The Lion's Den

Determining the Right Influencer Audience

Influencer Marketing

The importance of finding an influencer with the right audience for your activation cannot be overemphasized. The quality of the audience is an essential criterion in the choice of the influencer.

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Imagine scouting for an influencer and eventually launching a campaign with one who supposedly ticks all your boxes—same values, fits your budget, decent following, loves your brand—, only for it to fall through because the audience wasn’t right for the campaign. Definitely not an outcome any marketer would want. 

To promote your brand on social media, you must collaborate with influencers recognized as experts in their chosen fields. The latter is then responsible for introducing the products of their partners to the followers. But without a quality audience, the expected results will never be achieved. So, how can you determine the right influencer’s audience to achieve your campaign goals? This is where we leverage data and insights.

 

Audience Analysis

An influencer’s audience can offer you key insights that will make you decide whether they are the right fit for a partnership or not. The influencers you are considering should all have an audience that you have defined as your target demographic for your campaign. But what if the influencer also has a very interesting segment for your brand among their audience that you had not thought about or were simply unaware of? An analysis of the influencer’s audience will allow you to identify if they’re right for your marketing campaign and possible new key segments for your brand. Consider these two major questions when reviewing:

Audience on a whiteboard

1. Who are the people that make up the audience? 

Oftentimes, brands are usually more focused on the numbers—followers, reach, engagement rate—, giving little or no consideration to the audience demographic. Audience demographic data such as age, gender, location, etc, gives you an idea of the people who follow the influencer you’re about to sign a partnership with. It helps you understand if they’re right for your brand or product. For example, if your campaign is targeted towards Gen Z and millennial women who are located in California and who are gluten-free, you have to be sure this segment is part of the influencer’s audience. Nobody wants wasted efforts and investment.

Although these are insights you can’t easily determine by stalking an influencer’s page. You could either use one of these influencer analysis tools out there or request it when you’re in talks with the influencer. An influencer with the majority of their audience based in the US is definitely not a fit for a campaign targeted at people based in Paris. Get the demographic right!

2. Which brands do they follow?

In addition to the audience demographic, it’s also necessary to check the audience’s brand affinity. Which brands are they following or talking about? What brands are interacting back with them on a regular basis? Does their audience react best to stories, reels, or regular sponsored static posts? Look at the different segments of the audience and list out the brands and formats that have the highest engagement. This will help you determine not just their interests, but what is most successful for them. This aspect of success if key when considering a brand partner. You don’t just want an influencer to want to work with you, you want their audience to interact and get excited about your brand. 

Even if an influencer has a large number of Internet users who follow them, if their community shows no interest in your brand or brands in your industry, or if they regularly get very low engagement with their audience, the collaboration will not be fruitful. 

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Analyzing The Audience Guarantees Success

In order to avoid pitfalls and guarantee quality partnerships, it is best to do a thorough audience analysis or go through a platform specializing in connecting marketers and influencers, like Lionize. Not only will this make things easier for you, but you will also have a tool at your disposal that will analyze the profiles of influencers.