Influencer marketing has become one of the most popular and effective ways for brands to reach and engage with their target audience. With the push for eCommerce and the overwhelming popularity of social media in multiple aspects of our lives, ensuring your social media marketing is consistent and of a high enough quality is important.
What Makes Influencer Marketing Successful?
A large part of what makes influencer marketing so successful is that influencers who have a large and engaged following can positively reflect the brand they are promoting, enforcing their credibility and trust as a brand.
Influencers can also have a large impact on their followers, with regards to the content they post and the opinions they present. The power they have has been recognised by corporate giants like Amazon and McDonald's, who have incorporated influencer campaigns into their marketing strategies.
However, choosing the right influencer for your brand can be a daunting task. With so many options available, it can be difficult to know where to begin, along with ensuring the overall campaign goes smoothly, achieving those all-important goals.
This is where an influencer marketing checklist can come in handy. By using a checklist, brands can ensure that they are choosing the right influencer for their campaign and that they are working with them in the most effective way possible. We can help you at every step of the way, so that your campaign follows a structured plan and runs as smoothly as possible.
So, here is an influencer marketing checklist we’ve made for you so that your next campaign can thrive...
Our Influencer Marketing Checklist Tips!
1. Competitor research
Firstly, conducting research will give you a greater understanding of what is required in your campaign.
A good way to approach this is through carrying out competitor research, looking at their social media accounts with the types of content they post and how much engagement it generates. You can also get a glimpse into the types of influencers they work with, seeing who achieves more engagement and what types of niches they’re tapping into.
This will give you an idea of what content yours will be competing with, as well as give you some inspiration for your own content. You will of course want to find ways to stand out with your influencer marketing, so thorough research can really help finetune the route you want to take with your content.
2. Determine your brand’s goals and objectives
Before you begin your search for an influencer, it's important to identify your business goals. What are you hoping to achieve with your influencer campaign? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or grow your social media following?
Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can then begin to look for influencers who align with those goals and who have a following that is relevant to your brand.
You will also have a deeper understanding of how to approach your campaign, with the amount of time and the budget you will allocate, which relates to other points further on in the checklist.
3. Establish your target market and choose the appropriate influencer
Understanding who your target market is for marketing your brand to is vital, so that you are creating brand awareness in the right places for your potential customers to see.
Then, you need to consider how to choose the right influencer for your brand, and your target market will be a large factor in what drives this decision. However, this can still be a slightly overwhelming and difficult decision, but with the help of an influencer matchmaker agency, we can pinpoint those all-important factors and ensure that you choose the perfect influencer!
Of course, an influencer with a large and engaged following is preferable, but if the majority of those followers are people who would not be interested in your brand, then it would be wasted marketing.
Therefore, considering your desired audience and its demographic, interests and purchasing habits is a key part of the influencer marketing checklist.
Another important factor to consider is the influencer's authenticity and credibility. Look for influencers who are genuine and authentic in their approach and who are respected and trusted by their followers, as this will more positively reflect your brand.
4. Create a content marketing checklist
Once you've chosen an influencer, it's important to create a content marketing checklist to ensure that your campaign is as effective as possible. Clarifying the steps involved in the process can make it a more streamlined, efficient campaign, with targets in mind to aim towards.
This checklist should include things like:
The type of content you want to create
The key messages you want to communicate
The call to action you want to use
We can offer our expert advice when creating this, with the knowledge of what content works best and how to decide on the most effective call to actions.
Ensure you have also decided on:
What platforms you want to operate one
How much content you want produced
How regularly you want to post
The quality of content required
The style of content required
This will give the influencer a clear indication of what is expected of them, and it means both parties have in writing what the campaign will entail.
5. Decide on and secure the budget with a clear influencer contract checklist
Once you have decided what content you would like for your campaign, deciding on a budget is the next step. Your influencer contract checklist can make sure you’re all on the same page with expectations clearly defined.
This can include a timeline with a detailed schedule, as well as the overall payment and the terms under which payments will be made. This may sound like a daunting task, but setting up those vital, and sometimes complicated contracts, is what we’re here for!
With this in place, your campaign is ready to go underway with the monetary aspects clearly defined and agreed to.
6. Launch and monitor your campaign
Once you've chosen your influencer and created your content marketing and influencer contract checklists, it's time to begin working with them.
When working with an influencer, there are a few dos and don'ts to keep in mind. One of the most important things to do is to be candid and transparent about your expectations in your briefing document, so that the influencer has a clear understanding about the requirements.
It's also important to respect the influencer's voice and style and to allow them to be creative in their approach. This will help ensure that the content they create is authentic and resonates with their followers.
Then, you can analyse the audience insights gained from the posts, looking at the engagement rates and the demographics, meaning that with your next posts you can finetune them further.
By following this influencer marketing checklist, brands can ensure that they are choosing the right influencer for their campaign and that they are working with them in the most effective way possible. We can then ensure you are operating effectively at each step.
Get in touch with us today!
If you're wondering how to choose the right influencer for your next campaign, an influencer matchmaking agency such as ourselves can help! Simply get in touch and we can help your next influencer campaign thrive.
