Before you commit to collaborating with an influencer, you need to be sure that they are a good fit for your brand and are capable of helping you achieve your campaign goals . While there are never any guarantees, doing thorough research on influencers beforehand will definitely help you get going in the right direction.
But what should you look for in an influencer? How can you be sure they will meet your expectations?
Let’s look at 5 characteristics you should keep in mind when conducting your influencer research.
What is Influencer Research?
Influencer research is the process of researching and evaluating influencers with the goal of finding someone who is a good fit for your brand and campaigns.
There are a couple of stages to this.
The first stage involves creating a shortlist of potential influencers to start with. There are a couple of ways to do this. You can manually search for influencers on the platforms you’ll be advertising database running your campaign on using relevant hashtags and keywords. Alternatively, you can speed up your search by using search engine marketing software.influencer marketingwith databases and filters to optimize your results .
Once you have a shortlist of candidates who might be a good fit, the next stage of influencer research involves digging deeper into who they are and what they’re capable of doing . This will help you identify whether an influencer is a good fit for your brand, whether their audience aligns with your target market, and whether they’ve achieved the results you’re looking for.
This is what we will focus on in the rest of this post.
5 characteristics you should look for in a good influencer
One of the most important things to check when conducting your influencer research is their performance metrics, especially in terms of their level of activity and engagement . However, this is not enough to determine whether they will be able toeffectively promote your productYou also need someone who is authentic, passionate, trustworthy, approachable, and responsive . Plus, they need to be experts at creating recognising the business role content that connects with your target audience.
Let’s look at these essential characteristics to help you understand what to look for when conducting your influencer research.
Authenticity
First, you need to check that an influencer is real and that their audience is made up of authentic followers . This is important because it is very easy to be fooled by a fake influencer with a seemingly large audience, only to find out later that their followers are mostly bots and inactive accounts.
The easiest way to check the authenticity of an influencer is to calculate theiraudience quality scoreThis is an essential tool, available through the Influencity platform, that allows you to analyse an influencer’s profile to ensure that their followers are real. The calculation takes into account a number of aspects, including followers’ activities, profile photos and user engagement rates . It’s an easy way to quickly identify whether an influencer’s audience is authentic, or whether they’ve been boosted by bots or fake followers.
Once you’ve determined that an influencer is authentic, don’t forget to check their audience demographics and interests to make sure they’d be interested in what your brand has to say.
Experience with content creation
Good Influencer It’s also important to make sure that an influencer has experience creating content that appeals to your target audience . The best way to do this is to check out their profiles and check the quality of their posts .
Is their content engaging and eye-catching? Does it stand out? Do they experiment with a variety of formats? Do they promote the same values as you? Would you be happy to have them represent your brand?
Passion
Passion is key when it comes to influencer marketing. You need to belize lists work with someone who gets excited about your brand and inspires your target audience to feel the same way . Passion is what will drive your campaigns, and it’s something that can’t be faked.
How much energy do they put into their posts? Are they exciting and positive? Do they convey a sense of aspiration and persuasion? If they don’t, then it’s time to move on to another potential candidate on your list.
Trust
In addition to being authentic, the influencer you choose also needs to be trustworthy. After all, you’re putting your reputation in their hands, so you want to be confident that they’ll have your best interests in mind .
Trust isn’t just important for the relationship you build with an influencer; you also need to be sure that their audience trusts what they say . Otherwise, they’re unlikely to provide your brand with the level of credibility you need for your campaign to be successful.
Good Influencer Are they transparent about their sponsored posts? Do their product reviews seem fair and balanced? Have they publicly bad-mouthed anyone? Are they selective about the brands they promote?
Close and receptive
Finally, you need to make sure that the influencer you choose is approachable and receptive.
Basically, this means that they are pleasant, friendly and sociable . They need to get along with their followers and be free of pretensions. They need to demonstrate a degree of humility and regularly interact with their community in an open and transparent manner .
