What should be your top choice when choosing an influencer marketing platform? Let’s find out.
Brands are growing into fame every other day. Why? Because of the wide scope laid out by the strategy of influencer marketing.
Over the last few years, influencer marketing has garnered a market size crossing $13 billion around the globe. So, if you are still wondering, it’s about time you tap into this marketing strategy. But, how do you find the right influencer partnerships in the growing market?
Why is it important to find an influencer marketing platform?
Every social media platform is surging with new influencers every other day. While there are new faces with fashion inspiration on Instagram, Facebook is streaming with food bloggers. The market is absolutely jam-packed.
The task of fishing out the best influencer collab can be pretty daunting. Considering the right partnership can either make or break your influencer campaign. To tackle that very obstacle, you need influencer marketing platforms.
Such campaign management platforms can bag you the most effective collaborations. That too, you can outright discuss your campaign and get influencers accordingly. In no time, your brand will also show up on every For You page if you choose the right platform.
What are the key specifications of an influencer marketing platform?
Now that you are through the importance of an influencer marketing platform, there are a couple of specifications you can look out for:
- Social Media Integration:
The core feature of any influencer marketing platform is to integrate various social media platforms in one place. Through this, brands can successfully calculate the results of multiple campaigns in one go. Hence, they can track the engagement of the marketing campaign and analyze its output for the brand.
- Influencer Discovery Tools:
Finding the right influencer for the right campaign is what the goal is. Hence, another important feature to look for is how the platform can reach you to people who resonate with the message of your brand. These platforms provide you with filters, engagement sorting, collaboration histories, and much more so that you can pick the right creator.
- Campaign Management Tools:
Reputable influencer marketing platforms can offer you solid management tools. Starting from scheduling payouts to approving content, there is so much you have under control. This way, brands can scale their campaign and get precise oversight into their very potential.
- Budgeting And ROI Tools:
The investment of collaborating with creators can be quite hefty most of the time. Hence, most influencer marketing platforms offer ROI trackers and budgeting tools. This enables brands to evaluate their expenses on an influencer campaign wisely.
How to choose the best influencer marketing platform?
Choosing the most suitable influencer marketing platform for your brand doesn’t have to be tacky. Most platforms provide you with the basic features, but what beyond that? This is how you can pick the best platform:
- Evaluating The Influencer Marketing Software:
You can’t jump into using an influencer marketing platform just because it is advertised to be good. Make sure you have a checklist in hand.
For instance, ensure that your marketing software has good collaboration records, customer service responsiveness, easy-to-use tools, etc. Also, it is always better to try demos and trial periods before considering using the platform.
- Analyzing Past Performance:
Before choosing the influencer marketing platform, analyzing its past campaigns is non-negotiable. In most cases, these platforms have in-depth reviews of their success rates. Important factors such as conversions, engagement rates, and reach can help you strengthen your campaign strategy.
- Leveraging Creator-Brand Relationship:
Apart from official transactions and investments, a good influencer marketing platform must push the influencer-brand relationship propaganda. Without a good connection, it is impossible to launch a successful ad campaign. A platform that stresses relationship management can guarantee you long-term benefits from an influencer collaboration.
See also: Benefits of Influencer Marketing
What are some popular influencer marketing platforms to consider?
With the uproar of influencer marketing, there are so many top influencer marketing platforms. Most of them stand out when it comes to providing the basic benefits. But, which one should you pick?
1. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is an overall social media management platform that deals with much more than influencer marketing. The software provides an all-in-one platform to strategize and evaluate your campaign metrics. Influencer discovery with Sprout Social is hassle-free and easier to manage.
This too has trial periods and packages that can range from $199/month to customized plans with negotiable prices. Not to mention, an active resource center for your campaign-centric needs.
2. YouTube BrandConnect
YouTube BrandConnect, with YouTube’s great network of creators, is another platform you can consider. The software connects you with content creators on the video platform to leverage brand campaigns. Its main feature is to promote campaigns through video-centric content to reach the target audience.
The best part of it is that you are working directly with YouTube to boost your campaign. Even budgets are negotiable through YouTube’s brandConnect.
3. Open Influence
Since we are so invested in content, here’s Open Influence to save the day. It is one of those influencer marketing platforms that focuses on content strategy through creative storytelling. This platform brings you the best creative campaign analytics within your grasp.
Open Influence’s assistance varies from self-service software to an overall managed services package. The minimum payout starts from $149 a month to negotiable pricing.
4. AspireIQ
AspireIQ is another platform that makes it easy for brands to collaborate with influencers. People like AspireIQ because it has a huge database, which means the entire process of discovering and connecting with influencers is much simpler. You can see the results of each campaign and compare them to set goals so you know how well they’re doing.
AspireIQ offers you demo assistance first. It is much more flexible, given that you can back out if the software doesn’t work for your brand.
5. CreatorIQ
CreatorIQ is another influencer platform you should definitely check out. They’re all about data integrity and advanced analytics, which will help you make informed decisions based on what your audience actually likes.
You’ll get insights into influencer audience demographics, authenticity, and performance metrics – all of which help in optimizing marketing strategies for better engagement and ROI. And, the best part, the pricing can definitely be discussed.
6. Traackr
And lastly, Traackr’s built-in tools are perfect for managing relationships with influencers. It’s not enough to just work with an influencer once or twice; Traackr lets brands measure the impact those relationships have had over time.
This way, partnerships can build and change organically as needed down the line. And, your budget too is negotiable here.
Read More: Instagram Influencer Marketing
How to optimize your influencer marketing campaign?
While we are at it, let’s also point out ways that can optimize your brand campaign. While also using best influencer marketing platforms to track your success rates. They are:
- Finding the Perfect Influencers
Finding the right influencer is like finding a needle in a haystack. You’ve got to align yourself with someone who shares your brand’s values and has the attention of your target audience. Also, don’t be fooled by inflated follower counts – high engagement rates are what you need.
- Boosting Brand Awareness
Influencers have the ability to throw your brand into the spotlight. Creative campaigns such as contests and giveaways make people interested in what you’re offering.
- Getting Campaigns Right
Measure, analyze, tweak — then repeat. That’s how brands should approach campaign optimization if they want to improve their performance. By keeping an eye on key performance indicators, brands will find out where they went wrong and how to make it right.
- Building Trust
There’s something about social proof that makes marketing so much easier. When consumers see someone they admire vouch for a product or service they’re more likely to trust them and give it a shot themselves. This is why tapping into user-generated content, testimonials, and influencer reviews is important for any brand that wants to build credibility and appeal.
- Being Authentic
Authenticity is everything when it comes to influencer marketing. People can easily tell when influencers are being genuine or just putting on a show for money. Those who share real experiences with their followers are better at creating testimonials that actually hit home.
- One Platform Does Not Fit All
Different platforms cater to different audiences which means there needs to be different strategies for each one. Something that does well on Instagram might flop on TikTok or LinkedIn. Mostly because of how people behave on those sites.
How to Build Successful Influencer Partnerships?
Despite using marketing software, brands must consider a one-to-one connection with the influencers. But, how can you form such partnerships with creators over the internet?
- Boost influencer collaboration
Collaboration has to go both ways. It is important to have clear expectations and creative freedom. This allows the influencers to feel valued and inspired to produce high-quality work. Brands can give influencers creative control while still following content guidelines for it to feel more authentic and resonate more deeply with the target audience.
- Monitor campaigns in real-time
Brands need to adopt a hands-on approach during all campaigns. Support is needed in helping influencers face any challenges they face as well as technical issues. Involvement will not only ensure a smooth campaign but also strengthen the relationship between the brand and influencer.
- Analyze success
Post-campaign analysis should not just measure traditional metrics such as likes, shares, and comments. There are other factors that come into play when determining if a campaign was successful or not.
- Build relationships
Nurturing influencer relationships is key for long-term success with them.
Regular check-ins, transparent communication, and recognizing efforts help solidify these partnerships.
- User Generated Content (UGC)
UGC is a big market to evaluate these days. This element is what makes content feel personal and genuine which boosts engagement and trust in your brand.
Check Out: Micro Influencer Marketing
Are Influencer Marketing Platforms Worth Considering?
Considering influencer marketing platforms is worth every thought in this day and age. These software platforms make it suitable to find the best creators for nice-based campaigns. Not to mention, these are efficient management tools as well.
Would you integrate your brand campaigns with these platforms? Well, it is definitely worth the thought.