Fabien
10 June 2020
It’s virtually unimaginable to have an account on any social media platform and not come across a person advertising a product, often times these posts say #ad and #brandpartner. As you probably know these people are influencers. Influencers are frequently self-employed digital content creators who have a large following on social media. Influencers work with brands to deliver messages and they are an excellent marketing tactic that brings awareness to new or small brands. Your customers are more likely to buy your product when someone they trust shares their positive experiences.
For many people, there is a lot of skepticism and lack of understanding about what the job of an influencer really is. If you’re a marketer or entrepreneur you should at least understand the basics of influencer marketing because it may be a great option to consider in the future, if you’re not already doing so. And if you are a content creator interested in working with brands, then you should definitely be aware of what these companies are often looking for in an influencer.
Evaluating Influencers
Starting off, we should address the fact that there are influencers in likely every industry. Within that there are different kinds of influencers:
Nano-influencers: 1,000 – 10,000 followers.
Micro-influencers: 10,000 – 50,000 followers.
Mid-tier influencers: 50,000 – 500,000 followers.
Macro-influencers: 500,000 – 1,000,000 followers.
Mega-influencers: 1,000,000+ followers.
Each level serves its purpose for brands in different ways; influencers with less followers can actually be more persuasive because they tend to have higher engagement rates and connect more with their followers. However, influencers with large followings are also great for reaching a wider audience, but they tend to charge higher rates.
As we’ve already mentioned influencers are content creators. That means people follow them on instagram because they like looking at their pictures, on Twitter because they enjoy their commentary, or TikTok because their videos are entertaining. When it comes to content, quality is typically more important than quantity. A successful influencer should be dedicated to sharing posts that reflect their personality but also connects with their followers. From a brand standpoint, influencers that seem more attractive are those that are committed to understanding social media as a business, not just a part time hobby. Growing influencers should understand that their feed on all social media platforms are their public portfolios. Brands are probably looking and evaluating these portfolios to determine if the influencer is right for their project. You wouldn’t want to miss out on a great opportunity because your feed had no aesthetic consistency.
Lastly, the engagement rates of influencers are a major metric that is used to determine their success, and the success of influencer campaigns. When followers take time out of their day to comment and like it shows that they have a true interest in what the influencer has to say. These people are the ones brands are most interested in because they are more likely to turn their likes and comments into dollars spent. It’s important that influencers are responding to their followers. This can be tedious and oftentimes repetitive, but necessary nonetheless because it shows that the influencer values connection with their followers. You might consider using the Tokfluence TikTok audience report feature that allows you to generate audience analysis reports to verify all the data of an influencer and be sure it’s a good fit with your brand.
