Not every like is a good like - How to choose the right influencer to promote your brand

More than a billion people are active on social networks every month. Serbia is not lagging behind this trend, either. An increasing number of people are present every day on one of the social networks, where they actively participate in public debates, share and create different types of content.

Ever since they became popular over a decade ago, social networks have attracted the attention of marketers who quickly noticed the huge potential for the placement of various products, but also for the brand promotion. In this segment, special emphasis is placed on influencers whose activities attract the attention of a large number of users.

In the professional marketing literature, influencers are defined as "persons who have the ability to influence potential buyers of products or services through promotion, or recommendation through social networks." Although the behavior of influencers can significantly influence the decisions of a large number of people, it is still not enough to choose a person who has a lot of likes and comments under his posts for the company's successful appearance on social media. It should always be borne in mind that according to research findings, almost 30% of influencers do not have an organic audience, and likes and comments come from "phantom" accounts. Therefore, the whole process of selecting a promoter needs to be approached very thoroughly and analytically.

Special attention should be paid to the following steps that will help you, firstly, to determine which influencers are eligible to do your promotion, and then to make the final decision, one which should result in increase in sales:

If you have decided to enhance your brand’s market presence through increased influencer engagement, the first thing you need to do is study potential candidates carefully. Pay special attention to the above mentioned fact that almost a third of influencers do not have an organic audience.

At this stage, it is important to carefully monitor the potential promoter's audience. You can use a number of analytical software tools that can provide you with crucial information. It is necessary to follow which group of people, according to demographic characteristics and interests, are active on the influencer's profile. If the data collected by the analysis matches the target audience of the brand, then you have successfully formed a narrow circle of people who will be involved in your promotion.

After successfully creating a short list of candidates, one should start carefully monitoring their behavior on social networks.

What you need to pay special attention to is how potential promoters treat your brand. If the infuencer is critical of your particular product, or group of products, such candidates, regardless of their great popularity, drop out. There is simply no point in making an agreement with the person whom you ask to revise their position and completely change their mind about an issue. Even if you manage to reach an agreement, it will be a futile job because the first reactions of the audience will lean towards a brutal "provocation" aimed against both you and the influencer, due to playing with the audience's trust.

So you need to pay attention to those who speak positively, whether specifically about your product or product category. If there is a positive "feedback" from the influencer, followed by your target group, then it is the perfect combination to initiate the next segment of the analysis.

Influencers publish their content in various formats - text, images or video. The way they are presented can be more or less technically refined, in terms of nice writing, good photo processing or video editing. The more pronounced the technical skill, the more it qualifies the candidate to be paid for your promotion.

However, an important aspect of this step is the way the audience is addressed. Whether the content is witty, melodramatic, filled with warm emotions, is also very important in choosing an influencer, because sales and recognizability depend on it a lot.

At this point, it becomes clear how important knowledge of theory is for a successful marketing strategy. Howard Sawyer, former vice president of one of Manhattan’s oldest marketing agencies, Marsteller, has often said he is against too much creativity in advertising. Based on many years of experience, Sayer concluded that too much fun, wit and creativity put the content of the advertisement in the foreground, while the product falls into oblivion. People tend to form their overall impressions based on a very limited amount of information, and if that information is charged with strong emotions, then they take all the attention of an observer who does not pay attention to the brand or product. So, the goal is for you to be the center of attention and not the rhetorical or artistic skills of the influencer, no matter how much talent he or she possesses. That is why it is necessary to define the right measure in the appearance on social networks that perfectly suits your product.

Before the deal itself, many marketers omit this last step. Often, based on the data and the number of likes, the choice falls on the promoter and a meaningful conversation is held with him about all the details of the cooperation.

During the conversation about hiring a marketing expert, you should be a true psychologist and evaluate the personality well, as well as the character traits of the future brand ambassador. Pay special attention to whether the potential candidate is prone to eccentric behavior, non-compliance with the agreement, whether he or she allows interventions in the content of the publication in case the characteristics of the product are not highlighted properly, etc.

Special attention should be payed to the tendency towards socially unacceptable behavior, or even worse, criminal behavior. Such outbursts lead to public condemnation and can only involve you in an unnecessary PR crisis: writing apologetic statements in which you distance yourself from that person, justifying yourself by explaining how you did not know what was happening, how you condemn the said actions etc., and no company needs that. That is why it is important to make the right assessment in time, because the goal of hiring an influencer is to grow together on social networks through a combination of the quality of your product and influencer's charisma.

Nikola Ignjatović