Influencer marketing is becoming a crucial strategic focus rather than merely a nice-to-have alternative. Whether a company is starting out or an established multi-billion dollar enterprise, this kind of marketing has shown to be advantageous for everybody. Without a question, influencer marketing has become a preferred strategy for many businesses.

You may be shocked to hear that searches for the keyword "influencer marketing" have significantly increased. From 2016 to 2017, searches grew by 200 percent.

According to Lilinqia, 85% of companies engaged influencer marketing in 2017. 90% of them agreed that it is the most potent and successful kind of marketing.

The influencers you choose will have a big impact on how well your marketing perform.

Therefore, it's crucial that you choose your influencers wisely. But what characteristics need to you consider while choosing an influencer?

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Being relevant alone won't result in a successful campaign. In this article, we'll go over some of the key qualities to have in mind while you look for influencers.

Five essential qualities to look for in an influencer

When working with influencers, the campaign must seem genuine and unique. In their other social marketing initiatives, over 81% of marketers in the Linqia survey employed content created by influencers.

However, 68% of marketers report having trouble locating the right influencers. No matter how much money you put into your marketing strategy, it will be useless if you aren't collaborating with the right influencer.

But what qualities should a marketer pay the most attention to when choosing an influencer?

Make a list of the traits a prospective influencer must possess while keeping your objectives in mind. When doing so, take into account the following 5 qualities:

1. Authenticity

Did you know that about 75% of marketers want influencers to provide them with real, authentic content? An influencer's followers are instantly drawn to their material when it demonstrates genuineness.

Every Tweet, blog post, Instagram post, and other form of online communication should be unique and sincere. That will assist them in gaining the audience's trust. The influencer's material must be completely transparent and not give the appearance of being a sponsored advertisement. The influencer's enthusiasm and faith in the brand should be evident throughout the postings.

Personal experiences with the brand should serve as the basis for the influencer's tales since they are more relevant and credible. And personal anecdotes are more reliable than official product reviews.

More likes, shares, and comments will be generated by interesting and captivating tales. Ask an influencer to develop interesting content rather than merely asking them to write a review of your goods or services. More engagements between their fans and your brand will result from this.

Authenticity is a key factor in building stronger relationships with your influencers. Therefore, you need to make sure that the material your influencer creates is genuine and that their followers are enjoying it.

Many companies use agencies.

For example, Hannah is a YouTuber from Australia who has 72K followers to her channel. She often publishes films on topics including home design, DIY projects, DIY beauty, and fashion. She discussed the new Mac Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in the screenshot below. In all, more than 157K followers watched the video.

Hannah has been using Mac cosmetics for many years and loves them. Because of this, her reviews are genuine and unique, and her followers can trust the reviews she posts.

2. Relevance

Collaboration and working with an influencer who lacks subject-matter expertise is inappropriate for brands. Avoid choosing an influencer who can do everything but excel at none of them. It's critical to determine if the influencer is appropriate for your business. And you should do this before assessing an influencer's reach and engagement.

You must ascertain if the influencer's material is consistent with the message of your business. You may look at the influencer's earlier postings to determine this. This can help you get a sense of the kind of prior work the influencer has done.

For instance, you shouldn't discuss organic food with a fashion influencer. In a similar vein, you shouldn't discuss fashion with a workout devotee. Join together with an influencer who can connect to the character and market of your company.

For example, Koa Organic Beverages are designed for athletes. As a result, the firm works with fitness enthusiasts to advertise the product.

They joined forces with a number of small-time fitness aficionados. And one of them was Andrea Taylor, a yoga specialist with 185K Instagram followers. The campaign was effective, as seen by the many comments and more than 700 likes on her Instagram post.

3. Reach

The reach of an influencer is determined by how many fans or subscribers they have.

The prospective influencer should have a particular amount of reach to promote your company, even if reach isn't everything. However, bear in mind that statistics vary from business to industry.

You should take into account the influencer's capacity to connect with your brand's target demographic in addition to measuring reach.

Along with the figures, you should also think about the popular social media sites your clients utilize. This is more significant than it first seem. An influencer with a large following on those social media sites will be more beneficial if your target demographic is more engaged there.

For instance, Adriene is a yoga guru who has over 3.6 million YouTube subscribers and around 45K Instagram followers. In 2012, she launched her YouTube account. Now that she has a large following, her films are able to appeal to viewers of various ages, genders, and body shapes. This is among the greatest illustrations of the value of having a strong reach.

4. Engagement

How can you tell how often influencers interact with their followers? You may examine the typical quantity of shares, remarks, and/or likes on the social media postings of your prospective influencer.

Are the influencer's followers retweeting or commenting on the post? What level of interaction did followers have with the influencer's post? Do they merely like them or do they like them and share them? These are the telltale signs of a connection between an influencer and their fans.

Make sure the influencer you collaborate with consistently interacts with their audience. This include answering comments, making polls, posing inquiries, etc.

If the numbers are high, it suggests that their audience is enjoying, engaging with, and loving their postings. Don't forget to assess the level of interaction that your prospective influencers' postings can get.

5. Periodicity

Brands should consider the regularity of the postings made by prospective influencers. Brands will undoubtedly hunt for an influencer who can have a significant effect on the thoughts of their followers. And influencers' postings are what create the effect.

However, it can only be done effectively if the influencer consistently publishes material. The amount of traffic and visits an influencer may bring in are directly correlated with how often they publish.

You must make sure that any prospective influencers are consistently providing material on social media. The material must also be of a high quality. This will motivate potential customers to visit your website.

For instance, Canadian YouTuber and beauty & cosmetics influencer Samantha Jane. She has 58K followers on YouTube. She discusses shopping hauls, beauty advice, and evaluations of fresh cosmetics and makeup techniques in her videos.

She puts time and effort into making sure that the quality and volume of her movies are consistent. She makes sure to provide at least two educational and practical films each week for her subscribers.

Final Reflections
Influencers and your connection with them play a key role in influencer marketing success. However, for many marketers, identifying the proper influencers is the most difficult task. Additionally, just because the influencer belongs to the same niche as you doesn't mean your marketing strategy will be effective.

Ensure that their postings are genuine, reach your target audience, and get a lot of interaction. Another important factor to consider when choosing an influencer is the posting frequency.

Do you know of any further qualities marketers should look for in influencers? If so, feel free to leave a remark with advice and recommendations.

Thanks to Jay Leonard at Business 2 Community whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.