Working With Influencers: A Quick Guide For Brands

May 26

Over the last 10 years, influencer marketing has opened up to all areas of the digital world. No longer are influencers just celebrities and reality television stars extending their 15 minutes of fame; influencers and creators have penetrated into every niche, and that’s great news for marketers.

As with any rapidly growing market, issues can of course arise - in the case of influencer marketing, influencer fraud is one of them. Influencer fraud has cost the industry $1.3 billion according to several studies, and over 60% of brands are still concerned about the issue of fake followers and fake engagements.

Some brands may have already had bad experiences with influencer marketing, but that does not have to be the case. The aim of this guide is to help marketing professionals sanity check the influencer marketing campaigns they are creating.

So what can we do about the issues facing brands and creators, and what should you be thinking about before launching an influencer marketing campaign?

followers and engagement: Real or fake?

One major issue for any brand is the rise in follower factories and engagement farms where unscrupulous accounts have been set up and are taking advantage of increasing the vanity metrics. Thankfully, since the New York Times exposed a whole host of ‘influencers’ in several different markets for their sheer volume of fake followers, the majority of ‘professional’ influencers that make a living out of the industry are now relatively careful and ensure they are keeping their accounts honest and transparent. With larger, professional influencers like this, you are more likely to be working on a more bespoke basis.

A good, reputable influencer marketing agency - like the many who speak at SocialDay - will of course do most of the due diligence for you and should be able to filter out those accounts with poor engagement rates and suspect followings. Influencer marketing agencies are only as good as the reputation they build up, so it’s important for them to ensure they have their clients’ best interests in mind.

Still, we would advise that you are still heavily involved in the final selection of influencers for a campaign. Depending on the size of the campaign, it may not be possible to see all of the influencers selected, but you should:

Insist on a sample of the influencers being used so that you can spot check and audit the engagement using the tools available (see below);
Ensure the influencers in your campaign align with the target audience and are in the right context for your brand.

On highly targeted campaigns, or when working with newer influencers or those with smaller followings, remember that many influencers may not necessarily be familiar with corporate behaviours and language, so make sure your communication and language is transparent and make clear your goals. In many cases, the bad experience of brands working with influencers has been down to poor communication, rather than an issue as significant as fake followers.

making the best out of influencer content

Good influencers are masters at creating content for their own audience: they understand who they are targeting and have built up a following based on this. Too often marketing teams want to tap into these audiences while passing on all the restrictions that compliance has placed on them onto the influencers they work with. This just doesn't work - both brands and influencers have a responsibility to follow the correct regulations, meet the expectations of the campaign, and maintain a professional, productive relationship that yields solid results.

As a brand, if you’re serious about working with quality influencers, you need to trust them and let them do their thing. Sitting down at the outset and getting the brief understood is critical, especially for bespoke content collaborations.

Communication is critical: ensure that the brief is understood.
Don’t micro-manage the content creation. You are using them to access an audience they have built; they know what works!