Finding influencers for an influencer marketing campaign may seem like an easy task. But the truth is that the process can be quite complicated, so long as you follow a structured plan. To simplify the process, we have broken it down into a few steps that are powerful and easy to follow. Finding the right partners can make or break an influencer marketing initiative. Having run successful fashion-based influencer campaigns, let the experts Premiere Creative reveal how to find an influencer for your next online campaign.
What is an Influencer?
An influencer is an individual with established credibility in a specific industry. They are uniquely capable of reaching and persuading certain audiences. They can be powerful partners for driving sales and brand awareness. Influencers can take many forms. For example, Kylie Jenner is one of the top influencers on Instagram right now. Her enthusiastic, impressionable, and young audience has attracted partnership proposals from countless fashion and beauty brands like Dior, MAC, and KKW.
That being said, anyone online with a discrete and enthusiastic audience over which they hold some taste-making sway is an influencer.
Let’s discuss Kylie Jenner a bit further. With a total of 148 million followers (and counting), Kylie she is taking the influencer world by storm. If Kylie does a post promoting Vitamin Water, then Vitamin Water will likely experience a pump in brand awareness, revenues, social media followers, and online engagement. Teenagers and young adults look up to Kylie, which makes her an ideal influencer to work with. But not every company is going to be able to afford the hefty price. If I’m a 23-year-old entrepreneur that runs a small artisanal knitwear brand, I am not likely to approach Kylie Jenner for a partnership. Luckily, there is a spectrum of influencers available to brands of all sizes and budgets. It can be daunting to understand the complexities in their entirety. That’s why we’ve broken it down for you below.
What are the Different Types of Influencers?
There are various types of influencers which is primarily based on the size of their following. Finding the right ones for your campaign or business depends on the audience you are trying to reach and convert into a loyal brand advocate.
Nano-Influencers
A nano-influencer is an individual who has fewer than 1,000 followers. Calling someone with less than a thousand followers an influencer may seem dubious, but nano-influencers are characterized by incredibly high engagement rates. Let’s say you run a non-profit that helps clothe the homeless in a small town. Partnering with a local community leader – perhaps a pastor at the local church – to raise awareness of and donations to your organization would be a great move. The pastor doesn’t have to have 30 million followers. If they have 500 devoted followers from within the community that engages heavily with his/her content online, it could make for a very successful influencer marketing campaign.
Micro-Influencers
A micro-influencer is an individual who has between 1,000 to 100,000 followers on social media. Micro-influencers have niche focuses and are generally considered experts in their field. Their small-to-medium-sized audiences are generally engaged and hungry for content. Micro-influencer campaigns are fantastic for medium-sized brands that provide very specific products/services. Using a different example, let’s say you sell a product that makes high-quality drip coffee. Your brand may want to partner with popular food bloggers, critics, or influencers with a heavy travel Instagram accounts. Any such partnership – assuming the influencer has between 1,000-100,000 followers – can be a grand slam for all parties involved.
Macro-Influencers
A macro-influencer has between 100,000 to 1 million followers on social media. They have massive audiences that are demographically diverse. In a lot of cases, macro-influencers have mixed reputations. Macro-influencers are global focal points for consumer attention online, and they have the price tag that goes with it. They are active on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and any other social media platform you want to use. In general, influencers usually work with larger companies and almost have a celebrity status on social media.
Celebrities
Many Celebrities can easily have more than a million followers on social media. They have a diverse following, which may not be ideal for many brands trying to reach very specific audiences. Celebrities also don’t engage as much with their followers as, say, nano-influencers.
Selecting the Ideal Influencer to Support Your Campaign
Choosing the right influencer is a balancing act. Marketers must consider their goals, understand their budget constraints, have a clear sense of their prototypical target, and approach influencers whose prices and audiences align with their needs. When you are running a campaign you need to understand the audience you’re targeting. Generally speaking, the smaller an influencer’s audience, the more engaged it is. Bigger is not always better. Take your time and do your research before approaching influencers. If you would like more information about influencer marketing, contact the experts at Premiere Creative or give us a call at (973) 346-8100.