How to get the best impact from working with influencers
5 simple tips that will you allow you to optimize your time and get the most out of your relationship with influencers
Influencer marketing has been growing exponentially as an integral part of the public relations offer and while it is true that we are able to organize a press conference almost automatically, the process for interacting and creating experiences with influencers, especially microinfluencers has yet to become second nature.
Is it possible to optimize our time when creating a strategy to approach this target? Are we sufficiently clear about the types of influencers that exist and which are the most compatible with our brand?
To put ourselves on situation, I want to leave you a list with the different influencer’s types that currently exist and, my recommendation on when to collaborate with one type or another according to our experience.
1. Nanoinfluencers: Between 500 and 5K followers.
Perfect for campaigns in which you need to go to a very specific target. Do not be fooled by the number of followers, since it is about reaching a very specific target audience.
2.Microinfluencers: Between 5K and 30K followers.
It is one of the most chosen categories by brands today because they have a community of loyal followers who perceive them as authentic, and feel represented with their lifestyle and taste.
3. Power Users: Between 30K and 500K.
This range of influencers is very broad and works well when it comes to creating brand experiences. Keep in mind that at this level is very likely to ask for a fee in exchange for collaboration.
4. Celebrities: More than 500K followers.
We usually collaborate with them for punctual actions in which, in addition to wanting to reach a specific target, we may be interested in calling the attention of the media.
Taking this categorization as a starting point, from Canela we propose five easy tips to make our campaigns with influencers are profitable and effective.
1. Be accurate with analytical tools
Have you ever had to pass five lists of influencers to your client because they are not convinced that they fit the spirit of the brand? Using influencers analysis tools will facilitate this task, while helping you to target audience 100%. In Canela we use platforms like Klear, that allows you to know the actual audience of the influencer, as well as where, what years they have or what the tastes of their followers are.
2. Collaborate with specialized agencies
Many (I must admit that I include myself) put our hands to the head when some of the influencers with whom we collaborated directly send us the contact of the team that represented them. However, this new type of agency has not done more than help us in our day to day. The professionals who form these companies have undoubtedly helped to professionalize the role of influencer, offering them the opportunity to focus on what is really important: create. Our collaborations with agencies like theinfluencer.es, Kaad o influencity.com could not be more successful, facilitating us not only the administrative process or approvals, but also the creative one.
3. Share, share and SHARE
Have you ever had a great experience with an influencer, but you have not shared it with the rest of the team in the agency? Or with the rest of the department of your company? In Canela we have a clear philosophy: to have a transversal communication between our three offices: Barcelona, Lisbon and Madrid; and our four areas: Digital, B2B, Consumer Tech and Lifestyle. And so we do with the influencers too. Just as we work in a database that is targeted and updated almost in real time, we also have one for influencers in which the whole team shares their experiences and recommendations.
4. Educate the client
We started this article by saying that working with influencers is not a fad: there are already here and they are here to stay. And as such, it is necessary for all of us to be aware that their work is as valid and important as ours or that of journalists. If we want to make quality collaborations with them, it is essential to understand that part of our clients´ budget for PR actions must be destined to collaborate with them. We also have to take into account their schedules (especially the microinfluencers) and that, many of them, have made the online world their way of life. Therefore, if we want them to be our communication channel we must reward them correspndingly, either through fees or by offering them something that is relevant to them.
5. Create experience
Continuing with our previous point, we have to be clear that working for product exchange is no longer enough if we want our brands to appear in the influencers ´channels in a creative and relevant way. Although it may seem otherwise, this is a good thing. For a given profile to be really a prescriber, we must create relevant experiences in which both they and the brand are the protagonists. A clear example of this need is our work for Sony. To present the latest innovations of the brand, we have created personalized micro experiences in which, bringing together eight or ten influencers, we have used a creative concept to focus on the quality of the manufacturer’s products. For example, we have made a helicopter flight through Madrid and Barcelona to present the latest headphones with noise cancellation. Or we have done a paddle surfing workshop in La Barceloneta to see on firsthand the power of the submersible speakers of the brand.
It is really likely that many of these questions you are using in your day to day. However, I believe that PR agencies and the brands should go one step further. Systematizing there processes and creating strategies with profitable and optimized influencers will help a sector that in recent years has been professionalized and with which we will continue to work closely to get the best out of our public relations campaigns.