What Are Influencer Engagement Marketplaces (And How Are They Used)?
Influencers are everywhere.
There are around 37 million influencers on Instagram, of which around 1.5 million work on YouTube.
Every day, these developers are promoting brands on social media, talking about great products, and directly influencing how people spend their hard-earned money.
Sounds great, doesn't it? There's only one problem.
Finding a great influencer to grow your business is really difficult.
Whether you're looking for ideas on social media platforms or spending hours promoting creators, it's a time-consuming process. According to Mediakix, 61 percent of marketers are struggling to find the best influencers for their campaigns.
What's the answer?
You need a more effective means of finding influencer talent and making connections. Influencer marketplaces can help you with this. Let me show you how they work.
Why you should use influencers in your marketing strategy
Before we begin, let's look at influencer marketing in general. Is it worth your time or should you leave the influencer trend behind?
While influencer marketing is not for everyone, I think you should try it if it makes sense for your business.
Why? Because influencer marketing works.
While I'm not suggesting that you should rely solely on influencer-based marketing, the trend remains and it's worth trying out.
If you're still not convinced, here's another way to think about it. Around 26 percent of consumers use ad blockers to hide ads and improve the browsing experience.
There is a high chance that the ads you are paying for will not reach the intended audience! For sales-oriented companies, influencer marketing could be a promising alternative.
Are you ready to find influencers for marketing campaigns? Let's explore the secrets of the influencer market.
How companies find influencing factors
You can find influencers online in four ways:
- Social media platforms: There's no shortage of social media platforms to look for influencer talent, although it's a time-consuming process.
- Search engines: Google is a great way to find competitors and identify which influencers they are using for their campaigns.
- Influencer marketplaces: These marketplaces will help you align with various influencers in your niche.
- Influencer agencies: You can hire an agency to match you directly with the influencer that you think suits you best.
While we're focusing on influencer marketplaces, keep in mind that this isn't the only strategy for finding influencers to market your business.
What are influencer marketplaces?
Influencer marketplaces match businesses with influencers who work in their niche, whether it's beauty, fitness, food, etc.
It's a simple requirement. You sign up and post a brief description of the services you're looking for and wait for the influencers to respond. When you find an influencer you're happy with, you can hire them to create content, promote your brand, and influence people to buy your products.
You're not limited to just one influencer either. You can partner with multiple influencers across the platform and recruit more talent over time.
The result? Whether you're running a one-off product campaign or looking for a more stable relationship, influencer marketplaces could work for you.
Some of the most popular influencer marketing platforms are:
- Influence
- intelligence
- AspireIQ
- Webfluential
- Famebit
- influence
Influencers listed on marketplaces often work on two or more social media platforms. For businesses, this is great news as you can use a trusted influencer or two for all of your content marketing.
Upfluence, for example, mostly connects businesses with Instagram influencers, but there are also a few ways to access influencers who work on TikTok and Facebook:
While HypeAuditor hooks you up with influencers who work for Twitch and YouTube:
There is a wide range of marketplaces to choose from. So be sure to inquire about your options. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Platform fees
Whichever marketplace you choose, you usually pay a fee to sign up and use the services. So consider the cost before joining.
However, on some platforms like Influence, you can set up a basic account for free. The problem? There are limits to how many messages you can exchange each month and how many profiles appear in search results. While this works for one-time campaigns, it may be less sustainable for long-term influencer marketing.
Before you commit, weigh the pros and cons of the different fee structures.
Influencer Marketplaces Vs. Influencer Agencies
We've touched on this earlier, but to be clear, influencer marketplaces and influencer agencies are completely different things.
- Influencer marketplaces allow you to work directly with the influencer you choose. You're putting your assignment out there and looking for talent.
- Influencer agencies, on the other hand, do some of this work for you. They screen their influencers based on your assignment and choose the ones that they think best suit your needs.
You can use both marketplaces and agencies if that fits your marketing strategy. Just remember that they are not the same.
In short, think of influencer marketplaces like a matchmaking service. While there's no guarantee you'll find the right influencer to work with, the chances are you can find a long-term creative partnership.
Using Influencer Engagement Marketplaces
Are you excited to try out influencer marketplaces? Large! But before you get a subscription, there are a few steps you should take.
Identify your goals
Before joining an influencer marketplace, be clear about what you want to achieve. For example, are you trying to increase sales, generate hype about your brand, or increase your engagement?
Write down all of your goals and try to figure out which one is your priority.
Next, clarify your target audience and how best to respond to influencer marketing. That way, you can find out exactly what role the influencer will play in your campaign.
For example, let's say you're a brand looking to launch a new product for millennials on Instagram. You want to build a hype and increase sales. Your main goal is to sell the product. So you are looking for influencers who can not only help you, but also speak the language of your target audience.
Determine your budget
Once you know what you need from an influencer marketplace, it's time to set your budget. How do you know what a "fair" amount is to pay your influencer? Unfortunately, there isn't one right answer, but asking yourself the following questions can serve as a guide.
First, what kind of content do you need? For example, you can pay more for an in-depth product review video than you would for a few short posts on Instagram.
What platform are you targeting next? Each platform requires different creator resources, so they have different rates. On average, you pay an influencer $ 10 per 1,000 followers for an Instagram post, but that's up to $ 25 for a Facebook post.
How big is the influencer's audience? The bigger the influencer, the more they can charge for their time.
After all, is it a one-time or long-term campaign? You could potentially get better rates if the influencer knows they are getting steady work from you. Seasonal campaigns might cost you more as there is more demand around this time.
Don't forget that you also need to plan for a monthly or annual marketplace subscription. Make sure you can afford the fee before signing up.
Marketplaces for research influencers
Should you join every influencer marketplace? No.
Instead, educate yourself about your options and choose a platform or two first. Here are some tips for further development.
- Make sure the market is focused on your industry. For example, if you are a fitness brand, you are not joining a marketplace with just culinary influencers, etc.
- Make sure the influencers in the market are actually working on the social media platforms you choose. Why join a YouTube marketplace if you only market on TikTok?
- Check if the marketplace is hosting influencers in your price range. There is no point in going on a platform where you can only find very popular influencers, i.e. H. Those with a million or more followers if your budget doesn't allow it.
My suggestion? Check to see if any marketplace offers a free trial or at least a free membership option before committing to a paid plan. That way, you can test the platform without breaking your marketing budget.
Remember, if you are not satisfied with the results, you can always review your strategy and try different marketplaces. Influencer marketing is so flexible.
Find influencers who fit your company
You have set yourself a goal, set your budget, and signed up for a marketplace. Next up is the hardest part: finding the best influencer for your needs.
In all fairness there is no "right" way to do this. However, here's what is most important to an influencer when shopping.
engagement
For example, if followers engage with an influencer by leaving comments or sharing their content, there's a good chance you'll see better engagement for your content. Influencers with a large number of followers but low engagement may not be the best solution.
authenticity
Authenticity is important. According to Stackla, 90 percent of customers value authenticity when choosing which brands to buy from. Therefore, every influencer you work with must appear "real" and authentic.
To reach
To be clear, you don't need influencers with millions of followers. In some niches, targeting influencers with a much smaller audience but higher engagement is even better.
Achieve matters as a general guideline, but it may be less important than commitment.
resonance
Does the influencer match your brand identity? If not, it doesn't matter how impressive the influencer's number of followers is: they won't help your marketing strategy in the long run and can actually deter your target audience from shopping with you.
Determine the performance metrics
You need to find a way to track your marketing campaign to make sure it is working for you. How you do that? By tracking key performance indicators or KPIs.
The KPIs depend on your overall goal. Common metrics worth tracking include your impressions, engagement levels, number of followers, and conversions.
Ultimately, it's an influencer's job to use their followers to your advantage. So, if you're not getting more traffic than usual, there may be a problem with your strategy.
Here, however, is the bottom line. You will know if your influencer marketing is working when you reach your goal. In other words, if you want to sell more products, then most likely the campaign worked if you sold more products!
Not sure how to measure your performance? Be sure to check out our advisory services.
Review your partnerships regularly
Just because an influencer is well received in a market doesn't mean they are the best fit for your company. Perhaps their communication style doesn't suit yours or you just find them difficult to work with.
Whatever the reason, it is okay to cut ties. Remember, when you end your contract with an influencer, do so professionally. Talk to influencers and you don't want a reputation as a difficult customer!
Conclusion
Influencer marketplaces make it easy to bring together influencers and promoters who can help grow your business and generate hype around your products. These marketplaces aren't for everyone, however, and you might prefer to curate your list of influencers and reach out to them directly.
My suggestion? Take some time to explore the different marketplaces before signing up for a subscription, and remember to keep a close eye on your metrics to make sure your influencer partnership is working for you.
Have you tried an influencer marketplace yet?
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