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The world of influencer marketing has been steadily growing into one of the most prevalent industries within social media and, broadly, the internet. With so many content creators, platforms, and trends, influencer marketing has access to a host of strategies to ensure your product gets the exposure it needs. While influencer marketing provides a well established foundation to market a product or brand, it is difficult to manage properly. Over the years we have seen the introduction of companies and services that utilize an influencer management platform to streamline the process for clients. In this article, we will be breaking down these influencer management platforms to show you the best practices and strategies to utilize them effectively.
Influencer Management Platform: What is it?
Over the past years, influencer marketing has become one of the most popular forms of marketing over the internet. Gone are the days of infomercials on television sets telling you to act now and get this low low price of $19.95 plus shipping and handling. Now, marketing has taken the route of a more organic and relatable approach to consumers. While influencer marketing provides great benefits, it can be slightly difficult to navigate given the millions of influencers and various platforms around the world. This is where influencer management platforms come in.
An influencer management platform is essentially a Customer Relations Management (CRM) for influencers. Influencer management platforms provide brands and those looking to utilize influencers a platform of professionally managed information on influencers, their community, niche, and a variety of other characteristics. IMP’s allow brands to narrow down the possibilities of influencers to find the right ones for their brand or niche. These platforms allow for the most fluid and efficient path to utilizing influencer marketing. Without an influencer management platform, finding this information in an orderly and succinct manner would be painstaking and somewhat arbitrary.
Are you looking for an influencer to partner with? Are you an influencer searching for an agent? Check out our picks for the top influencer management agencies here.
Each influencer is different
With this wealth of information at your fingertips, it is important to focus on some key factors in selecting an influencer. Firstly, it should be acknowledged that all influencers are not the same. Some influencers have extremely specific niches while others focus on a wide variety of sectors. Some influencers are small, some large, some love cooking, some love yoga. Some, like Bobbi here, are pop culture experts.
@theafternoonspecial It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights! #themuppetshow #themuppets #disneyplus #muppets #tvtiktok #kermit #muppetvision3d @disney
The point being each influencer is not the same. But that should excite you! This means that there are a variety of individuals to choose from and, as a brand, one could select an influencer that aligns with the goals, missions, and ideology of the brand and its supporters.
Ready to start your search? Check out our recommendations for free influencer search tools here.
Goals in influencer marketing
One of the biggest issues that brands face when using influencer marketing services is a lack of a specific mission or goal. Goals are a good thing and most of the time, influencers want to know those goals so that the brand and influencer can work relatively fluidly through the process. Influencer Management Platforms make this process much easier by guiding you through campaign creation processes, planned content uploads, and results tracking on live content. Coming into an influencer marketing experience with a specific goal in mind is fantastic and influencer marketing platforms can exaggerate the effectiveness of goal setting!
What metrics should you check?
Most IMP’s give a brand access to a host of analytical tools to allow for tracking progress. In NeoReach’s IMP, there is a specific tab named “Analytics” that breaks down important metrics about you and your influencer. These can range from influencer growth over the past month, to click-through rates on certain posted content. A best practice when navigating these numbers is to cross-reference them to your goals. If I am selling a product, I want to look at the return on investment, cost per click, and conversions. If I am more concerned about user traffic and getting the word out there on an upcoming project, event, or product, I would likely focus on referral traffic, engagement, follower growth rate and authenticity, and brand mentions.
Like in any business proposition, there is not one single metric that matters in marketing. However, if you have a detailed list of goals with influencers that share your mantra and vision for your brand, then you will have a fantastic idea of where to start.
Looking to run an epic influencer marketing campaign? NeoReach has the best experience in creating viral campaigns that convert on social media. Sign up here!
Communication and personal connection is key
When working with influencers on influencer management platforms, it is important that, like any relationship, brands communicate with their influencers. This means communicate performance goals, visions for the future, or even more simply, checking in to see how the influencer is doing. One of the most important things is to communicate in the influencer marketing process and ensure that your goal is understood.
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Part of the ability to adequately communicate also comes from the ability to work well with your influencer on a personal level. An influencer might fit your exact niche, follower count, growth rate, etc. but if your personalities don’t mesh, the outcome can be less effective. While this seems like a rather elementary best practice, it is often overlooked by number-oriented brands that have a specific quantitative goal in mind. There are many influencers out there, so be sure your find one that you can easily work with and enjoy working with on a personal level.
Influencer marketing can be a difficult marketing strategy to navigate, however, it can provide the most organic and effective engagement for a brand. While navigating influencer marketing, be sure to utilize an influencer management platform as effectively as possible by finding the perfect influencer for your brand and clearly communicating your goals. While numbers are important, they are not everything so take some time to focus on the little things just as much as the bigger goals. To get more familiar with how to utilize these IMP’s, check out NeoReach to see how we manage an influencer database to help you succeed on the way to seeing your brand’s future come to light.
