It’s official: influencer marketing has hit the mainstream. According to Social Media Today, influencer marketing is already estimated to be a $1.5 billion industry, with 84% of brands reporting that they plan to increase those expenditures in 2019. What used to be a murky field of marketing has now developed quite a bit of process, and marketers have gone from wondering what influencer marketing is to wondering how to optimize their efforts.

With that, let’s take a look at a few tips that will help take your influencer marketing campaigns to the next level in 2019.

Outline Your Goals

If you don’t take the time to consider what your influencer campaign’s goals are, how can you truly know if it was a success? Start by thinking about what you want to achieve. Is it brand equity? Social media follower growth? Sales? Keeping in mind that all goals cannot be met in one fell swoop, it’s imperative to design your campaign in such a way that it prioritizes the goals that are most important to you.

Homework is Mandatory

Though it might seem obvious, it’s crucial to investigate influencers’ social accounts to ensure that their images and voice align with your brand. Now that consumers have been exposed to (and are keenly aware of) this form of marketing, they can sniff out a phony from a mile away. By partnering with influencers that are predisposed to like your brand and speak in a voice that aligns with your message, you are one step closer to winning over their adoring followers.

Strength in (Smaller Follower) Numbers

When determining which influencers you want to partner with, there’s a certain allure to those with the largest followings. While it certainly can be easier to allocate your money to a singular person with a massive follower account, it’s often micro-influencers that provide the greatest bang for your buck. Not only do they have a more genuine connection with their followers, but also tend to earn a better engagement rate and come at a much cheaper price than their celebrity influencer counterparts.

Get it in Writing

When you’re primarily speaking with an influencer via email or phone, there’s a fair amount of room for miscommunication to occur. In order to avoid these issues, you should outline the scope of work and all deliverables before contacting anyone. By clearly stating the number of posts, due dates, mentions, hashtags, and mandatory caption elements in a written contract, you will minimize potential for headaches during the campaign.

Watch Out for Fakers

With the rise of influencer marketing, so, too, has come a rise in fake influencers. These social media users will use alternative means to appear as though they have more clout than they actually do. Looking for a couple of tricks to spot them? If someone has 30K followers on Instagram, but only 100 likes on a post, it’s likely that this person purchased followers. On top of that, if you notice that someone has a heavy amount of likes, but little to no comments, it’s worth a bit of further exploration. Because influencer marketing has become a lucrative profession for some, it’s led many others to try to “fake it ‘til they make it.” Looking at potential influencer partners with a keen eye for these tricks will go a long way towards making the correct choices for your campaign.

Looking to add influencer marketing to your marketing mix in 2019? Contact us today to learn how our suite of experiential marketing services can help you build emotional connections with consumers – both in person and on social.

Sources: Social Media Today 5 Key Factors to Have in Place Before Reaching Out to Influencers 2019, Dash Hudson Decoding Influencer Marketing 2018