Professional influencer vs “wanna-be”

Influencer has become a sought-after profession these days. Even the youngest Internet users dream of a career on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok (read “1 in 5 British children want a career as social media influencers”). The work of an influencer is associated by many people exclusively with incessant holidays, cooperation with world brands and great fun. Those who aspire to enter the world of influencer marketing are often unaware of what the work of a professional influencer is, because they are only motivated by the vision of quick earnings. So what is the difference between a professional influencer and a “wanna-be influencer”?

INFLUENCER + MARKETING

Speaking of the booming market of influencer marketing, it is useful to know who an influencer is. Such a person must possess three key values:

image — is a natural person, not an editorial office or a portal,

reach, that is, the community to which its materials reach,

a specific communication channel in which he publishes content — it can be a YouTube channel, but also an Instagram account or just a blog with author's texts.

Based on these three inseparable brand characteristics that make up campaigns, they collaborate with creators as part of influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is often referred to as a new phenomenon, but what is relatively new is its scale and the way in which “influencers” reach their audiences. The very mechanism of using recognizable people in advertising campaigns, creating brand ambassadors (also known as endorsement marketing) and key opinion leaders has been going well for a long time. Influencer marketing can be understood as all marketing activities based on recommendations of individuals relevant to a given group of recipients. Not so much specialists in a given field, but people in a given group who are known, trustworthy and who constitute a certain authority for that group — that is, influencers.

INFLUENCER PRO VS “WHAT-BE”

At the beginning, it is worth saying about the most important difference - professional influencers have a real and engaged audience, and “wanna-be influencers” often buy likes, install bots and commit fraud in statistics. This is directly related to the fact that non-professional influencers bet on the quantity, not the quality of their audience. Pro influencers have a staff of people over them to help and coordinate their work, including their own professional manager. The manager, thanks to business and marketing experience, optimizes the activities of the influencer, draws up contracts, invoices and reports. “wanna-be influencers” coordinate their work themselves, often not keeping up with deadlines, not keeping proper documentation, which is due to little knowledge of marketing and lack of experience in similar areas. Influencer marketing agencies that provide care for professional influencers, take care to constantly measure effectiveness, conduct in-depth analytics and develop anti-crisis strategies, ensuring the safety of marketing activities. It is worth knowing the differences between the functioning of professional, engaging influencers and “instamodels”.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT INFLUENCER?

Good research should be the first step in planning. We can be helped by a partner network that brings together influencers from many segments. In the selection of influencers for a brand, three basic criteria are important:

Reach — When looking at the “reach” of an influencer, you should check not only the number of subscriptions (engaged community), the average number of views of individual videos, but also their average duration (so-called watchtime) and audience demographics (who is responsible for most views). Knowing these values, it is also worth checking the engagement rate — the so-called engagement rate of a given influencer. This is the sum of all interactions (likes, comments, shares) divided by reach (i.e. the number of views or subscribers depending on the type of measurement) and expressed as a percentage.

Production — The choice of influencer in terms of subject matter, format and quality of the content produced (from simple social media actions to professional and engaging content) will be crucial for the final “creations” of the brand campaign.

Image — The image of the influencer himself — “regular” or “premium”, controversial or flawless, expert or novice. The ideal situation assumes that we can afford long-term cooperation, thanks to which the influencer will evolve together with our brand. This means that from a “regular newcomer” in the category of our products (e.g. running shoes), over time he will become a premium expert in their subject (e.g. a marathon will run in them), and his recommendation will significantly gain credibility.

When choosing the right influencer, trust is also important. If the goals of the campaign are set, its implementation, i.e. creation, should remain in the hands of the influencer. Only he knows his audience inside out, knows how to effectively win their favor and implement a campaign that will be authentic (and therefore very effective). In turn, the strategy and distribution of content should be entrusted to experts who specialize in YouTube, its algorithms and nuances and are well versed in influencer marketing. This approach will allow you to achieve the greatest success and create a win-win situation.

Do you need to deepen your knowledge of influencer marketing? Would you like to train your team better? Our experts are at your disposal! Make an appointment with us — we offer the most professional knowledge on cooperation with influencers: wspolpraca@lifetube.pl