Influencer Marketing and measurability

A Complete Guide to Influencer Marketing and measurability

Let us begin with the Mythbusters

The number of followers matters;
One big misconception about influencers is that they are always people with massive, exponentially expanding social media followings. To be an influencer is more than a popularity contest. Consider that followers do not equal fans. The masses might be watching a celebrity’s every move, but that does not mean they trust or like or respect that person. A follower count hardly ensures that anyone is listening.
It’s about the followers;
If the followers of an apparent influencer aren’t the audience that your brand needs to get in front of, then their count is debatable—no matter how many likes they produce. An influencer is someone who can truly change the perception of others.
All celebrities are influencers;
Mere supporters versus Real Fans, Awareness versus Respect—is the difference between a celebrity endorsement and influencer marketing. The celebrity gets paid handsomely to endorse brands/products and to attach their name. In doing so, a wider net is cast without much control over whom it’s reaching. The promise is to reach many, whether they’re whom you meant to reach or not. Meanwhile, influencer marketing focuses around an expert with a smaller circle of trust and organic word of mouth based on honest and real experiences. The celebrity endorsements, the price tag is on the Fame/Starpower, but with the influencers, it’s on the relationship.
All influencers are the same;
An influencer exerts their power within specific audiences /communities. They have social influence in their communities, continually gained through strategic and intentional behaviour, designed to build a foundation. There are many archetypes within the title of "influencer," to name a few;
  • 1. The LinkedIn VIP
  • 2. The YouTube Star
  • 3. The Instagram Model
  • 4. The Candid Snapchatter
  • 5. The Twitter Troll
Choosing the right influencer
So many tools and services are designed to help track down influencers. Nothing is better than your organic research will likely have more impact and reliable results.
Here is a synopsis of finding the right influencer:
  • 1. Create a spreadsheet to track your influencer outreach, with columns including a) social media platform b) niche c) follower counts d) typical engagement e) contact info.
  • 2. Look for influencers already familiar with your brand. The best-case scenario is someone who already likes your brand or could easily see the appeal in it.
  • 3. Make an effort not to reach out to influencers who have already worked with competitors, as that will likely waste both your time and theirs.
  • 4. Reach out via DM or email to gauge their interest. Engage in conversation, with an endgame of negotiating a partnership.
It’s important to have some method for measuring success and efficacy.
Ways to measure the influencer marketing program
Is the influencer marketing campaigns working profitably? Are the marketing goals met?
  • 1. UTM Parameters: Assign specific parameters to the URLs shared by all influencers to track attribution and actions of visitors resulting from influencers.
  • 2. Promo codes:Unique promo codes are an excellent way to track attribution. Each time a customer uses the code provided by a specific influencer, you can directly and accurately attribute the revenue to its origin.
  • 3. Hashtags:Create a hashtag specific to an influencer and suggest that they introduce it to social media handles. Even if you can’t specifically correlate it with sales, you can watch your influence spread through the waters of social media.
Establish some set of KPIs, as any good marketing campaign needs a metric by which to be judged.

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