Influencer marketing has been around for a while, and it’s not going away anytime soon. In fact, it’s becoming more effective and more commonplace.
Influencers have great power over the audience you want to reach and can drive a lot of traffic to your site. But not all influencers are created equal.
Some influencers may have fake followers or bots in their audience, and some may not have the pull you think they do.
That’s why it’s important to carefully identify authentic influencers. Here are some tips to help you do so.
1. Set Clear Goals
Before you start looking for influencers, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. This will help you decide what type of influencer you want to work with and what your KPIs will be.
Common influencer marketing goals include increasing brand awareness, driving traffic to a website, and increasing sales.
It’s also a good idea to come up with a few different influencer marketing campaign ideas. This will help you decide which influencers to reach out to.
2. Define Your Target Audience
Before you start searching for influencers, you need to know who your target audience is. This will help you find influencers who are followed by your target audience, and it will help you determine what type of influencer to work with.
For example, if you’re trying to reach a younger audience, you may want to work with a social media influencer. If you’re trying to reach an older audience, you may want to work with a celebrity influencer.
3. Choose Relevant Social Media Platforms
Once you’ve determined your target audience, you should find out which social media platforms they engage with the most.
It’s important to select the right social media platforms for your influencer marketing campaigns. You want to make sure your target audience is active on the platform you choose. Otherwise, you won’t get the exposure you need.
For example, if you want to reach a younger audience, you may want to choose Instagram or TikTok as your platform. If you’re targeting an older audience, Facebook or Twitter may be better options.
You can use social media analytics tools to find out which platforms your target audience is most active on. This will help you choose the right platform for your influencer marketing campaign.
4. Look for Influencers With Similar Values
Identifying influencers who share your brand’s values is key to any successful influencer marketing campaign.
Before you start looking for influencers, you need to have a clear understanding of your brand’s values. What is important to your brand? What are your brand’s key principles? What are your brand’s goals? What does your brand stand for?
Once you have answered these questions, you can start to think about what kind of influencers you want to work with. For example, if you are a sustainable fashion brand, you might want to look for influencers who are passionate about the environment.
5. Analyze Their Content
The type of content your potential influencer is creating can tell you a lot about their authenticity.
First, look at the quality of their content. Authentic influencers will take the time to create high-quality content that they’re proud of. If you see a lot of low-quality, blurry, or unedited photos, this could be a red flag that the influencer is just in it for the money.
Next, look at the variety of content they’re creating. Are they sticking to a specific niche or do they create content about a variety of topics? Authentic influencers are passionate about their niche and will create content that reflects that. To optimize your search, use specialized tools like Cloutboost for gaming influencers or Grin for e-commerce, which provide highly specific insights into audience behavior, engagement trends, and content performance within their respective niches.
Finally, look at their captions and messaging. Authentic influencers will take the time to write thoughtful, engaging captions that are relevant to their content. If you see a lot of generic, copied-and-pasted captions, this could be a red flag that the influencer isn’t as authentic as they seem.
6. Look for High Engagement Rates
Engagement rates are a crucial metric to use when you’re trying to find the best influencers to work with. Look at the average number of likes, comments, shares, and retweets on their content.
You can then compare this to the influencer’s following. If an influencer has a high number of followers but low engagement rates, this may be a sign that they’ve bought followers and are not a good fit for your campaign.
On the other hand, if an influencer has a smaller following but high engagement rates, this is a good indication that they are an authentic influencer and may be a great fit for your brand.
Similarly, brands can leverage referral marketing platforms like ReferralCandy to tap into authentic engagement. Just as genuine influencers drive real interactions, referral programs encourage loyal customers to recommend brands to their network, leading to organic, high-intent traffic and sales.
You can also use influencer marketing tools to help you find influencers with high engagement rates.
7. Analyze Their Followers
With an influencer you’re interested in, take a look at their followers. Are they real people? Are they people who would be interested in your brand?
If you see that an influencer has a large number of followers who are clearly fake accounts, chances are their engagement numbers are inflated and they’re not an authentic influencer. You can use an Instagram fake follower check tool to analyze their follower quality and detect fake accounts.
You should also look at the influencer’s follower-to-following ratio. If they’re following a lot of people but don’t have many followers themselves, they may not be as influential as they claim.
8. Check Their Reputation
Influencers are like brands in that they have a reputation. And, just like brands, influencers can lose followers and engagement if they make a mistake.
Before you partner with an influencer, make sure to check their reputation. You can do this by looking at their social media profiles and reading the comments on their posts.
If an influencer has a bad reputation, it could hurt your brand. So, make sure to do your homework.
9. Monitor Their Posts
Another way to ensure an influencer is a good fit for your brand is to monitor their posts.
This will help you to understand what type of content they usually post, and how they interact with their followers.
You can also check for any red flags in their past posts, such as negative comments or inappropriate content.
Keep in mind that you should be monitoring their posts on an ongoing basis, not just when you’re looking to work with them.
10. Start a Conversation
The best way to get to know someone is by having a conversation with them. So, why not use the same approach when it comes to identifying influencers?
If you have a list of potential influencers you’d like to work with, reach out to them and start a conversation. Ask them about their experience working with brands, what they’re passionate about, and what they hope to achieve in the future.
This will give you a better sense of who they are as a person and whether or not they align with your brand. It will also help you build a relationship with them, which is key to a successful influencer marketing campaign. If the initial outreach happens over a call, using an ai note taker can help you stay focused in the moment while still capturing every detail of the discussion.
Conclusion
In the end, you want to find an influencer who has a genuine passion for your product or service, and who can communicate that passion to their followers. The tips above will help you get started on the right foot.
