contact! It is best to create an email template that is as personalised and to the point as possible as most influencers are pressed for time. Ensuring your initial email is succinct, direct, and inclusive of all your requirements will help to guarantee a response. 

Have patience, as influencers are busy people who are often in high demand, they may not be the quickest at responding to your email. It is for this reason we suggest you give your potential influencer as much information as you can about the campaign, as this will avoid the back and forward emailing.

If your chosen influencer is unable to commit to your campaign for whatever reason, do not be discouraged. You have a master list! Consult the original list and choose a replacement influencer to fill that spot.

Reach out to your second selections and continue to reach out until you have the correct number of influencers who have agreed to participate in your campaign.

You should now have the perfect set of targeted social media influencers and you’re ready to start your campaign.

What next? Maintain your relationships, manage your influencers correctly and you will ensure that your campaign is a success.