What hurts us and what stimulates us in our relationship with influencers

What hurts us and what stimulates us in our relationship with influencers

• The influencer selection process has evolved from simple personal relationships to the use of digital tools, AI and complex analytics to ensure brand compatibility and safety.
• Standardizing processes and clearly defining campaign audiences are essential to maintaining unity and coherence in a diverse and ever-expanding field.
• Flexibility, the chemistry between agency and influencer, and the choice of quality over quantity help create relevant campaigns with real impact for the brand and the community.

Evolution of influencer selection in communication campaigns

When I started working in communication, there were about 10 (ze-ce) great bloggers who wrote about just about everything. I knew who to turn to when I had a brief that involved humor, who when I needed a more technical approach or a more creative one and life was simple. We knew everyone and had a human relationship with them, we were friends on Facebook and we were giving likes to our holiday posts.

Fast forward ten years: For a proposal of influencers in a campaign, I first use a digital pre-selection tool, then an analysis tool created by the agency, which involves a lot of math and at the end a few hours of research, to ensure that everyone on the shortlist is compatible and safe options for the brand.

Nostalgia for the much simplified scenario from the beginning? Not really. I enjoy every day the diversity of influencers, my carefully curated feed, and the fact that the posts I see are even relevant to my concerns. I am also glad that, despite the long selection process, I get to work, with clients, with influencers well molded on the values and messages of the brand. Most of the time.

Golden rules for a communication campaign with influencers

Using digital tools and AI in communication campaigns

Interactive, quantitative, qualitative ranking platforms, digital tools, AI, events- anything helps us (re) discover new names and always have a good overview, to avoid fixating on certain influencers, those we already recommend out of automatism.

Standardizing the way you work with influencers

If at industry level, there is still room for improvement, at least at agency level a common denominator must be found. The selection grid, the brief formal, the assessment format, all these standard documents are essential to maintain unity in a defined area of diversity.

Defining the audience of the communication campaign

And we have an honest discussion about him with the chosen influencer, to make sure we find him in his community and see what are the best ways to invite him to dialogue.

Listening to instinct and choosing quality

As in any interhuman relationship, chemistry matters. The chemistry between agency and influencer, between client and influencer will have a major impact on the collaboration. I think we should normalize the initial tattoo discussions, which do not come with any commitment and can end, in civilized terms, with the decision not to continue the campaign together.

The micro-influencer market is growing year after year and abounds in passionate, creative and highly determined people to break out of print and create content with real impact. Systematic mapping is a good exercise, and the arguments for their involvement in campaigns go far beyond the KPIs, but the evaluation of influencer campaigns is too complex a discussion and needs to be addressed separately.

Perspectives on the future of influencers in communication campaigns

I would like to think that we are approaching with sure steps towards better regulation of the industry that will help us, the agencies, but also them, the influencers, to have collaborations with a little more meaning. Until then, however, we can only enjoy witnessing the maturation of an ever-expanding area of communication and choosing from it the best for our customers, but also for us.