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10 Expert Tips To Successfully Run An Influencer Campaign
Did you know that 69% of consumers trust product recommendations from influencers?
They’re that powerful.
Additionally, the reported average social media ROI is around 250%, while businesses working with influencers see a return of $6.50 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing (650%).
That’s a 2.6x higher ROI.
These numbers highlight why building relationships with influencers is crucial. Influencers aren’t just a trend—they’re a powerful force in marketing.
Do you think influencer marketing is a marketing trend that will fade away soon?
Influencer marketing has been around for ages and is not going anywhere. We just added the label “influencer marketing” recently.
In the 1980s, Tom Cruise wore Ray-Ban sunglasses in all his blockbusters. Ray-Ban Wayfarers in Risky Business and Ray-Ban Aviators in Top Gun. The sunglasses company was almost out of business, but because of that exposure and connection with a rising personality, its sales reached hundreds of millions of dollars.
Leveraging partnerships with people who have a deep connection with their audience is nothing new. But to make it work, you have to do it well. In this post, we’ll share practical tips for connecting with influencers and leveraging these partnerships to boost your brand.
Keep reading to discover how to make influencer collaborations work for you!
Before The Campaign
Do Your Research
Finding the right person is the first step of your journey. Influencers come in all shapes and sizes, and your primary goal should be to find the most suitable ones.
If you’re completely new to this, a great way to get started is to create a list of keywords relevant to your industry and see what people frequently appear as a top result.
A great way to start is by finding those already talking about your brand or your competitors.
Make Sure You’re Actually Working With Influencers
Influencer marketing doesn’t center around the influencer but around the audience that follows them.
You must analyze whether the followers of the person you are planning to contact are part of your target audience. The best way to view their social media content and analytics in one place is to use Metricool’s competitor analysis feature.
Compare where different influencers stand in terms of engagement, impressions, and reach. View their top-performing content and what messages they are sending, what strategies they use, and how their audiences respond.
ℹ️ Read this post for a full breakdown of how to perform a social media competitor analysis with Metricool.
Influencers Come In All Shapes And Sizes Prices
Don’t be fooled by a low follower count. If the audience is engaged, smaller influencers (micro-influencers) can deliver impressive results at a fraction of the cost of bigger names. Engagement rates, authenticity, and niche relevance often trump sheer follower numbers.
Nano-influencers have a 2.19% engagement rate on average. The highest of all.
To help you identify the right influencers and estimate your budget, I’ve created a handy table:
Types of Instagram Influencers By Size And Rates
| Followers | Rate (Posts & Reels) | Rate (Stories) | |
| Nano-influencers | < 10,000 | < $100 | $50 |
| Micro-influencers | 10,000 – 50,000 | $100 – $500 | |
| Mid-tier influencers | 50,000 – 100,000 | $500 – $5,000 | |
| Macro-influencers | 100,000 – 500,000 | $5,000 – $10,000 | |
| Mega-influencers | 500,000 | $10,000 | $2,500 |
Types of TikTok Influencers By Size And Rates
| Followers | Rate | |
| Nano-influencers | < 10,000 | $25 |
| Micro-influencers | 10,000 – 100,000 | $25 – $125 |
| Mid-tier influencers | 100,000 – 500,000 | $125 – $1,200 |
| Macro-influencers | 500,000 – 1M | $1,200 – $2,500 |
| Mega-influencers | > 1M | $2,500 |
Types of YouTube Influencers By Size And Rates
| Followers | Rate | |
| Nano-influencers | < 50,000 | < $200 |
| Micro-influencers | 50,000 – 100,000 | $200 – $5,000 |
| Mid-tier influencers | 100,000 – 500,000 | $5,000 – $10,000 |
| Macro-influencers | 500,000 – 1M | $10,000 – $20,000 |
| Mega-influencers | > 1M | $20,000 |
Disclaimer: Many factors will affect rates (followers’ demographics, niche, etc.). Use this table for reference and as a starting point, but reach out to influencers directly to get their exact rates.
Leverage Long-Term Partnerships And Commission-Based Payments
Building long-term relationships with influencers can lead to better rates and more authentic endorsements. Influencers are more likely to become genuinely invested in your brand, leading to more consistent and compelling content.
Implementing an affiliate program where influencers earn a commission on sales they generate aligns the influencers’ incentives with your business goals while allowing them to make more money than the fixed rate.
Relationships Matter
Even if we’re building a commercial relationship, we’re all people. Never forget that. Building a strong personal relationship will take you a long way.
An excellent example of this mindset is Héctor De Prada, a tech founder who frequently collaborates with creators and shared that “One of the things that have worked best for us–without realizing it at first–is attending events to meet and build relationships with influencers and content creators. Opportunities for collaboration often arise organically.”
“Plus, having a previous personal relationship allows for more favorable conditions when working with them. Without that connection, you might not even get a chance to work with them due to their “status” compared to your brand, especially if you’re just starting out.”
Brand Alignment
Selecting the right people to work with is the first necessary step for a successful campaign. Reach, interaction, and fee don’t matter if there’s a big misalignment between brand and influencer.
The biggest creator in the world couldn’t bring results to a brand in an industry that its audience isn’t interested in.
The below is a great example of an excellent brand and influencer alignment.
Lagavulin Scotch whisky maker Diageo partnered with actor Nick Offerman–who played the famous Parks & Recreation’s Ron Swanson. Not the most popular TV star, but a charismatic character that a huge part of the brand’s target audience can relate to.
Another great example of excellent brand-influencer alignment is this collab between cookware brand Great Jones and cooking personality and former Bon Appetite contributor Claire Saffitz.
I love this spot-on audience match because Great Jones targets millennials who probably find brands like Le Creuset too expensive. And Claire’s community consists mainly of millennials who love cooking and baking.
Also, they got super creative and not only created a beautiful campaign and assets using Claire’s image but also organized a virtual cooking class that hundreds of people joined live and has racked up almost 150K views.
Set Clear Expectations
Clarity is key. Make sure you’re all on the same page when it comes to objectives, deliverables, timeline, budget, and payment terms. Include guidelines, creative briefs, and performance metrics. Don’t forget legal and ethical stuff like disclosure and copyright.
No one can read minds. Provide crystal-clear guidelines on morality, content topics, and profanity, if necessary. Communicate openly about your brand and expectations.
During The Campaign
Monitor Influencer Content
Keep a close eye on the content that influencers post about your brand:
Regular Check-Ins: Review the content posted by influencers. This helps ensure that the content aligns with your brand’s message and meets quality standards.
Engagement Metrics: Track engagement metrics like likes, comments, shares, and overall sentiment.
Feedback Loop: Provide timely and constructive feedback to influencers. If an influencer’s post doesn’t quite hit the mark, suggest adjustments or provide additional guidance to improve future posts.
Interact with Their Audience
Two small actions that can help you increase engagement and visibility:
Comment Section: Jump into the comment section of influencer posts and engage with people. It’s a great opportunity to win them over. Answer questions, acknowledge compliments, and address concerns.
Like and Share: Use your brand’s accounts to boost the influencer’s content.
Support Your Influencers
‘Where did they get that old logo?’
‘Didn’t we change that copy?’
These are just two of the many issues that can happen if the influencer doesn’t have access to the proper resources. Make sure you supply them with product samples, information, or branded content they can use.
After The Campaign
Track Results Accurately
Noemí Carro, a marketing expert and fractional CMO who recently led a launch campaign with influencers that generated over $300K in sales, says: “Prior to selecting influencers, it’s crucial to clearly define the desired action. Remember, seeking brand recognition is a different goal from capturing potential customers.”
“Once the key metric that will define the campaign’s success is clear, you can start considering different candidates based on their media kit, social mentions, and brand affinity.”
This is the campaign’s final part, but it’s something you have to have thought about in the beginning.
The same campaign can have different goals, but it’s important to set them beforehand and know what are we going to measure. You can go crazy and track a lot of them, but if you’re new to this type of campaign, it’s better to stick to some tried and tested essentials.”
Brand awareness is one of the top reasons brands partner with influencers. It’s a great way to get your name out there and reach new segments and demographics.
Some KPIs to measure this are:
- Audience Growth. A strong indication of better brand awareness. Once the campaign ends, you can also check mutual followers with the influencer. This will give you an approximate idea of the number of followers you gained from the partnership. Make sure you check this number before and after the campaign.
- Impressions/Reach. Did you improve your average audience reach and by how much?
- Mentions. Same as above, did the number of mentions grow during the campaign?
Website traffic. The number of people who land on a specific page. To accurately measure this, make sure you create custom links with the right UTM parameters for each collaborator to be able to track this correctly from Google Analytics.
If you’re not familiar with this, here’s a brief guide on UTM parameters and how to set them in Metricool.
Conversions. This is any brand’s ultimate goal. Whether it’s a download, a signup, or a sale. This last stage will help you calculate your cost per acquisition within this campaign and will ultimately determine its success.
Wrap Up
Working with influencers can be a game-changer, but only if you do it right.
That means putting in the time to prep and track your campaign. So, before diving headfirst into your next influencer collaboration, take the time to lay a solid foundation. It’ll save you a couple of headaches and you also will probably get better results.
Got experience working with influencers? Hit reply and share your best tip that I missed.