When a small local business gets approached for a collaboration with an Instagram influencer, it’s a great opportunity for exposure, but there are several key considerations to keep in mind:
- Local Influence: If you’re targeting a local audience, finding a local influencer can have significant advantages. They’ll likely have a follower base in your area, leading to more relevant engagement. Does the influencer you’re considering working with post about smaller local businesses within 20-30 minutes of your location most of the time or exclusively? This would mean their followers are local and will translate to butts in your seats (or walking through your door). Do they post about online brands, places they travel to, or funny content that would appeal to people nationwide or worldwide? Reaching national or international followers will not translate to business for your brick + mortar. While going viral and getting a ton of views is exciting, how much will it really help your business if the people watching are not local? While we love all of our local influencers & bloggers, those who post a lot of generic, but hilarious content are bound to appeal to people all over. You can always ask for a breakdown (screenshot) on where their followers are located and calculate their reach based on the percentage of followers in your immediate area. Check out their username as a hashtag. Do local businesses frequently use it as a hashtag? Do local businesses frequently tag them within their content as it helps them to be associated with the influencer?
- Relevance: Ensure the influencer’s content aligns with your brand values and target audience. Their followers should match your customer demographic to maximize the impact. This can include their age, gender, income level, education level, location, marital status, occupation, ethnicity and culture, hobbies and interests, language, technology use, lifestyle and life stage. When developing an advertising campaign, it’s essential to understand your target audience thoroughly. Here are key demographics to consider:
- Age: Different age groups have varying preferences and media consumption habits. For example, products targeting teenagers might focus on social media platforms, while those for seniors might use more traditional media like TV ads.
- Gender: Understanding gender differences can help tailor messaging and visuals to resonate better with your audience. Some campaigns may target a specific gender more than others.
- Income Level: Income affects purchasing power. Campaigns targeting higher-income brackets might emphasize luxury and exclusivity, while those targeting lower-income groups may focus on affordability and value.
- Education Level: Education influences language, complexity of message, and media habits. More educated audiences might appreciate detailed, informative content, while others might prefer straightforward, concise messaging.
- Location: Geographic location can affect language, cultural references, and even product availability. Advertising in urban areas might focus on convenience, while rural areas might emphasize durability.
- Marital Status: Whether someone is single, married, or has a family can influence their purchasing decisions. Family-oriented campaigns might highlight security and family benefits, while single-targeted might focus on freedom and adventure.
- Occupation: Professionals might favor products that speak to efficiency and productivity, whereas creatives might respond to innovation and unique design.
- Ethnicity and Culture: Cultural sensibilities and preferences significantly dictate advertising strategies, as what’s appealing to one group may not be relevant to another. Cultural holidays and events can also drive campaign timing.
- Hobbies and Interests: Understanding these can help in endorsing products that align with a group’s lifestyle, making the messaging more relatable and engaging.
- Language: Language and dialect impact how messages are crafted. Ensuring ads are in the right language for the target demographic can significantly affect comprehension and reception.
- Technology Use: Knowing how tech-savvy your audience is helps determine the platforms to use for your campaign, such as social media, apps, or traditional media.
- Lifestyle: A demographic’s lifestyle (urban vs. rural, active vs. sedentary, etc.) can provide insights into what narratives and visuals will resonate with them.
- Life Stage: Tailor messages based on whether your audience is in college, recently married, retired, etc., as different life stages come with unique priorities and buying considerations.
- Considering these demographics allows marketing platforms to craft messages that are relevant, relatable, and impactful, increasing the odds of campaign success. It helps ensure that the campaign’s visuals, channels, tone, and content align seamlessly with the target audience’s expectations and preferences.
- Engagement, Not Just Followers: An influencer with fewer followers but high engagement (reel views, likes, comments, and shares) can be more valuable than someone with thousands of disengaged followers. Authentic connections often lead to better results. we typically use socialblade.com to track engagement and prefer to work with influencers who have a 1-3% engagement rate, minimum of 100 likes + comments, and more than 1,000 views for each of their reels.
- Content Quality and Style: Check the quality of the influencer’s content. Their style should complement your brand’s aesthetic/brand voice. Consistent, creative, and appealing content will represent your brand well. Will you expect a reel? A single photo? A carousel of photos (several photos in a row like a slideshow). Does the influencer make themselves the subject of the post? Or is it an informational post about the business they are featuring? We typically shy away from collaborating with influencers whose main focus is themselves, their hair, their outfit, etc. and instead gravitate towards working with influencers who showcase the interesting and unique things about the business/brand they are collaborating with.
- Collaboration Goals: Clearly define what you hope to achieve from the collaboration. Whether it’s increased brand awareness, new customers, or launching a new dish or product, having clear goals helps measure success. Make sure you include anything new or different that your business is featuring or anything you plan on featuring soon. Are you looking to get more followers? Would a giveaway make the most sense? A giveaway is when you partner with an influencer for a collaboration and followers are required to like a post, follow all accounts participating in the giveaway and tag a friend to enter to win. Giveaways are a great way to get more followers your business can market directly to.
- Compensation: Discuss terms upfront. Compensation can vary from free food or products to payment per post or commission-based models. Make sure it aligns with your budget and the expected return on investment. Often times it is cheaper for a business to barter with an influencer than to pay in cash. Remember that you are paying the influencer (even if with a barter) just like you would pay a blog, website ad, magazine ad for exposure to their followers. When compared to the reach of print ads, influencers often have a far larger and far more engaged reach.
- Authenticity and Credibility: Assess the influencer’s authenticity. Are they known for genuine recommendations, or do they frequently promote unrelated products? Do they reply to comments from their followers with brand authenticity? Authentic influencers can build trust and credibility for your brand. Are their likes and comments always from the same pool of influencers indicating their participation in an engagement pod? These are group messages/pods in which participating members send in their posts for inflated engagement purposes. They receive artificial likes and comments from group members in exchange for giving other members artificial engagement inflation.
- Contract and Terms: Have a clear agreement detailing deliverables, timelines, payment terms, and the use of content. This avoids misunderstandings and ensures both parties are on the same page.
- Long-term Potential: Consider if there’s potential for a long-term relationship. Ongoing collaborations can build a stronger connection with their audience over time.
- Performance Metrics: Establish how success will be measured. Will you track website traffic, increased sales, social media followers, or another metric? Make sure both parties understand these metrics.
- Legal Considerations: Be aware of advertising regulations in your area, including disclosure requirements. Influencers need to be transparent about paid partnerships to avoid legal issues.
- Feedback and Flexibility: Be open to the influencer’s creative input while staying true to your brand. Their insights can add value but ensure the content aligns with your goals.
By carefully considering these factors, you can ensure a mutually beneficial collaboration that enhances your brand’s presence and drives growth effectively.
At 203social, we track the top 250 influencers in Fairfield & New Haven Counties on a monthly basis. We track their engagement rate, see who is growing fast and up and coming, who is stagnant, and whose accounts are dormant to assist with identifying who makes the most sense for our social media management customers to work with. We are also hired on a one off basis by businesses to manage this process on their behalf. We know which influencers are reliable, which ones cancel, and which ones take forever to actually make their posts. We will assist you with coming up with a barter or monetary compensation amount to offer, identify potential influencers to collaborate with, and communicate with these influencers on behalf of your business. We will let you know when the influencer plans to come, clearly communicate the parameters of the collaboration with the influencers, and let you know the date the influencer plans on posting as well as when the post goes live. This will save you time and save your business money!
Click HERE to inquire about one of our packages or navigate to “Contact” on our website.
