Calling all marketeers! Is there anyone out there who still hasn’t considered the use of influencer marketing? Over the past year, we have discussed several aspects of influencer marketing, from the methodology used to identify influencers and identifying audience specific influencers to analysing successful influencer marketing campaigns.
Once a target audience is defined and the relevant influencers are identified it is essential to create the perfect influencer shortlist before choosing the right one. There will never be a single influencer that would be equally effective for all your audiences, due to the difference in audience parameters. However there a few key factors you can use to determine the suitability of an influencer for any segment and budget.
Key Factor 1: Micro Influencers vs Macro Influencers
The size of an influencer’s community has become a primary concern when identifying influencers. What is often overlooked is the fact that every audience will contain both macro and micro influencers, each with their pros and cons. How to decide between the two? Great question… take a look at your budget and objectives. Cost is always the bottom line regardless of industry or department. If you are working with a smaller budget it may be beneficial to spread the cost over a few micro influencers, reaching a variety of different segments rather than investing your entire budget into a single macro influencer. This brings us to consider your objectives. The question remains: are you looking to associate your brand with a variety of niche audiences or establish a more generalised mass appeal.
Key Factor 2: Geographic Location
Geographic location is another factor that can help inform your selection of influencer(s) for a campaign. Ask yourself, is your campaign taking a global approach or a localised one? Whatever you decide, just remember global or country/region/city specific has the ability to change the course and success of any campaign. We previously touched upon using geographical locations to identify influencers when analyzing the audiences of the Lakers and the Clippers. When considering local influencers it is important to identify region-specific influencers. This was the approach adopted by Puma and DHL in their respective influencer marketing campaigns both proving to be a great success!
Key Factor 3: A Veteran or a Novice?
Seniority in grade holds less importance than you think when considering influencers. It is not always about how long an influencer has been around but whether the use of seniority will help you achieve your campaign objectives. Whilst a veteran influencer may have more recognition and a larger audience, novice influencers have a few advantages of their own:
- Cost effective: logic dictates that using novice influencers would cost a fraction of the price in comparison to most seasoned influencers.
- Exclusivity: a number of veteran influencers work with a variety of brands establishing an image of a brand endorser rather than promoting the brand’s image. Using a newer influencer will afford you the opportunity to achieve branding exclusivity.
- Building long-term relationships: If you are one of the first brands to work with a novice influencer it is an ideal opportunity to create a long-lasting partnership.
Interested in learning more about novice influencers? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to identify the most innovative influencers.
Key Factor 4: The influencer’s audience
Analyzing the makeup of an influencer's audience has the ability to reveal untapped segments you may have missed. Although your influencers are based on defined parameters of an audience there is always a possibility that your influencer has an interesting segment of individuals within their audience. Identifying such segments would enable you to define new key segments to explore acquiring new audiences.
Do you consider these factors when choosing your brand’s influencers? If you are interested in applying these factors to your influencer marketing campaigns along with a variety of other data points sign up for a free Audiense Insights account!
This blog is a translation from the Spanish original, written by Paz Segura, for the Audiense Spanish blog.
