What really makes a good influencer?
Written by Liav Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of Humanz  Theres a lot of money to be made (and spent) in influencer marketing. Nearly 19% of marketers spent up to $5k in 2020 on influencer campaigns. And another 18% spent between $100k and $500k, with a whopping 7% spending over $1M. Brands are shelling out the big bucks left and right to partner with the right influencer. This guide dives into the top nine most important characteristics to look for in an influencer  and breaks down what exactly makes a good influencer  well  good. #1. Real influencers have real audiences  Marketers partner with influencers because of their authority on a shared target audience. More specifically, influencers provide marketers with reach and the ability to sway the purchasing decisions of real people. But the truth is that influencer fraud is alive and well, and fake follower counts muddy the data. On average, 18 to 24 percent of an influencers audience is suspicious. This means up to nearly a quarter of followers are fake, inactive, and/or botsin short, theyre not real people and they dont have money to spend. Influencers with high suspicious activity could be purchasing fake followers to boost their stats. Or theyre simply not removing inactive accounts and bots from their followers. Either way, businesses dont want a quarter of their marketing budget spent on people who dont exist. Therefore, brands should invest in influencers with a sweet spot of 10 percent or less of suspicious followers, which ensures the influencer is most likely attempting to engage with only authentic audiences. #2: Good influencers dont call themselves influencers  When millions (if not billions) of dollars are spent each year on influencer marketing, word travels fast. And it attracts all the wannabes in swarms. Many wannabe influencers employ a fake-it-til-you-make-it strategy, including:  Fake follower purchases  Fraudulent sponsored posts  Bios and profiles that self-label as influencer  To sum this up, theres a correlation between not-so-great influencers and behaviors that force an influencer persona. Real influencers dont need to force it because they show their influence, they dont claim to have influence. #3: Real influencers regularly engage  Authentic engagement doesnt happen overnight and its nearly impossible to accomplish with brute force. Its organic, its real, and its cultivated through careful curation of valuable content that speaks directly to a community. So youll notice things like:  Good influencers tag other people  Good influencers comment on posts  Good influencers engage with their audience  Average and below-average influencers just dont invest that kind of quality time. On the other hand, good influencers attribute their success to the community theyve helped build. #4: Good influencers dont sell all the time  Imagine you have a close friend. You spend time together, you share details about your lives, and you have fun together. Then they join a multi-level marketing group  and its all they talk about now. Gone are the days of gab-fest lunches because now youre stuck with a non-stop selling machine. If this imaginary friend was an influencer, theyd be a bad one. Constant selling is off-putting because it dilutes conversation (or in an influencers case, it dilutes content). When you invest in influencer marketing, whoever you partner with has to be sales-savvy  this is a given. But theres a balance. It is therefore best for marketers to invest in influencers who devote no more than 20% of their content to paid or sponsored posts. #5: Powerful influence is highly focused  Influencers know their target audience inside and out, and they know why followers keep coming back for more content. The reason is because great influencer content is incredibly focused. No matter what category, interest, topic, or niche an influencer covers, its fine-tuned and valuable. This is what makes an influencers opinion trustworthy. Alternatively, an influencer who genre-hops has too broad of an appeal. Theyre a jack of all trades, but a master of none  and this breeds unfocused content with no clear opinion or perspective. #6: Good influencers dont sell out their fans  Huge brand deals are tempting, and cash motivates people to do things they might not otherwise do. The critical difference between an average influencer and a good influencer that good influencers understand and respect the fact that their followers trust their opinion. In practice, this means good influencers only work with brands and products they can honestly recommend  and they always disclose paid partnerships. When influencers deceive their followers, all trust is broken. And when those followers find out, the jig is up. #7: Good influencers tell good stories  Quality influencers know what makes their audiences tick. They know how to entertain, how to engage, and how to persuade. Good influencers also know how to tell a great story that captivates and convinces (plus, humans are generally predisposed to love a good narrative). This is where brands come into play. When brands partner with average or below-average influencers, the products story falls flat. It doesnt inspire and it doesnt demand attention. But a good influencer can and does bring a brands story to life. And they do so in a way that resonates with the shared audience. #8: Influencers have geographically targetable audiences  Some brands are international titans (think Coca-Cola, Google, Apple, and Amazon), but the majority of companies operate in certain geographic locations. For example, brands may only offer their products in South Africa while others only ship in and around the United Kingdom. In which case, its smart to partner with influencers who have an audience that the brands products can actually, physically reach. This is especially true for local businesses. Its imperative to partner with an influencer who has a captive audience  and that captive audience must also have access to the brand and its products. #9: Good influencers bring in brands organically  Native advertising makes paid content look and feel the same as organic content. Sponsored content is a special subtype of native advertising and it works well (if its done correctly) because it blends in with an influencers posts. After all, a seamless experience is usually a better experience. Good influencers know how to blur the lines between organic and sponsored content. Of course, influencers should still disclose whether a post is sponsored or not, but the point is that paid content shouldnt feel sponsored. Content has to make sense and bring value to followers  regardless of how much it costs.