Influencer Networks

Working with influencers is currently one of the hottest marketing trends for brands across industries, from fashion and entertainment, to health and fitness. Marketing teams turn to influencers to help promote their products because it’s an effective way of connecting with customers. 

Unfortunately, navigating the world of influencer marketing can be confusing and complicated, especially for teams that aren’t familiar with the ins-and-outs of the industry. Between finding and vetting influencers, getting them to agree to participate in your campaign, and tracking the performance of that campaign, handling the whole influencer marketing process manually is extremely time-consuming. That’s where an influencer network comes into play.

An influencer network — also known as an influencer marketing platform —  helps brands find and work with the right influencers for their marketing campaigns. Beyond just sourcing influencers, though, an influencer network also allows brands to easily monitor the results of their campaigns and manage technical details, such as content rights. 

What Platform Is Best For Influencer Marketing?

When discussing questions like “what platform is most used for influencer marketing” it’s worth making a distinction between the two types of platforms that can be part of influencer marketing. There are influencer marketing platforms — platforms that help connect influencers with brands running influencer marketing campaigns — and social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok). Within each platform category, influencers and brands alike have several options to choose from. 

Let’s focus on influencer marketing platforms for now. The list of influencer marketing platforms includes:

• Lionize
• Upfluence
• Grin
• TapInfluence
• Klear
• Traackr
• Neoreach
• Creator IQ

These are just some of the available influencer marketing platforms for brands and influencers to consider, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. There are some influencer platforms for micro influencers — influencers with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers — for example. Brands may choose these specific platforms to hire micro influencers, since they’re typically more cost-effective and have higher engagement rates than average. There are even influencer platforms for nano influencers. But how can you choose the best one for your influencer marketing campaigns?

How To Choose The Best Influencer Marketing Platform?

If you’re interested in working with an influencer marketing platform, there are several factors you should consider before making your selection. Keep these things in mind:

• Features- When you’re comparing different influencer marketing platforms, pay close attention to the features they offer. Consider features related to payments, communication, content rights, and any other areas that are important to you. 
• Ease of Use- Ideally, you want the platform you choose to be intuitive and easy to use. If your team members need hours of training to understand how to use it, another platform would likely be a better option. 
• Cost- There’s a wide variety of pricing for influencer marketing platforms. You need to consider your budget and find an option that strikes a balance between quality and affordability. Look into each platform’s pricing model, so there are no surprises about costs down the line. 
• Analytics- There are a lot of valuable insights you can glean from your influencer campaigns if you choose a platform that collects and shares marketing analytics with you. Some, like Lionize, for example, include performance tracking features, so you can see the results of your campaign right from the platform dashboard. Look for platforms that give you access to these analytics. 
• Social media platforms- Some influencer marketing platforms are geared specifically toward one social media site. If you know you want to run a campaign on a certain social media platform (or platforms), choose an influencer marketing platform that can accommodate that. 
• Positive reviews- Whenever you’re comparing products, it’s a good idea to look at customer reviews. Read reviews from other customers to get an idea of how reliable and useful each platform is. 
• Experience- Hopefully, the influencer marketing platform you choose is run by a team of people with relevant experience in the field. These experts should understand influencer marketing inside and out. 

By weighing all these factors, you’ll be able to find the ideal influencer marketing platform for your brand. 

Is Influencer Marketing Effective For Small Businesses?

Before you dive into using an influencer platform, you may want to know how effective influencer marketing is. Does influencer marketing even work for small businesses?

The short answer is yes — influencer marketing can be an incredibly effective marketing strategy for small businesses and large enterprises alike. Even though you probably associate influencer marketing with industry leaders like Coca-Cola and Adidas, there are also lots of small businesses seeing huge success with influencer marketing campaigns. 

You don’t need a huge budget to make influencer marketing work. Even if you have a fairly limited budget, the right influencer platform can help you get a great return on investment (ROI) on your campaign spending. Influencer marketing delivers an ROI 11x higher than traditional digital marketing efforts, meaning it’s likely to be money well spent.  

As a small business, there are a few things you can do to ensure your influencer marketing efforts are as effective as possible. Make sure you choose influencers that connect with your target audience. The more they have in common with your ideal customer, the better equipped the influencers will be to drive conversions for your business. Your influencer platform should help you locate and get in touch with these influencers. 

You also might want to consider working with nano or micro influencers over mega influencers. Even though influencers with millions of followers get the most press, influencers with fewer followers can actually make better partners for small businesses. They typically charge much lower prices and have more engaged audiences. 

Don’t be afraid to jump into influencer marketing for your small business. With the right influencer marketing platform, you can use influencer marketing to hit your goals and make your business more successful. 

What Are The Best Platforms For Beginner Influencers?

On the influencer side of things, beginner influencers may wonder which social media platform they should use to build a following. Many established influencers have profiles across several top social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, but those just starting out may choose to focus on posting content on one platform at first. In that case, which should they choose?

At this point, Instagram is probably the best social media platform for beginner influencers, especially if they want to build a business collaborating with brands. Brands investing in influencer marketing choose Instagram most often. In fact, 69% of marketers choose Instagram over other social media sites, but platforms like Facebook and TikTok are also popular. New influencers should choose a platform where they feel comfortable and can find an audience that resonates with their content. 

Once they have developed an audience, new influencers can start looking for influencer marketing platforms to work with. 

What are the best influencer platforms for creators?

In general, the best platforms for influencers to connect with brands are also the ones that are best for brands. These are platforms that are built and run by people with relevant experience in the industry. Influencers can look at the previous campaigns these platforms have been involved in to see whether they’re the right fit. When evaluating different influencer platforms, creators should ask themselves:

• What kinds of brands does this platform connect influencers with?
• Does this platform work with influencers with my follower count (nano influencer, micro influencer, etc.)?
• What social media platforms does this platform focus on?
• What features does the platform offer on the influencer side of things?

For creators, the best influencer platforms are ones that can facilitate rewarding brand deals with minimal stress and time investment.

How Lionize Can Help With Your Influencer Marketing 

Working with a quality influencer network is the best way to simplify influencer marketing. You still reap all the benefits of this valuable marketing strategy without needing to spend all the time and effort yourself. That’s what Lionize is here for. 

Lionize is one of the top influencer platforms helping brands and agencies with the influencer marketing process. Our software will assist you through the whole process, from defining your strategy and recruiting the right influencers, to managing your influencer partners and tracking the results of your campaign. It’s the perfect intersection of technology and human expertise. With a dedicated Account Manager to act as your point person through execution, any brand can launch a successful influencer campaign. 

You have full control to select your influencers, and once you configure your campaign, the Lionize platform will do the rest. Just sit back and monitor the results. Book a Discovery Call with Lionize today to begin finding your ideal influencer partnerships.  

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