Choose the Right Influencer Marketing Platform for Your Brand

When selecting an influencer marketing platform, it’s important to research the features and options each one offers. Look into what types of campaigns a platform can support, whether they offer analytics and insights, as well as pricing plans. This will help you find a platform that meets your current needs while leaving room to grow in the future. With Meta changing its rules around privacy policies and data curation, platform features have been in a state of flux in recent months. It’s not unrealistic to assume that similar actions will be taken by other major social media companies forcing influencer marketing platforms to evolve in the future. Check to see if the platform you’re interested in has an opt-in network or scrapes their database from API’s or uses third party data. While different marketers have different philosophies on what performs better, with one camp preferring opt-in since influencers have a personal relationship with the platform and as a result enjoy higher approval rates, and the other camp preferring scraped databases since they are able to find the absolute best influencers for their brand since they have a larger pool of potential partners, social media platforms are starting to push influencer marketing platforms towards only using first-party data. We anticipate more and more platforms will end up shifting towards this model in the coming months.

Choosing the right influencer marketing platform means looking for a user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate and understand. A good platform should have all the features you need in one spot. That way you can easily set up campaigns, measure results, track progress, and adjust as needed. Don’t forget to also check out reviews from other brands who’ve used a particular platform in the past. This will give you an idea of how user-friendly it is and if it could be a good fit for your brand. A high-quality platform will go through may UI/UX refreshes in its life cycle. For example, Smartfluence typically refreshes its interface on a yearly basis, providing clients with a continuously improving experience. Make sure the platform you choose makes it easy to find influencers, manage them through a workflow process, and pay them seamlessly.

If you want to get the most out of your influencer marketing, it’s important to pick a platform that offers detailed and reliable analytics. Test the platform's analytics capabilities to make sure they offer comprehensive data about the users engaging with your content on the platform. This includes an overview of engagement rates (likes, comments, views, etc.), referral data for tracked links in posts, and demographic information about who is interacting with your content. With this data, you can get an accurate picture of how successful your campaigns are and make changes as needed. Attribution can be tricky in influencer marketing. Depending on the platform, some might have integrated into e-commerce solutions like Shopify and WooCommerce already, allowing you to directly determine sales. Others will have embedded affiliate links or even integrations into their platform allowing you to track sales that way. You could also use UTM’s and attribute your sales through Google Analytics in the event the platform you’re using doesn’t allow you to do so.

A reliable influencer marketing platform should have a team of customer service representatives available to assist you with any technical or logistical problems you may encounter. In addition, assess how well the platform responds to complaints and feedback in order to make sure they are accountable for their service. It's also important to read reviews from other companies that have used the platform to get an accurate idea of what its capabilities are and how well it performs. Smartfluence offers dedicated 1:1 customer support as a standard feature on its platform. Not only do you have someone answering your questions, but you have a dedicated individual account manager assigned to you from day one hopping on bi-weekly calls to ensure your experience is a smooth one!

While many influencer platforms have similar capabilities, the cost models for each platform can vary drastically. Review pricing plans that fit your budget, as well as any additional fees such as finding fees and commission rates. Make sure you understand the full cost of engaging with an influencer so there are no surprises later on down the line. Additionally consider if they offer a subscription or pay-as-you-go plan which could save your brand some money in the long run. Different models suit different clients. Typically, platforms with higher retainers and commissions are more robust and suited to enterprise clients whereas month-to-month models are more bare bones, lending themselves to being useful for small brands who don’t need too many features.

Now you know everything you need to find the right influencer marketing platform for your brand! Make sure to thoroughly review all the points when walking through demos of the several platforms out there before coming to your decision, ensuring it’s the right one.

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If you’re interested in learning more about influencer marketing and how Smartfluence can help you establish and scale your influencer marketing campaigns, feel free to book a demo here.