5 Attributes of an Influencer Marketing Campaign

Before brand marketers seek to gratify trendsetters, they should ensure that the all the bare minimum attributes of an influencer marketing campaign are in place. To succeed with this tactic, the agency and brand teams must employ a well thought out process around planning and execution. It's not enough to find the right influencers, often the key to success is the actionable aspects of the content plan.

Our recipe for success for an influencer marketing campaign is split into five phases, aiming to convince and convert intended audiences. To make the most out of your influencer marketing campaign, follow this guide:

1. Objective

Identify the budget, the resources, the deliverables, and the projected timeline for achieving commercial success. Define scenarios that are grounded in reality pertaining to the outcomes of the campaign. Once that is done, conduct an internal review that all sides of the table can agree on the expectations set forth. In our experience, you should start the conversation with content control and guidelines, especially for industries such as healthcare or personal finance, wherein the brand cannot be associated with content that does not comply with regulatory standards. Again, outline expectations from the get go and get clearance from all accountable stakeholders.

2. Hunting

Identify your target market and target message. Identify the influencer that fall into the demographics of your target audience or attract said audience to their channel or platform. Set a meeting with all the shortlisted parties and openly share your interests at hand. Seek to listen more than to speak. Seek to understand the perspective of the talent. It may be the case that the talent has a better method for pushing the brand message than the strategy teams have thought of. Afterall, influencers know their audiences better than outsiders do. No influencer is willing to jeopardise their image for a brand or agency, regardless of the monetary incentives presented.

3. Amplify

We recommend that marketers let influencer lead or feel like they are leading the content creation process so as to create more advocacy in the sharing element. These are not professional actors. If their heart is not in the work, it will be apparent on their expressions. Let them have control or create the illusion of it. Your job is to amplify the content, extend it, and ensure it is seen by the target audience online & offline.  A great content creation guide can be found here, from the Federal Trade Commission. By focusing on product benefits instead of attributes, influencers can organically create content that slithers in their own personal voice & brand in as well.

4. Optimise

Track the content views, rank them, and stick to the one's that perform the best. Inform the influencer in real time what content is producing the greatest social currency. Create more and boost it, leverage paid distribution.

5. Track

Take notes every step of the way with regards to what has been learnt throughout the campaign. Share these findings with the talent behind the influencer marketing campaign to build camaraderie. Remember that great content has the potential to take off well after the campaign period. It is uncommon for our campaign videos to resurge and emerge as trending topics months after an influencer marketing campaign has concluded.

Consumer Goods brands would do well to leverage this underpriced tactic for engaging prospective target audiences, backed by the authentic voice of a social media influencer. Reach me on [email protected] to get started.