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When it comes to brand collaborations, not all influencers are created equal. Many factors -- including age, gender, area of residence, and strength on specific channels -- can affect how well an influencer performs for your brand. Thankfully, you have some great tools on Shopping Links for narrowing your focus. Here are three things to watch as you set your parameters to find the best influencers for your next collaboration: 

1. Determine your primary goal: Sales vs. Awareness

Before starting your collaboration, ask yourself this question: what do you hope to achieve the most? If your primary goal is brand exposure, you’ll set your parameters differently than if you hope to reach viewers who are likely to immediately buy your product. 

For example, if your goal is widespread exposure, a paid collaboration with a few “High” influence bloggers -- professional influencers who have a built strong, highly engaged audience -- will do the most to boost your awareness. However, if encouraging sales of a specific item is more important, running a gift + affiliate links campaign to specific geographic areas for “Low” or “Medium” influencers -- up-and-coming bloggers are more likely to accept gifts and commission rather than payment -- may be more effective for you.   

2. Choose the right collaboration type  

Choosing the right collaboration type can go a long way toward ensuring you get the right responses. If you’re not getting the response you had hoped for, you may want to explore alternative collaboration types. Blog posts, for example, will yield specific levels of web traffic compared with social (such as instagram), and Snapchat campaigns are far more likely to attract a younger audience. Make sure your collab type and audience are aligned.  

3. Choose the right benefit parameters 

This is one of the most important parameters for attracting the relevant influencers, so it’s worth it to take your time with each part. If you are offering gifts or commission but not payment, it’s important to select unpaid to set the right expectations. If you’re running a paid campaign, be sure to fill out your desired range -- note that this is what will be displayed to bloggers; this does not include the 10% service fee. Selecting “negotiable” will allow you to show bloggers that you’re flexible if their requirements fall just outside your range.  

One last component when setting your benefit parameters, that can make a big difference, is whether your brand is able to promote the Influencer on your own social media channels. This works particularly well for those brands that have good brand equity and a high following. Your high following on your brand account becomes the currency and the benefit. Providing this option to Influencers can sometimes negate the need for payment and can attract some of the highly influential bloggers when coupled with a generous gifting benefit.  

Not sure which social channels or collaboration types will work best for you or need a little more assistance? We’re always happy to help! For guidance with all aspects of your campaign, ask about our Managed Collaboration service at hello@shoppinglinks.com.