Influencer marketing is when products and services are marketed/advertised by partnering with individuals who influence a large group of followers (ranging from several thousand to several million) on social media. Influencers fall under a range of categories and can be journalists, bloggers, vloggers, public figures, industry analysts, or any individual who has amassed a large following on social media.

When it comes to choosing the right influencer for your marketing campaign, there are a few things to consider:

The three main influencer tiers are as follows:

Mega-influencers
A-list celebrities with more than 500,000 followers on social media

Mega-influencers are celebrities. Take a look at your favourite A-lister’s Instagram page, and there is a good chance you will find sponsored posts throughout their feed, encouraging you to buy a product or service. Because of the number of people who will see their content, you can expect a collaboration with a mega-influencer to have a premium price.

Macro-influencers
Popular social media stars with an audience ranging from 10,000 followers to 500,000 followers

Once influencers reach the macro tier, the title of influencer fades, and ‘celebrity’ becomes more appropriate. They’ve become a household name in their city, and their audience aspires to reach their level of success or fame. Although they have thousands of followers, they may not receive the same number of likes and comments – especially with unauthentic sponsored posts and promotions.

Micro-influencers
Budding social media personalities with less than 10,000 followers

Micro-influencers don’t hold a large audience but typically have higher engagement rates. These beauty bloggers, food critics, fitness accounts, and lifestyle influencers have found a niche, developed a brand aesthetic, and built an authentic relationship with their audience.

Identifying which tier of influencer to work with will affect your marketing campaign’s reach and engagement. When working with an influencer, make sure their core audience is aligned with your brand’s target audience. The main thing to keep in mind is whether an influencer’s audience is actively listening and taking action (in the form of likes, shares, replies, and comments) based on what they say or post. For the best results, we recommend working with an influencer who is already a fan of your brand for content that truly resonates as authentic to the audience.

After identifying the influencer(s) you want to work with for your marketing campaign, you have to identify how you’d like to collaborate. There are many different types of influencer marketing strategies to choose from:

Content sharing
The influencer(s) share brand-approved content on their own platforms and pages. This is the most popular form of influencer marketing.

Branded hashtags
The influencer(s) share brand-approved content on their own platforms and pages including required hashtags in their caption. This is a good option if working with multiple influencers to have one space for the whole campaign to live under.

Giveaways
The influencer(s) post a giveaway photo and caption with brand-approved rules and encourage their audience to engage to win a brand’s product or service. Although giveaways are great to increase engagement and followers, you will find once the giveaway is over both sides may lose some of the new followers.

Video series
The influencer(s) post their experience with or using a brand’s product and showcase it on their platform.  With the growing popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels, vertical video is quickly becoming the must-have format for influencer marketing.

As influencer marketing continues to grow, businesses should capitalize on using strong voices to help build their brand identity and reach new audiences. As you’re working through the process of influencer marketing, it’s important to keep three key outcomes in mind: successful content that works on a specific platform, access to new audiences, and positive feedback from well-aligned or existing customers.

Whichever one is your key priority, it’s important not to lose sight of the eventual outcome you hope to gain from collaborating with an influencer and to remember that, at the end of the day, your marketing strategies should lead to work your brand can be proud of.

26 Projects has been working closely with influencer Kirsten Buck facilitating and consulting on the relationship between brands and her by managing media partnerships, collaborations, and business development to provide strategy and direction for growth.

See our Influencer Marketing experience with Kirsten here.