Choosing the right platform for influencer marketing

Influencer marketing transformed the marketing landscape with its arrival and drove all businesses to incorporate this potent strategy into their digital marketing models. What initially began as paid celebrity endorsements gradually involved into partnerships with Key Opinion Leaders and Micro Influencers who wield massive influence over niche audiences. All social media channels are brimming with influencers and content creators, waiting for their partnerships to be tapped by brands with values synonymous to theirs. However, choosing the right platform for your influencer marketing campaign can be somewhat daunting. Here we have summarized the essential considerations that must be made before selecting a platform.

1. Statistics
   Perhaps the first lens to filter your available options through is statistics. Facebook had 2.6 billion active users in 2019, triple the number in 2012. What does that show us? A trend of growth. But is Facebook the only platform growing? Most definitely not. YouTube has a whooping number of 2 billion active users, followed by Instagram with a user base of 1 billion. However, despite these numbers, Instagram continues to be the favorite platform for brands as 97% marketers regularly engage in Instagram influencer marketing. On the other hand, even though 16% marketers use TikTok as a platform right now, it is worth considering due to its rapid growth as a social media platform. Summing it up, statistics are a good point to start filtering through various options, but it would be completely wrong to consider statistics as the only factor impacting your choice. Below, we discuss further factors to consider once you are done analyzing the statistics.
2. Reach
   The first R of the famous tripartite model of influencer marketing, Reach is key to attracting your target audience. What we mean by a platform’s Reach is basically how much of our audience is located on that platform. Say if the majority of your audience actively uses YouTube, it might not be fruitful to choose Snapchat influencers in attempt to engage your target audience. Hence it is crucial to know what percentage of your target audience is located on specific platforms. Insights from this research can then be used to choose one or even multiple platforms through which a large part of your audience can be reached.
3. Relevance
   Relevance goes beyond Reach as it digs deeper into users’ behaviors and motivations. While your target consumer may be an active user on multiple social media platforms, it is possible that they trust a specific platform more when it comes to engaging with sponsored content. For instance, the consumer might be using Facebook merely for staying connected within their social circle and resorting to Instagram when it comes to mapping trends from their favorite influencers. So it is imperative to not just ask what platform my target consumer is using, but also why he or she is using it, so that you can pick a platform that is relevant to the consumer and hence more effective in driving up engagement rates. An important underlying aspect determining a platform’s relevance is whether it is used by the leading influencers in your niche. If most fashion bloggers resort to Instagram, it makes sense that your audience too will gravitate towards Instagram in contrast to other social media channels when it comes to following the latest trends in the fashion realm.
4. Resonance
   The last of the 3 Rs in influencer marketing, Resonance is a measure of engagement that an influencer can generate, in terms of likes and comments. Once you have jotted down what platforms have the greatest reach and which influencers have the greatest following, it is necessary to assess the potential engagement that will result from that social media influencer marketing campaign. After all, a massive following count does not guarantee campaign effectiveness if the audience does not respond to the curated content. For instance, one of the reasons why YouTube had a high resonance was due to the form of the content shared- videos. With the arrival of IGTV videos, Instagram influencer marketing also witnessed a high level of user engagement. Therefore, it is very important to keep pace with the developments in social media influencer marketing practices and trends to ensure a high degree of Resonance.

As a last note, it would be crucial to highlight that the decision of choosing the right platform is interlinked with the decision of choosing the right influencer. Both decisions are interdependent and the effectiveness of one determines the success of another. It would be smart to apply the same 3Rs model that we have discussed for choosing the right influencer platform, to the process of partnering with the right influencers. Though very challenging and time-consuming, both these processes are the determinants of the success of your social media marketing campaign. We understand the significance of these decisions for your business, and we value your time and money. Therefore, we have worked to build a platform where all processes can be streamlined for your convenience. Influencer discovery, influencer relationship management, and campaign management are only some of the key services that we offer. Click here to learn more about how we can help add value to your business and make your social media influencer marketing effective.