Brand Influencer – What do Brands Want From Influencers?

Brand Influencer – What do Brands want from Influencers?

This is a simple enough question. And the obvious and logical answer too should be simple enough. One would surmise that any brand when it spends resources on any given campaign would be looking at one or all of the following:

♠ Creating a buzz

♠ Increasing its brand awareness

♠ Indirect conversions

 Obviously, the Brand should be looking at optimizing its investment and getting the best in terms of  ROI on its campaigns. This is true of any campaign, be it a high budget spot at prime time on television, a street hoarding, or a social media campaign.

In terms of Social Media Influencing, Brands would ideally be focusing on the classic 4Cs:

♠ Content which could be a Blog post, Instagram post, Facebook post, Tweet, etc..

♠ Context would mean the actual Website/ Blog,  Social Media platform – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc..

♠ Connections which would mean the followers or the audience of the platform being used

♠ Conversations would mean the actual engagement the post would generate

But is this how things happen? How do Brands directly or through their respective PR agencies zero in on a Brand Influencer? Who is a Brand Influencer? 

These are questions that have been floating around for some time on the social media firmament as well as in our own minds. We have worked with many Brands and PR agencies in the course of our Blogging journey and each one of them have been amazing to work with. But still, there are many questions we have and I am sure many of you have too.

This is a humble attempt to raise the questions and stimulate a healthy discussion rather than provide answers.

Who are Influencers?

The term “Influencers” is a much misunderstood and misused term. At the simplest level, it is, ‘anyone who influences a decision’, for Brands or PR’s looking to collaborate with “Influencers”, it could be Bloggers, Instagrammers, YouTubers, etc.. However, the term is being generally used for Instagrammers. It is also observed that many are unaware of the distinction between Bloggers and Instagrammers. This is evident by many posts one can see on Facebook.

Travel Bloggers with 100K followers on Instagram needed for a campaign, proclaimed a recent post!

One of the things to understand here is the difference between Bloggers, Instagrammers, etc.. By the way, they are all Influencers!

It is not our aim to educate Brands or PR’s about the different avenues available to them for their campaigns and the salient features of each, rather it is an attempt to check whether our own understanding is correct! So here goes…

Available Platforms for Campaigns For Brands

♠ Blogs, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.

♠ Each platform has its advantages and needs to be used based on campaign objectives

♠ Campaigns that want to create buzz around an event may be good for Instagram, Twitter

♠ Blogs are good when campaigns need to be sustained and are long term

♠ In terms of longevity, Instagram and Twitter are like Newspapers and Magazines while Blogs are like books

♠ The assumption is that Brands/PR’s decide on the platforms for their campaigns based on their own requirements. It could be one or a combination of platforms. Generally, Bloggers also are significantly engaged in Social Media channels like Twitter, Instagram, etc..

How Do Brands/PR’s Evaluate And Select Influencers For Their Campaigns

Any evaluation would need to be linked to the 4 C’s, namely Content, Context, Connections, and Conversations.

But that does not seem to happen in most cases. The Connections part (read Followers) seems to take precedence over the other factors and in fact, is often the single most overriding factor.

In simple terms, if someone has 50,000 followers on Instagram and someone has 20,000 followers on Instagram, it is obvious that the one with 50 K followers wins the day. But what about the content? What about the conversations (read engagement)? What if the 50K followers are “Bot” followers? Is it possible that these followers will engage? And even if they do, is it possible there is even one in a billion chance that they will buy?

We are sure that the Brands do drill down into these details before zeroing in on possible collaborators, rather than go purely by questionable numbers.

We are also sure that Brands must be doing a rigorous exercise when selecting potential campaign collaborators rather than just referring to outdated and questionable lists available on the internet like, “Top 10 Travel Bloggers of X country”, etc.. They sure must be doing a lot of homework, as, after all, they are the ones putting money into the campaign and would obviously be looking for the best ROI. They must be following some sort of a table like the one given below for evaluation and selection of influencers for their campaigns.

How Do Brands Get The Best Results From Brand Influencer 

♠ They choose the best influencers suited for their campaigns base on criteria discussed above

♠ The influencers are paid for their services and give off their best

♠ It is a win-win situation for both

In terms of the Indian market, Influencing is still in a nascent stage. The budget for influencer marketing must be a negligible portion of the overall marketing budget and there is only one way for the growth of Influencer marketing and that is up. We are sure the scenario can be a win-win situation for all concerned, the Brands, the PR’s, and the Influencers if each of these stakeholders pull up their socks and work together towards a common objective.

We know we have raised a number of questions here and would appreciate answers. We look forward to your inputs to make this discussion more interactive and fruitful. Do connect with us through the comments section below or through any of our social media channels on Brand Influencer.

Thanks for visiting our site Voyager – imvoyager.com and taking the time to read this post!

If you wish to collaborate/work with us then reach us at [email protected]

Do You Love Traveling?

Do you want to know how to travel the world? We have put together a very useful travel resources page with best travel tips. Go check it out now.

Thanks for visiting our site Voyager – imvoyager.com and taking the time to read this post!

If you wish to collaborate/work with us then reach us at [email protected]

We’d love if you’d comment by sharing your thoughts on this post and share this post on social media and with your friends.

[shareaholic app=”share_buttons” id=”27413782″]

Follow our journey on our social media channels:
Facebook   Twitter   Instagram  Pinterest G+ YouTube