Working with the right influencers can boost a brand’s credibility, increase visibility, and drive real engagement.
When you’re trying to find influencers for your brand, picking the right creator isn’t as simple as just looking at their follower count.
In this guide, we’ll dive into why partnering with influencers is so effective, how to find the perfect match for your campaign, and the best practices for reaching out and managing these valuable relationships.
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Why Work with Influencers?
Ever heard of social proof? Social proof is the concept that people are influenced by the actions and opinions of others when making decisions, particularly purchasing decisions.
This is one of the top reasons for working with influencers.
Sure, you could communicate directly from your brand, but don’t you think the message would be much more convincing if it also came from an influencer that people see as an authority on the topic?
Here are a few more reasons why brands work with influencers to create content:
Authentic Engagement: Influencers often have a loyal following built on trust and genuine interactions. This means that what they endorse (and don’t!) can feel more personal and impactful compared to traditional advertising.
Targeted Reach: Influencers cater to specific niches or demographics, allowing brands to target their ideal audience with greater precision. Both micro influencers and nano influencers can be great partners for this reason.
Micro Influencers typically have 5K to 25K followers. They often possess highly engaged audiences and can be more cost-effective. Micro influencers are ideal for niche markets and localized campaigns.
Nano-Influencers have fewer than 1K followers and usually have a very tight-knit, engaged community. They can be incredibly effective for hyper-targeted campaigns and authentic engagement.
Here’s an example of engaging content from micro influencer and floral designer Brock Stacey:
Enhanced Content Creation: Influencers and creators are pros at creating engaging, high-quality content that resonates with their audience. It tends to be a little less polished than in-house marketing collateral, which can be a good thing as it will seem more authentic to your ideal audience.
Cost-Scalable: Depending on the influencer's scale and your budget, content collaborations can range from cost-effective micro-influencers to more substantial investments with major influencers. There’s always the option of working with multiple influencers at the same time (which we recommend).
What Makes a Good Influencer for Your Campaign?
There’s more to finding an influencer than their number of subscribers or followers. Finding the right influencer involves aligning their attributes with your campaign's specific needs.
Here are a couple of things you’ll want to evaluate when you’re looking for a “good” influencer.
Your Target Audience
The influencer’s audience should closely match your target demographic. Consider the following aspects:
Demographics: Look at the age, gender, location, and interests of the influencer’s audience. Ensure these align with your brand’s target customer profiles.
Engagement Patterns: Analyze how their audience interacts with the influencer’s content. High engagement rates often indicate a more invested and relevant audience, but check that the replies aren’t from fake accounts!
Your Campaign Goals
Different influencers can serve various campaign goals:
Brand Awareness: For campaigns aiming to boost visibility, opt for influencers with a broad reach. Macro-influencers or celebrities could be suitable here, if you have the budget.
Sales Conversions: If driving sales is your objective, seek influencers with a track record of generating conversions, such as those who effectively use affiliate links or discount codes.
Community Building: For fostering long-term brand loyalty, choose influencers who engage deeply with their audience and maintain a strong, authentic presence.
If you’re looking for the best way to find influencers, Later’s Influencer Index has over 10 million creators that you can sort by 25+ demographic filters. We also have a “Find Similar Influencers” button to make your searches as smooth as possible.
Book a free demo today!
How to Pick an Influencer
Now you know what makes a good influencer for you, it won’t be as difficult as you might think to find the right partners, especially if you’re using influencer marketing tools and databases.
Before you start your search, remember that choosing the right influencer involves understanding the types of creators available and evaluating their fit for your brand.
Types of Creators
Many different types of creators could make the right fit for your brand and their goals. These include:
Brand Ambassadors
Brand ambassadors are creators who establish a long-term partnership with a brand, consistently promoting it over time. This type of relationship helps in building sustained brand loyalty and authenticity. You’d expect to see the brand ambassador on the website, on other forms of marketing material, and potentially on their own social media accounts too.
TIP: To find brand ambassadors, use social listening tools to find creators who are already loyal brand customers. Win-win!
Canadian underwear and loungewear brand Knix uses brand ambassadors as a key component of its marketing strategy.
User-Generated Content (UGC) Creators
UGC creators focus on producing content that showcases your products in real-life scenarios. This type of content often feels more genuine and relatable to potential customers.
YouTubers
YouTube influencers can provide in-depth reviews, tutorials, or lifestyle content. Their longer format allows for storytelling and can suit detailed product demonstrations.
Evaluating Creators
Aside from the type of content an influencer creates, there are a few more checks you can make to close in on your shortlist.
Engagement Rate: High engagement rates are often more indicative of an influencer’s impact than sheer follower numbers. Look for meaningful interactions such as likes, comments, and shares relative to their follower count. You can use tools like Later Influence’s engagement rate calculator so you don’t need to do this manually.
Content Quality: Review the influencer’s content style, aesthetics, and consistency. Ensure their content aligns with your brand’s voice and image.
Past Partnerships: Examine the influencer’s previous collaborations. Positive past results often reflect their ability to deliver on campaign objectives, but you’ll also want to make sure there’s no conflict of interest if they’ve just worked with your biggest competitor.
How to Reach Out to Influencers
Now you have your shortlist ready to go, it’s time to approach your influencers. It’s important to do influencer outreach professionally to establish a successful partnership. Here’s how you can do it well, in four steps:
Personalize Your Communication: Write a personalized message that demonstrates genuine interest in their work and explains why you think they would be a good fit for your brand.
Make a Clear Proposal: Outline the specifics of the collaboration, including campaign goals, deliverables, timelines, and your proposed compensation. Transparency helps set clear expectations and fosters a smooth partnership from the start.
Be Sure to Follow-Up: If you don’t receive a response, a polite follow-up after a few days can help keep the conversation going. However, avoid being pushy or intrusive, or they’ll have no desire to respond!
Get Ready for Negotiation: Be prepared to discuss and negotiate terms. Influencers may have specific preferences or requirements, so flexibility can help in reaching a mutually beneficial agreement. They may also put you in touch with their agent depending on whether they use one.
Use Later Influence to Make Finding Influencers Easier
Finding the right creators can seem daunting; however, using the right tool is essential to speed up your campaign work.
Enter Later Influence.
Here’s how you can use Later Influence to streamline your influencer marketing campaign:
Influencer Discovery: Use Later Influence to find influencers based on specific criteria such as audience demographics, engagement rates, and content style. This helps to identify potential partners who align with your campaign needs.
Campaign Management: Later Influence offers tools for tracking and managing influencer campaigns. You can monitor performance metrics, manage deliverables, and ensure everything stays on track via the influencer marketing platform.
Analytics and Reporting: Utilize Later Influence’s analytics features to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns. Detailed reports provide insights into engagement rates, audience reach, and overall impact, helping you make data-driven decisions for future collaborations.
Book a demo with Later Influence so you can find out more about improving the process of finding and managing influencer partnerships.
We’ll show you how simple it is to set up an influencer marketing program yourself or you can enlist our influencer Services team to create a strategy and execute a strategy that meets your goals.
Book a demo at the link below; we can’t wait to help you get started!
