The age of information has opened doors for a lot of opportunities for many social media users across the world.
By building a community of religious followers across various social media platforms, one earns the title “social media influencer”.
Most of what influencers do is promote or push for certain courses. The catch, however, is that they get paid to do it.
While in the past people paid to have their products, events or services advertised on radio, TV, newspaper, or billboards, that has now changed, but not for all.
There are those who still believe these forms best push their agenda or message.
Most companies currently use social media to give visibility to what they offer and despite having the numbers on their platforms, they go the extra mile of hiring individuals (influencers) to do the same for them.
This is largely because they bring the human touch to what is being marketed.
The influences will go ahead and share their experiences with the products and sometimes the cost or where buyers can find them at affordable rates.
The hard part, however, comes in when picking the best influencer for the job. Among the many things you have to consider for you to get it right is the kind of influencer you want to do it for you.
There are four categories of influencers and they are all defined by the number of followers they have on their socials.
Nano influencers have between 1,000 – 10,000 followers
Micro (10,000 – 100,000)
Macro (100,000 – 1 million)
Mega influencers who have over a million followers. They can also be called celebrities.
However, Influencer Manager Charles Wahinya who spoke to the Star said that these are not the only things you have to consider when looking for the right man for the job.
He says one must have defined objects for their campaign. Once this is done, they can now get the dice rolling by looking for influencers pushing products or creating content that is aligned to theirs.
“It's important to choose influencers who are relevant to your brand and industry. Look for influencers who are already creating content that aligns with your brand and have an audience that matches your target demographic,” Wahinya said.
“Choose influencers who are authentic and genuine in their content. Consumers are more likely to trust an influencer who is honest about their experience with your product or service.”
Wahinya adds that an influencer’s engagement is another aspect that should be keenly looked into, insisting that it is not only about how many followers but how one connects with his or her audience.
The Influencer manager noted that one should also make it a point of enquiring about past collaborations to know their extent of success.
He advised that looking beyond just metrics will also come in handy when picking the right man or woman for the job.
“While social media metrics like follower count and engagement are important, it is crucial to have an influencer with a strong personal brand. If they also have expertise in that particular field is an added advantage,” Wahinya said.
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