Over the last few years, influencer marketing has gone from strength to strength.

Once considered a marketing tactic, is now an industry with an estimated worth of $4bn – set to double in 2019. Safe to say, it’s not going anywhere, anytime soon.

For marketing veterans and novices alike, the challenges of working with influencers aren’t going anywhere either. According to the Influencer Marketing 2020 report, there’s some common pain points across the industry, and since we’ve been there, we thought we might share some wisdom…

Proving ROI of individual influencers

Although we’re still trying to master it ourselves we have discovered some handy ways to quantify the return on our influencer marketing campaigns – it’s not impossible but we’ll agree, it’s trying.

If you’re an eCom business or working with one, implementing tracking parameters into your links are game changing. We also love us some affiliate links and discount codes, which offers complete visibility on who is delivering and who isn’t cutting it.

And while content production isn’t (usually) considered a return, it does help keep costs down enabling the repurposing of social content beyond the creators’ channel.

We’re currently working with a fashion brand who is using influencers’ content to fuel their whole campaign. The quality is great, the posts show off the clothes and its more cost effective than organising a photoshoot and paying for photographers, stylists, models etc. What they spent on production has been cut down by half. It’s a win win.

Finding a balance between setting a brief and allowing creative freedom

The truth is, it’s not about finding a balance. It’s about creating a marriage. Influencers have their own brand they’ve spent years building, very few are willing to compromise and that’s fair enough.

Work with influencers whose content already resonates with your brand. Find a partnership that allows influencers to stay true to their image whilst adhering to the brief. Don’t try to fit a square into a circle.

Trust is also key. Influencers’ know the content that works, and more importantly, they know their audience. We’ve had several incidents where brands have had a very clear vision of the kind of content they want because it works great…for their channels.

Pushing content that doesn’t fit with the influencers’ brand, simply won’t fly. Their audiences see straight through it and it never goes well.

Identifying talent who are relevant to goals and audience

Firstly, know your audience. It sounds very textbook 101 but you would be surprised. When identifying influencers, we look at a mixed bag of accounts. We collaborate with bigger influencers with a large follower base, as well as smaller micro influencers who may not have the same reach but they get loads of engagement.

Diversifying your influencer selection, will also enable greater vertical coverage. Your target audience may be millennials, 25 – 34 but you can be guaranteed they won’t all have the same interests or use social media for the one purpose.

There’s so much to consider and this is why it’s time consuming. We were facing the same challenges a couple of years ago and decided to develop our own tech – MatchMaker™, for this very reason. And it does exactly what it says on the tin, it matches your brand requirements with influencers in our database. No stress, all likes.

Getting their attention and being able to engage them

Approaching and engaging influencers can sometimes feel like dating, if only there was an app for that…brainwave!!! Speaking with our top team of Account Managers we’ve compiled a few hot tips so you can avoid sending out 120 emails.

Know your stuff: Make yourself familiar with their content and what campaigns they’ve previously been involved with before initial response. This will add a more personal touch and a natural flow of conversation.

Money talks: If you’ve worked with them before – check their previous rates and quotes so you don’t come back with an offer they already turned down or one that’s way lower than they’ve worked for before.

Socially active: Comment and like their social posts, and do some regramming if their content works with your own brand. Some cross-recognition is always great for relationship building. Basically, make yourself present and become a familiar face.