Have you ever bought something because it was recommended by someone else? Was it someone online who had written a glowing review? Perhaps it was a respected figure whose article shed a positive light on the product or service in question. The scenario we have just outlined is what happens on millions of occasions every day online, and such is its impact that it has been given a name, influencer marketing.
Before we go any further, we must clarify that influencer marketing is not the same as movie stars or sports heroes promoting products on TV. That is advertising. Instead, influencer marketing is mostly content-driven. In other words, the content written by influencers is what persuades people to act in a certain way, including purchasing products, but that content is not an out and out advert screaming “Buy This!”.
The question this raises is “Why would a business use influencer marketing instead of simply have a celebrity endorse or advertise their product?” The simple answer is the return on investment from influencer marketing is over 10 times that of traditional advertising. Also, there is fly in the ointment of the modern consumer having barriers up to persuasion when most adverts appear on TV.
So, if a business wants to take advantage of influencer marketing, it first needs to find the influencers creating the content. That is where influencer software becomes a business’s best friend. It is often called an influencer marketplace or influencer network but more commonly it is referred to as an influencer marketing platform. It is what allows a business to research, find, and connect with influencers, and subsequently set up influencer campaigns. Here are our Top 5.
Upfluence
Upfluence is two marketing tools in one. The first component is Reachr which allows companies and brands to find the influencers that will be creating the content. Their database covers over 200 business sectors, and you can search using 50 filters to ensure you find the match most suitable.
The second component is Publishr which adds an enhanced layer of marketing whereby multiple writers with relationships with media and news outlets publish content. In addition, you have the means to track and analyse each campaign.
Tribe Dynamics
Suitable for medium and large businesses, Tribe Dynamics is ideal for those business owners who are looking for an influencer marketing platform that offers excellent tracking and analysis of each campaign. It allows you to search for influencers, and for more effective targeting you can segment influencers based on the type of content they produce and the platforms, communities, and social channels they influence in.
trendHERO
Those businesses which would benefit from prospects being able to see their products might find trendHERO most appropriate as it is an influencer audit platform that operates on Instagram. Instagram is the internet’s #1 photo and image sharing platform and has some influencers whose followings number several million.
You can analyse each influencer’s account using over 90 different metrics, can assess your competitors if they are using Instagram, can track your campaigns and most find this to be an extremely easy tool to use.
Activate
Activate provides a comprehensive influencer marketing platform with a host of features. Identifying suitable influencers from their database of 75,000 influencers is one of them. You can search by the general subjects they write about, and which groups they influence based on demographics such as location and responses to surveys generated by Activate.
Each campaign will have a workflow so you can monitor its process in terms of implementation. Once live, you have some excellent tools which measure and analyse your campaigns.
CreatorIQ
Some of the largest brands in the world have used CreatorIQ including Disney, Ralph Lauren and Dell which should alert you to the fact this is an influencer marketing platform for larger businesses. It has an excellent dashboard interface which makes it popular with those looking for a user-friendly option.
It integrates with social platform APIs at one level, and once a business has selected its influencers it provides an even greater level of data. This is truly an all-in-one influencer marketing solution with a plethora of features.