Following our first article, Choosing the Right Influencer Marketing Agency for You, from our Influencer Marketing series, we outlined the key components to look for in an agency that complements your brand. This series explores the scale and services you should be aware of when assessing potential agency partners to make a meaningful impact within the marketing influencer industry.   

According to eMarketer, “55.4% of marketers leveraged influencer marketing in 2019. That number is predicted to grow to 72.5% in 2022, for a total increase of 17.1%.” This overall increase is not a surprise as we continue to learn that consumers prefer to discover new brands via word of mouth and social media. As we get into the specific criteria and services you should be aware of before bringing your business to an agency, note that you should also be very clear on the overall budget for this initiative as it is key to understand and will be the focus of the last segment in this series. 

Now with this in mind, before you begin your search, we recommend creating a ‘Criteria Checklist’. This list will be centred on your company’s goals and size, and so will differ from brand to brand. At Flock Associates, we’ve worked with medium-sized brands to large corporates, and based on our experience and desk research, we have a list of questions to consider and serve as a foundation to get you started. You can adjust by adding areas of interest or removing those with no relevance.

SCALE

• Assess the resources you need to support large-scale initiatives. What volume of campaigns are you looking to run?  Will they be always on/evergreen or in bursts?
• Will you be able to move at the speed of social media and popular culture? Bear in mind your team will need to participate (e.g., review and approve) at the same speed for the best success and engagement.
• Do you have a strong infrastructure or direct access to platforms with reporting tools or do you want the agency to handle that aspect?
• What categories, broad/multiple or niche, are essentials, and what are stretch considerations?
• Are you looking for national, global, or regional coverage?
• Are you looking for support across all social networks or individual platforms?

SERVICES

• What capabilities can you handle in-house and what are those you will outsource to the agency?
• How much involvement with you have with selecting and vetting influencers to find the right fit for your brand?
• Do you want to carry out the onboarding process, negotiate contracts, and manage payments?
• Who will be responsible for a content strategy and editorial calendar?
• What will be your input regarding content creation and management?
• What does success look like and how does that translate into measurable ROI reporting insights? E.g., likes, shares, views, engagement rate, etc.
• Will you or the agency take the lead and establish schedules and guidelines including project managing workflow?

At the end of this exercise, you should have the core elements to understand how hands-on you want to be and the level of effort and resources that are required to truly carry out a successful and impactful influencer campaign.

So, once again, how much noise do you want to make with your social influencer agency…?

If you’re just starting out and feel this journey is slightly daunting, we are here to guide you through, so fill in the form below and we’ll give a call for a short chat and get you on your way.