Working with influencers has become a powerful tool in a brands marketing arsenal. Particularly in the realms of big brands with huge budget campaigns. However, for those new to this terrain, navigating the world of influencers and content creators can be a daunting task.
And so, as part of our ‘demystifying working with influencers‘ series today we’re taking a close look at identifying the right influencers for your independent brand. Whether you’re a retail shop, a creative business, or an interior designer these strategies will help you connect with influencers who resonate with your audience. And most importantly align with your brand’s values.
Why influencer marketing matters for small brands?
Long gone are the days of standing out from the crowd on the High Street. Today’s shopping is digital. And boy is the digital landscape crowded! To say the least it can be challenging for small brands to stand out. And that’s where content creators come in. Because influencer marketing offers an authentic and relatable way to connect with your target audience.
We already covered this in our previous article but to quickly summarise, content creators offer:
1. Authenticity & Credibility: Influencers have engaged followers who trust their recommendations. Partnering with the right influencer that aligns with your ethos strengthens your brands authenticity. And with that, your credibility too.
2. Reach & Brand Awareness: Influencers have niche audiences just like you, making it easier to reach your ideal client or customer.
3. Creative Content Creation: Influencers are skilled at what they do. They generate high-quality, engaging content that showcases your products or services in a creative light.
4. Targeted Marketing: Collaborating with influencers can help you reach a wider audience and boost brand awareness.
Defining Your Influencer Marketing Goals
Before you start searching for influencers to work with it’s crucial to define your goals. What do you want to achieve through influencer marketing? There’s no right or wrong answer here but it’s important to set KPI’s (key performance indicators) that will help you quantify how well a collaboration performs. Remember to keep them realistic though.
Understanding your audience
Now you have an idea of what you’d like to achieve by working with influencers it’s time to find the right one for you. To do this you need to have a deep understanding of your own target audience. Who is your ideal customer or client? What are their interests, preferences, and pain points? Knowing your ideal customer inside and out will guide your influencer selection process.
The Search for the perfect influencer
Now you have your KPI’s and have an idea of your ideal customer identifying the right influencers for your independent brand is next on the list. But how do you find the perfect content creator or creators for you? Here’s a few ways to search for them. Remember to make a list of prospective candidates as you go along:
1. Social Media: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest are popular platforms for lifestyle, design, and creative content. Look for influencers who create content in these spaces. Creating a brand hashtag is also a very useful tool. Track who’s using it and already talking about you. Also look at your own followers, are there any influencers that already engage with you?
2. Bloggers: Often forgotten about in more recent times, don’t underestimate the power of a well-respected blogger. Not only can they help your website from an SEO perspective, but they often have large, engaged audiences on social media too. Use Google to search for relevant keywords followed by the word blog. For instance, UK home and interiors blog.
3. Hashtags: This is a great way to find influencers on TikTok and Instagram. Is there a brand that shares similarities with yours? Check out their hashtags, who’s using them?
4. Influencer Marketing Platforms: As influencer marketing took off a new opportunity opened up on the internet. How do you find influencers? The answer was Influencer Marketing platforms. Usually a paid service, they’ve done the hard work for you. They keep extensive data bases of influencers covering every niche you can think of.
5. Your website: Influencers will often reach out to brands if they feel aligned to their ethos and values. Make it easier for them to find you by having a dedicated landing page on your website for them.
Have you found the right influencer for you?
By now you should have a healthy list of influencers you’d like to work with. Now it’s time to whittle those down to the ones who will most likely fulfil your KPI’s. But how do you do that? Take time to go through an influencer’s content. Is it in line with your brand’s values and aesthetics? Do they engage with their audience authentically?
Look for signs of credibility and a strong connection with their followers. Once the list is whittled down it’s time to reach out and ask an influencer if they’d like to work with you. If you get a yes back, it’s time to ask some all important questions. Most influencers have a media pack covering all the important metrics but if they haven’t these are the key indicators you need to know as they will help you narrow down your list:
1. Audience Demographics: Are they a match for your target audience? Pay attention to factors like age, gender, and location.
2. Engagement Rates: High follower counts aren’t always indicative of influence. Engagement rates help to gauge the content creators impact on their audience.
3. Previous Collaborations: Has the influencer worked on previous brand collaborations. Do they align with your brand’s values and style? Were the partnerships successful?
Building Authentic Relationships
Remember though that no one wants to see 30 influencers all working on the same campaign within days of each other. Rather than engage an audience this ‘opening the flood gates’ approach is more of a turn off for the viewer. Instead, successful influencer partnerships are built on trust and authenticity.
Fostering genuine relationships with the influencers you choose to work with is a better all-round approach. Communication is key too, let the influencer know what you’re hoping to achieve. But at the same time don’t constrict their creativity. Instead, provide them with creative freedom, after all they know their audience better than you.
Tracking and Measuring Results
Finally, don’t forget to track and measure the results of your influencer marketing campaigns. And then use this data to refine your influencer selection process leading to more effective future campaigns.
In conclusion, identifying the right influencers for your independent brand requires a strategic approach. One that is also rooted in your own brand’s goals, audience, ethos and values. By following these steps, you will identify influencers who will authentically promote your brand and help you achieve your goals.
Influencer marketing can be a game-changer. Whatever your niche be it lifestyle, design, or another creative industry, it’s time to leverage the power of influencers.
Written by Rachel Edmonds
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