Influencer Relations

A. An influencer campaign is a specific program within a public relations campaign that focuses on non-traditional media (influencers) with a following (typically on social media) and an audience that aligns with the target audience of a brand or organization. PR firms will work a client to craft a budget that aligns with their goals and objectives and typically take a management fee (either a percentage of the influencer campaign budget or a portion of an ongoing broader PR budget) to arrange a steady flow of influencer content that promotes the brand or organization in some way and reinforces the key messages for the campaign.

A. Research, research, research! You must be following the trends or keywords in your industry to find WHO is talking about WHAT and to evaluate REACH.

From there, you want to understand their budget and how they typically work with brands. A PR agency is very helpful in this process because they will have an understanding of the media landscape the influencer is in and how valuable their support would be for the larger PR objectives of the brand or organization. An agency will also have experience with influencer contracts. It’s important to have legal counsel to review all contracts.

A. Results can vary depending on budget. Influencer campaigns are measured in similar ways as other more traditional PR efforts (which focus on the reach and audience of a media channel, the number of views/shares of that channel, how strong was message pull through, and what kind of increased web traffic or engagement did they witness as a result of the campaign).

A. You’ll want to set aside a decent budget for an influencer campaign within your broader PR initiatives.  A campaign that focuses on micro influencers (a term for influencers with a more modest reach—say, 100,000 total followers across platforms) can be more cost-effective than one that aims for larger influencers with hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers. 

Size isn’t always the most important factor when it comes to thinking about the effectiveness of an influencer campaign. Organizations should consider their budget and then aim to reach a variety of influencers to expand the potential audience for their campaign. 

Influencer campaigns can start as low as $5,000 and be hundreds of thousands of dollars—even millions—with a big enough influencer.