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Wondering how to choose an influencer marketing platform?
With over 150 platforms, software tools, agencies and consultants, its no wonder you are confused.
I created the following influencer platform guide to make this decision process easier for you.
The most important factors for selecting a platform are listed below.
Most platforms want to make influencer selection simple and easy. Some also make collaboration easier.
But no matter what, consider these factors:
- Ease of Use
- Focus
- Finding influencers
- Management
- Budget buster?
- Size of Database
- Cost of influencers
- Data and Predictors
- Collaboration
Table of Contents: To Skip to a Certain Section, Click on the Desired Number Choice Below:
1: IS IT EASY TO USE ?
Ease of use plays a big role with regards to choosing an influencer marketing platform.
As a general rule, if the platform isn’t intuitive, you’ll have to struggle with it until you learn it.
Who the hell wants to do that?
It’s time consuming and hampers your ability to drill down and find the right influencers for your campaign.
If there is a free trial, take them up on it. It’s a fast and easy way to learn how their platform works.
If there is an option arrange a demonstration, take them up on it.
Be sure to ask a lot of questions about how to use it. You may even want to record the session or take some notes.
Don’t spend a load of money on a tool you’ll hate using.
Source: Google Trends
Demand for influencer platforms is going up.
2: DOES IT HAVE A FOCUS ?
Some platforms have a specific focus. It can be on a social channel like Instagram. It can be a business vertical like fashion.
If you are looking for tech bloggers, subscribing to a fashion focused influencer platform isn’t going to do you much good.
Be sure to check.
Also, are you sure you won’t be branching out into other verticals later on?
If you are doing work with fashion influencers right now, what about next month? Next year?
What if you pick up a new client that’s not fashion oriented? Do you want to have to subscribe to a second platform?
Plan ahead. It can save you money.
Example: ContentBLVD focuses on YouTube:
3: IS IT EASY TO FIND THE INFLUENCERS YOU WANT ?
One of the main benefits to using an influencer platform is finding and selecting the influencers who are right for your campaign.
The platform should enable you to drill down and find influencers simply and easily. Unless you are searching for influencers in super specific niches, the tool should enable you to find them easily.
No matter what tool it is, you may have to research and find some influencers the old fashioned way: Google.
Also, what kind of metrics do you need?
As I’ve written before, you should look for influencers who are relevant to your company and product, you should look at the resonance (engagement) they get on their content along with their audience size composition.
What kind of metrics are available at a glance?
Example of Yoga influencer using HYPR:
The more information the platform provides, the easier it is for you to choose influencers right for you.
4: CAN YOU MANAGE YOUR LISTS EASILY ?
Some platforms offer you the option of managing your influencer campaign once you find and select them. You can even handle all of your outreach there.
Is this something you want?
If you are running campaigns with a large number of influencers, this is worth it. You can access the campaign and all the measures in one place.
This is helpful if you are an agency and running campaigns for multiple clients as it will help you stay organized. Some platforms even enable you to run reports which you can then send to clients.
Example: FourStarzz campaign designer…
5: WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET ?
If you are planning on signing up for an influencer marketing platform, you need to know how much it’s going to cost you.
Some are inexpensive costing as little as 29 per month. Others are thousands of dollars per month or per year.
STEPS FOR CHOOSING YOUR PLATFORM BUDGET:
- Price Doesn’t Equate Quality: Just because a platform is expensive doesn’t mean its high quality. Be sure to schedule a walk -through if no free trial is available.
- Know What You Can Afford: You can always adjust upward if you need to but don’t overspend at first just because it seems to have all the bells and whistles. If you have a number of clients, you can build the cost into the fee you charge them.
- Be Sure You Intend To Use It: No sense paying thousands of dollars for something that you’ll only use occasionally.
6: DOES IT INDICATE COST ?
Some platforms offer a simple cost estimate in dollars.
Others base their cost estimates based on CPM (cost per thousand).
Example: FourStarzz provides a dollar amount based on CPM…
Scrunch provides a simple dollar amount without the CPM…
Know how you want to assess the cost of the influencers you want to work with because the platforms don’t offer the same data.
7: DOES IT PROVIDE DATA PREDICTORS ?
You are only as good as your data. Part of that is knowing what data you need to be successful in choosing the right influencers.
Let’s take a look at what many platforms offer.
Audience data:
- Geography (where they live in the world)
- Education level
- Household income
- Age, ethnicity and gender
Data on the influencer’s content:
- Number of followers
- Views of their content
- Shares by audience members
- Comments on their content
Social platforms where the influencer is present. Some influencers are on multiple social platforms while others focus on one or two.
Other data points include:
- Price indication of how much it costs to work with the influencer
- Predictions on ROI (return on investment) and/or (EMV) earned media value of their sponsored content.
8: CAN YOU COLLABORATE WITH INFLUENCERS ?
Some platforms are a one stop shop. Not only can you find and select influencers and assess the data on them, but you can run your campaigns and collaborate with them too.
Nichify offers collaboration functionality:
This collaboration function enables you to correspond with the influencers using the platform, so you don’t have to rely on email.
Not all platforms offer this benefit, so be sure to ask before you sign up.
Choosing a platform for your influencer marketing needs depends on what you need and want to accomplish.
Knowing what you want before you sign up will save you plenty of money, time and frustration.
Still not sure what to do? Set up a strategy call now so we can talk about your business and how you want to scale it.
Hi Dear Tom Augenthaler, Thanks for sharing your great article. I think, one of the biggest misconceptions about influencers is that they are someone with a large social media following. But an influencer, therefore, is someone who has the power to influence the perception of others or get them to do something different. Influencers must have a combination of three key factors: reach, contextual credibility, and salesmanship. The higher these three factors, the higher the influence potential of an individual.