Do You Need Software for Influencer Marketing? 4 Signs to Look For

Is your brand interested in influencer marketing but struggling to execute it? If so, it might be time to consider an influencer marketing platform. With the help of influencer management software, you can find influencers, track campaigns, draft contracts, store content, and brainstorm campaigns — all from one dashboard. 

How do you know if your brand needs influencer platforms? There are a handful of reasons to rely on such a tool, but here are some common signs to look for: 

Trouble finding experienced influencers who align with your brand 

Finding influencers can take some time. You’ll likely manually search for influencers by sifting through social profiles, searching keywords and industry hashtags, or even considering customers for influencers. 

Once you shortlist a few influencers, your job isn’t done. You need to make sure their values match your brands, see how the influencer engages with their followers, and review previous brand campaigns. 

This process is tedious and time-consuming but 100% necessary. The success of influencer marketing begins with the right content creator. If your team is tired of scouring sites for influencers or just doesn’t have the time to devote to the process, it’s time to consider software for influencer marketing.

Influencer software provides a database of experienced influencers that you can easily search and filter to find the right creator. 

Tired of foraging for campaign resources

Many pieces make up an influencer campaign, many of which you have to gather. For instance, you need an influencer contract. The contract should outline the campaign, discuss compensation, and cover content ownership post-campaign. You’ll likely need to contact your legal team to get one or use the Contracts module in IZEA Flex.

To give influencers an idea of the content you have in mind, you’ll need to find inspiration. You’ll likely spend a few hours researching images and digging up examples to give influencers guidance. 

If you’re working with a handful of influencers, each one needs a unique tracking link or promo code; you’ll need to generate those. 

How do you plan to pay the influencers? Are you cutting a check, direct depositing payment, or paying through a platform like PayPal? It’s another element of the campaign you must handle.

With the right influencer tool, you’ll get assistance with all of these elements. With IZEA Flex, for example, you can leverage templated contracts, use AI Storyboards to provide campaign inspiration, create tracking links, and pay influencers in one dashboard. 

Lack of staff to manage and nurture relationships

To convert a customer, it takes an average of eight touchpoints, which means a one-time influencer marketing campaign might not deliver the results you want. As with any marketing effort, the more customer interactions, the more effective the campaign. 

You want an influencer to steadily endorse your product, so your team should build long-term relationships with influencers. You’ll need to communicate during a campaign to discuss campaign details, progress, or any issues that have come up. 

After the campaign, your communication should continue to nurture the relationship. You might mail quarterly swag, send check-in emails, or invite influencers to your store, office, or plant. 

And, if you’re working with more than one influencer, you multiply those efforts. 

Influencer relationship management takes staff time and effort, and sometimes marketing departments are stretched too thin to accomplish this. If you don’t feel you can maintain a healthy relationship with influencers, influencer marketing platforms can help. 

The best influencer marketing software has a dedicated Contacts module to keep track of all contract information for creators, legal teams and agents. 

Campaign metrics are inconclusive or confusing

How are you measuring the success of your influencer campaigns? Are you watching Google Analytics? Are you tracking prescribed promo codes? 

There are a handful of metrics to watch during our campaign, but they’re often “vanity metrics” – or statistics that make you feel good but aren’t all that substantive. For example, impressions and follower counts are great, but you want to know your ROI. 

You want to know how much you spent on the campaign, including payments to influencers, and how much you made. If you’re working with more than one influencer, you should be able to track each sale back to a specific influencer too. 

To get robust, understandable metrics directly related to sales, you need influencer marketing tools that make campaign metrics a breeze.  

If your brand is experiencing any of these signs, it’s time to explore an influencer marketing platform like IZEA Flex. This value-priced platform gives brands and agencies the ability to find influencers, utilize readymade influencer contracts, send and track payments, generate AI images for visual inspiration, and track meaningful metrics — including ROI —  all from one centralized location. 

Considered one of the best influencer marketing platforms, IZEA Flex is the go-to choice for brands who need help leveraging influencer marketing.

Influencers:

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Marketers:

The world’s biggest brands trust IZEA’s influencer marketing software and managed solutions. Find out which solution is right for you.