This week on #bufferchat our community shared advice and best practices for influencer marketing campaigns. Read on to discover all of the awesome insights shared during the chat!
Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and to meet hundreds of other smart marketers and social media enthusiasts. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join whichever chat time works best for you!
4 pm AEST (Sydney time)
9 am PT (San Francisco time)

This week’s stats:
Bufferchat #1 (4 pm AEST): 14 participants; reach of 985,151
Bufferchat #2 (9 am PT): 65 participants; reach of 1,268,144
Q1: Does your current marketing strategy involve working with influencers or micro-influencers?
From the community:
A1: I look at this question differently. I see this as an opportunity to help clients become an influencer one day. It’s a long term game plan but I believe every brand has great values, contents and stories to share to the world. We all gotta start somewhere! #bufferchat
— Derek Leung (@startwithderek) April 4, 2018
A1. Yes! We’ve passively done it for a few years but now we have an official influencer/ambassador program and somewhat streamlined process. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/0Q2g9HgjPe
— D Johnson Lindsay (@djohnsonlindsay) April 4, 2018
A1: My current job role doesn’t involve working with influencers of micro-influencers. In fact, I’ve been brainstorming how to incorporate that in the real estate space, but no luck so far! #BufferChat
— Ashley Hoffman (@ashhmarketing) April 4, 2018
Just but thinking about backing off from it – influencers seem a bit fickle and jump to whoever gives them the most free stuff. But it’s also interesting so watch big brands like @Alo_Yoga right now and their influencers with the current #yoga landscape #bufferchat A1
— Maggie Franz (@M2Franz) April 4, 2018
See all the great answers to question 1 here!
Q2: How do you identify the right influencers to work with your brand/product?
From the community:
A2: We use a variety of ways to find relevant influencers. We use our own tool spot influencers based on relevant and related social conversations. Our preferred method is starting with our own customers. #bufferchat
— Rival IQ (@RivalIQ) April 4, 2018
A2: We also have campaigns where we ask qualified applicants to voice interest. We are about to launch an online hub with @influitive to segment them and get them to volunteer to help us #bufferchat
— Bryn Hafemeister (@brynhafemeister) April 4, 2018
A2 Who is already talking about and/or using your brand/product/service? Start with those people and amplify their voices. They will care more than folks you have to teach about your brand and who just want to get paid. #bufferchat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) April 4, 2018
A2: I start with creating a customer profile and understanding what the interests, industry, and needs of my target market are. Then I search for influencers based on their popularity based on the parameters of my customer profile. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/ip1Tz0cdV2
— Forrester Hinds (@ForresterHinds) April 4, 2018
See all the great answers to question 2 here!
Q3: How do you budget for an influencer campaign?
From the community:
A3: Depending on your IM plan, you may create a separate budget entirely but when just getting started, allocate from other paid media spend.
In an ideal world, all influencers would be static but you are going to find different agreements with each one.#bufferchat
— Jeff Higgins Wants New Garbage Pail Kids (@ItsJeffHiggins) April 4, 2018
A3: Influencer budget generally stems from your media cash, though smart partnerships / content shares could justify stealing from the creative pot. Get clever with your roll outs & you can actually find savings. #BufferChat
— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) April 4, 2018
A3: We base compensation on reach and engagement. We budget for estimated engagement and attach a value to a customer’s click. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/0xmfXNRMk3
— Minnanic Digital Solutions (@MinnanicDigital) April 4, 2018
A3.
Should be part of your marketing, paid media, and/or customer acq. budget!
Start small with sponsored content or a few affiliates — if it works, then scale.#bufferchat pic.twitter.com/RPV4d9XEKE
— Tori Dunlap | Victori Media (@victori_media) April 4, 2018
See all the great answers to question 3 here!
Q4: What are some tips to keep everyone on the same page? Do you create a campaign brief?
From the community:
A4: I prefer to find out how they best communicate. I’ve created exclusive Slack channels, Facebook Groups, and also stuck with email. Coming at it from what’s easy for them has ensured that the communication stays open. #bufferchat
— Cassandra Schwartz ⭐ (@cssndrlnn) April 4, 2018
A4: Yes, a campaign brief is vital to ensure the best possible outcome. There needs to be shared understanding of the message and goals.
Also an action plan, especially scheduling, is important for maximum exposure. #bufferchat
— Little Tzu Marketing (@wearelittletzu) April 4, 2018
#A4 #Bufferchat: It is crucial to brief the team on ROI and the influencers on expectations through a brief. The brief should also have recommendations and/or examples to aid the influencers. This makes it easy to follow up, keep track of #ROI and expand the #influencerprogram.
— Mogul Tech International (@MogulTechInt) April 4, 2018
A4. Nothing beats an accurate but engaging campaign brief @buffer but brands show try and help influencers really get to know the brand by doing brand days, video briefs and chats over coffee to help influencers get inside the brand exprience ?. #BufferChat. pic.twitter.com/Jcigsddsxf
— Miss Sophie (@letsdostuffs) April 4, 2018
See all the great answers to question 4 here!
Q5: What are some ways to measure the success of an influencer marketing campaign?
From the community:
A5: Along w/ meeting goals, I’d say interviewing the influencer after the campaign has completed seeing if they also achieved their goals. Influencer marketing is a two-way street, and once both sides are satisfied w/ the results, then it’s successful ? #bufferchat
— Paige Sandhu (@paige_sandhu) April 4, 2018
A5: other than practical measurements like use of affiliate codes, Analytics, conversion rates, etc. I think some ways to measure success comes from the overall sentiment towards your product or service. If you’re building trust, then you’re doing it right. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/7rlNaaJpSR
— Pippa ? (@PippaRogers82) April 4, 2018
A5 Having clear goals right from the start – is it to increase sales? Promote awareness? Bring new followers to the brand’s social media? Then reading the right metrics and feedback accordingly #bufferchat https://t.co/UMeEWBV0YG
— Bruna Miranda (@brumiranda) April 4, 2018
A5:) influence marketing is difficult to be a stand alone metric.
KPIs virality by measuring reach and engagement is good yet social listening and community management should be the main feedback metric on influencer marketing #bufferchat
— Fouad (@fouad_khafaga) April 4, 2018
See all the great answers to question 5 here!
Q6: Do you have an example of a great influencer marketing campaign? What made it successful?
From the community:
A6: We picked out our favorites last year. It’s probably time to pick some new ones. Last year it was #aeriereal, #southwestpassport, and #TheSweatLife. https://t.co/3VwkcLeY1M #bufferchat
— Rival IQ (@RivalIQ) April 4, 2018
A6. In Botswana one that we can recall was a campaign by @DStvBotswana with @kasison that was aimed at increasing the sales of their broadcast decoders mainly targeting football supporters. He had a community of loyal followers and his relevance fit the profile #bufferchat
— Visual Touch (@visualtouchbw) April 4, 2018
A6: So many to mention. @adidas for their approach, communication and combined use of macro and micro influencers. @glossier for turning regular fans into influencers. @asos for Asos Insiders, using relatable micro-influencers to drive sales. #bufferchat
— Little Tzu Marketing (@wearelittletzu) April 4, 2018
A6: I watch @linustech on YouTube and have purchased sponsor items on more than one occasion; to me that makes both their influencer marketing campaign and the influence of the channel successful. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/XiNVDFbAmD
— Forrester Hinds (@ForresterHinds) April 4, 2018
See all the great answers to question 6 here!
Thank you so much to our awesome community for sharing such great insights in this chat!
Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!