Identifying the right influencers for your campaign

There’s no shortage of influencers these days. No matter which industry you’re seeking partnerships in – beauty, fashion, food, parenting, tech and beyond – there are plenty of qualified individuals with large followings, high engagement and beautiful content. This can also make it overwhelming when trying to decide which ones are best to partner with for your brand.

We identify influencers through a mix of selective targeting and being dialed into what’s trending. This includes finding the right mix of bloggers and influential brand advocates, using social listening to determine new influencers and staying on top of those who are making news for their passions. We think beyond the obvious when it comes to influencer selection. By using artists, chefs, photographers and other ‘non-traditional’ influencers, you can get some very unique/organic content in return.

But that’s just the beginning.

It’s essential to apply filters to potential influencers to get the most mileage out of all partnerships. Below is a preliminary list of things to look for:

• Geography and Demographic:
  Find influencers that have appeal in your key markets, as well as followers that align with your brand’s target audience
• Influence Opportunity:
  Ensure their social channels have high engagement and authenticity. Is their feed filled with too much sponsor-driven content? Do they have paid followers? In this phase, it’s also important to outline minimum engagement levels.
• Content Strategy:
  Evaluate if their craft is interesting enough to build a content strategy around, such as an important milestone to help them achieve or celebrate. Influencers should be vetted so their original content is desirable and highly shareable by a wide audience.
• Methods for Amplification:
  Determine if the influencers play in circles that can reach beyond their own channels. Who is in their squad that can help reach a larger audience? Are they regularly interviewed by other media and bloggers?

We’ll be sharing more of our tips for working with influencers over the next few months.

In the meantime, you can read about our approach to influencer marketing
here.