Influencer marketing has been one of the most used ‘buzz phrases’ over the last few years. Sports marketing is by no means immune to the social influencer phenomena, with many creators building up large followings through sports related content.

How do you get the best out of your influencer campaigns, though? Below, we offer 5 tips for brands considering their options in the social media influencer space.

5 Tips for Working with Social Media Influencers

1. Do you need to work with social influencers?

Just because there has been a large uptake in this space doesn’t mean it’s right for you. As well as understanding the influencers’ audiences (see point two) there are many other considerations. Does their content fit with your brand? Is it safe enough? Plus, if you’re a company that requires lots of levels of approval, working with influencers can be a bumpy road.

2. Do your homework

The headline follower number is essentially window dressing. Get under the hood of the numbers. How much of the audience is in the right territories? What kind of engagement are they getting on their regular content and their branded work?

There are many tools out there that can help identify potential collaborators but there’s never a substitution for common sense.

3. Find someone with a passion for your sector, brand or product

Of course you’re paying for promotion from influencers but it’s very difficult to buy true advocacy. A creator who has genuinely benefited from your product or brand is going to offer a much more seamless integration than one who has to be coerced into the deal. Don’t rule out ‘micro-influencers’ - a smaller, niche, but highly engaged audience can be of huge benefit.

4. Work closely with the influencers

Nobody knows their audiences better than the creators themselves. Working with them to create the treatment goes a long way. A relationship built on trust from both parties will tend to produce the best results.

5. Have clear goals for long term as well as short term

Given the relationship influencers have with their (often very large) audiences, the temptation is to look at driving short term sales. Offer codes, unique links, affiliate schemes. All of which can be hugely useful in generating some short term success. But remember that good influencers have a loyal audience. A brand who is seen to be facilitating additional content will always be seen in a more positive light than one who is trying to hijack attention.

If you’re a brand thinking of using social media influencers, Underdog Sports Marketing can help. With experience in working with brands and influencers of all different sizes, we’re able to advise the best way of getting the most out of influencer marketing.