Gaige Keep On How to Work With Brand Advocates and Influencers

If you have gotten this far, we are assuming that you are confident that influencer marketing is worth exploring. 

Now, it’s time to actually find appropriate influencers. This means you need to figure out both which channels you want to use as well as what type of influencer you want:

We had a chance to chat with Gaige Keep. Keep is the CEO and owner of GaugeMedia.  GuageMedia specializes in Brand growth and consulting for influencers, entrepreneurs, and business owners looking to take advantage of the massive opportunities that building a strong social presence can bring.

Here are a couple of ways to figure this out according to Keep:

• Ask your audience. If you work with a software company, for example, you might simply get on a call with one of your customers and ask them what types of media they prefer and where they like to consume it (podcasts, blog posts, videos; YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc). You can also do this via your email list. Then find some influencers on those platforms and ask your customers if they follow any of those people. If they do, bingo! If not ask for suggestions.

• Do some competitor research. You’re probably doing some of this research already, so just check to see whom your competitors are partnering with. You likely won’t be able to make partnerships with the same influencers, though you should find competitors of the influencers and then create partnerships with them.

• Use a tool like Famebit. This connects you directly with influencers who are willing to go into long-term partnerships with brands.

An influencer is only an influencer if they can actually influence others. 

Simply put, the larger the reach, the larger the number of people who will see your product or service. An Instagram user with 1,500 followers may be able to generate some results, but an Instagram user with 150,000 followers can really push your message to your audience.

Of course, bigger is not always better. You should also take into consideration past engagement, as this helps you understand if the person’s audience truly listens to what they have to say:

Sticking with Instagram, you may find that a person with 15,000 followers receives an average of 500 likes on each update. Conversely, a person with 30,000 followers may only receive an average of 100 likes per update.

While the person with more followers will put your brand in front of more people, the post or video may not receive as much engagement. This is a balancing act with a trial-and-error component.
Depending on your budget and the level of engagement per follower you desire, you may want to look into a micro-influencer, or an influencer with a smaller (usually up to 10K) audience in a specific niche.