Which influencer is right for me?

• A wide reach or a niche audience?
• Micro-, medium- or macro-influencers?

Collaboration with influencers has long since established itself as a popular component of the communications mix. In 2018, more than four in ten companies in Germany stated that they had allocated a fixed budget for influencer marketing.  To make the most of this, there are a few points to bear in mind. In addition to setting specific goals and the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to be measured, choosing the right influencer is crucial to the success of a collaboration.

Micro or macro: engagement vs. reach

The higher the reach and the number of followers on Instagram, the better? Not quite. A sufficiently large community is undoubtedly a plus, but factors such as the engagement rate must not be overlooked. For micro-influencers with up to around 30,000 followers, this is generally significantly higher than for macro-influencers. This means that, relative to reach, the number of user interactions such as comments, shares or likes is particularly high. It also means that the relevance of the posts to followers is significantly greater.

The right brand fit creates authenticity

The largest community is of no use if it does not buy into the influencer’s enthusiasm for the product, for example because they are promoting offers from competing manufacturers as if on an assembly line, or because the product does not fit with their actual interests – and therefore does not align with their followers’ preferences either. Depending on the objective, product and message, companies with smaller reach perform better if the influencer genuinely stands behind the product being promoted, the recommendation comes from the heart and the story fits credibly into the concept. Furthermore, the proportion of promotional posts in the feed should not be too high.

Finding the right niche

Food, fashion, lifestyle: for some topics, the density of influencers is simply higher than for others. Consequently, the selection of influencers and reach figures are correspondingly high for mainstream topics. However, the narrower the niche, the better the community aligns with your own target audience, and there is less wastage. Furthermore, the influencer is a credible expert in their field who enjoys a high level of trust within their community.

To be particularly effective, influencer marketing should be seamlessly integrated into the overall strategy. We’d be happy to help you find the right influencers for you and support you with your influencer marketing strategy.