Choosing the Right Influencer Marketing Agency for You
Promoting your business is becoming more challenging by the day. As a result, typical advertising strategies are ineffective. One thing is undeniable, to advertise your brand, you must think beyond the box. One of the most effective strategies to contact your target audience and achieve greater visibility is through influencer marketing.
This series will cover 3 areas of influencer marketing: agency selection process, your involvement and the fees. In this article we’ll share our tips to use when choosing your agency.
LOOKING AT WHO YOU ARE
At its core, influencer marketing leverages the power of ‘digital word of mouth’ through strategic social media partnerships with trusted individuals or influencers. Influencer agencies house creators who use their strong sense of value and entertainment to connect and communicate with an audience. To get the most out of an influencer partnership, it is necessary to begin by first understanding yourself, your brand, and your message. Looking into who you are, what you stand for, and who you are looking to reach, outlines the key components to look for in an agency.
ALIGNING WITH AN AGENCY
The agency’s responsibility is to help build a message and oversee communications to ensure that messaging adheres to your overall brand positioning. They work with influencers to anticipate what their audiences want to see and provide value to the communication. Agencies will design, test, grow, and scale campaigns. They also execute on both branding and acquisition programs, where they select influencers based on fit with campaign goals and success metrics. Be clear on what results you want to see so this can be reflected in the agency’s reporting.
YOUR CAPABILITIES
After identifying your organization’s culture and behaviours and who you are as a brand, the next step is to map out your capabilities. These are what you do that makes you stand out and highlights your needs to address with your agency. Honesty is an important factor in this step. You must be transparent in what you expect from an agency, their requirements, skills, and where they need external expertise.
CULTURE FIT
A culture fit that goes both ways is essential. Influencers are creators who build ideas for broader appeal do so through authentic relationships with their audience and this sense of authenticity is translated into the work delivered. In the same instance, there also needs to be authentic pairings between you and your agency. To do so, it is necessary for you, the brand, to relate to the agency on the basis of culture, ways of working, interests, or any other factor that serves a purpose in communicating the brand message. Overall, work that attracts the biggest audiences is founded on a deep collaboration between you, the agency and the influencer.
Following these steps will set up a necessary foundation for a successful partnership and campaign. This can be an overwhelming task if you are at the beginning of your influencer marketing journey. At Flock we have made the agency screening process much easier with our effective Flock Agency Scoping Tool. Come to us just as you are, ready to address all your unique needs and capabilities. We’ll begin the discovery process and do the heavy lifting for you. Flock can take your input and pair you with an agency partner. Once your brand-self-reflection is complete, we’re here to take care of the rest!