'Don't chase the numbers. Go micro,' says IPG's Terry Peigh

Terry Peigh is a firm believer that influencers can give a booster shot to brand fortunes. However, people often confuse influencers with those having large number of followers. “One should avoid having the wrong influencers. One should be very careful with your selection,” says Peigh.

 

This is where Peigh provides the first tip to get it right. He says, “A lot of micro-influencers are a lot more trusted,” he says and adds that micro-influencers (those having 5000-10000 followers on social media) have a lot more knowledge of products and that’s what brands should want to put a premium on. 

 

However there is a downside to even this strategy. “The risk is if they have only five-ten thousand followers, brands need to manage hundreds of them as opposed to one major influencer.” That calls for a lot of discipline among the social media managers.

 

But can you ignore the large influencers? ” Is it really worth the effort? There is no right answer as you have to perfect it by testing. The bias is towards smaller, because small is more trusted,” he says. 

 

He also lays down some golden rules that brand managers could follow while recruiting influencers.

Of course, it is not easy.

 

Brands have to pick the right kind of influencers, the right size of the followers for these influencers, 

They have to pick those who are portrayed as having the right image in sync with your brand 

Pick influencers who get the most response and ensure that one can track the response all the way through 

 

Importantly, those influencers who will do it for the most efficient price and have the right combination of channels are the most valuable. 

 

A YouTube influencer may be so different from a LinkedIn influencer. Pick influencers according to the channel.

 

He adds, “The one thing you will hear a lot today is about the relative better-value of the micro-influencers. However, there might be value in chasing an influencer with a huge follower base in some of your marketing goals.” 

 

“Brand managers have to test influencers against these dimensions. You will not figure out many of these on day one. Like everything else in marketing, it’s all about testing till you arrive at the right combination,” says Peigh. 

 

Also read: 

 

The rise and rise of the influencer