A few decades back, the word of a celebrity, an athlete, musician or an actor regarding a particular product was taken as the gospel truth. The rationale behind using a celebrity to market a product was to leverage the said individual’s charisma and large following to establish the product’s credibility. That is the same tactic that has been employed by brands who use social media influencers to push their brands.
But who are social media influencers exactly? In a nutshell, they are modern day celebrities who command very large following the large social networks. They have the power to build or destroy a brand’s reputation with one single post. When Kylie Jenner tweeted that she was done with using SnapChat, this company’s stock took a massive hit. Most of her million plus followers saw the message and it was share to other people who shared to other people. This ultimately affected the share price because of the perception of the company’s product was not worth looking into. Such is the power of social media influencers.
By now you are probably getting wide-eyed at the prospect of leveraging the power influencers have to boost your products sales. Hold your horses first! There is an art to choosing the right influencer for your brand. One thing you must realize is that influencers attract a certain kind of audience. To use them effectively to push your product, you must choose an influencer who has the target audience you want to attract. This means you have to scrutinize them thoroughly first before contacting them to set up an appointment. This article, as the title suggests, explores how you can go about choosing right influencer for your brand.
Values and shared interests should be the first things that you should consider when looking for an influencer to carry your brand. This step requires a thorough examination on your part as well if you do not know what your true values are and what you stand for. Normally, companies have a clearly expressed mission statement coupled with a vision statement that guide how they conduct their business. By knowing what you stand for as a company, only then can you identify who the right person who will carry your brand will be. You might want to choose the most popular influencer in the market to push your product and just chalk it down to a business decision, as is your right. However, any misgivings you might have about the individual and the image behind their brand will infect how you interact with each other. If the influencer does not believe in your service, they will mount a half-hearted or even zero-effort campaign that will make your product stagnate. That is why it is always important to do a thorough screening of the individuals you decide to work with and get a list of people who you know will push your product just as hard as they push theirs. Only when total commitment to the cause is shown can you truly get the most out of your partnership with your influencer. Before you sign on an influencer, take them out and get to know them first. From there, make a decision based on the impressions you get from the individual.
Once you have identified the influencer whom you wish to work with, it is important to remind them on the importance of customer engagement. The last thing you want is someone under your employ doing their own things at your dime. You need to check out what their numbers are like. Also worth checking out is how they interact with their followers. Constant and consistent engagement with their target audience about your product needs to feel like a gentle nudge rather than hardcore selling. The main aim of consumer engagement is to ensure that your target audience feels like they are joining a family rather than just buying a product which they can do on their door. It is a great way of inspiring loyalty in your product as well because it came from a credible source.
If you are keen on getting a good influencer, you should choose an influence who is in the niche which your product is in. Most of the people view influencers as a way of appealing to a wider audience via the huge number of followers that the influencer has. To a certain extent that is true but for the influencer to work the magic that they have been reputed to possess that will translate into increased sales of your product, you need to choose an influencer who is relevant to your product. This means that you need to do research about the fields that the influencer has credibility in and then leverage on that. If you put yourself in the shoes of one of the followers, you are looking for an endorsement from that influencer whose opinion you trust to give you only the relevant things.
When you are in a partnership with a brand influencer, you need to ensure that you keep an eye on the quality of work they are doing. At times, you will need to examine the relationship you have with that influencer and decide on whether or not to stick with him going forward. With a growing trend in people looking to become influencers in the digital space, you still need to be careful whom you align your brand with lest their lack of credibility or negative publicity rub off on you, even when you had nothing to do with them in the first place. It will be your job to do thorough due diligence on the potential ambassadors for your brand from which you will decide whether or not they will be the right fit for you. Remember, in the end it is not just about choosing the most popular kid on the block, it is also about choosing an individual who will spur action in his base that will ultimately translate into leads and conversations.
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