So influencer marketing is a thing, but HOW do you find an influencer?

Word gets around: The impact of digital influencers

The challenge of every entrepreneur is to get their product or service noticed. Just who notices and who is the challenge. The benefit of social media – in theory anyway – is that we have an enormous cyber-community of millions and millions of people that can be reached with just the click of a mouse or a swipe of an app. It doesn’t always happen that way and, besides, what we really want is for our next best thing to be noticed by people that count. That’s where Whalar comes in.

But first…

Whalar, by its own design, was created with the idea of collaborating with digital influencers. In this case the digital platform is Instagram. So what does that mean? According to Whalar, Instagram influencer marketing is “when a brand utilizes the audience of an online influencer that best matches the brand and the message it wants to spread.” The brand can then engage with their target audience through a personal recommendation from the trusted influencer. What’s an “influencer?” It’s someone with enough clout that the public accepts their advice/recommendation/idea without hesitation. That’s what Instagram influencer marketing is: Targeting an audience of likeminded people that follow an influencer because they trust their opinion, share similar interests and often, are inspired by their posts.

By choosing to work with an influencer a brand can have unprecedented success with the right person and their respective audience. Working with influencers not only spreads the word about a brand but it will also grow the brand’s social channels through the implementation of tags and hashtags. Influencer marketing is consequently fast becoming the most effective medium for online brand expansion, advertisement and marketing.

Not just about followers

Whalar points out that it’s not just be the number of followers that makes for a successful campaign. Think about it: While a large number of followers mean a large audience, the audience may not be engaged with the content. A focus of the Whalar platform is to calculate the engagement level of every Instagram influencer’s audience that is registered to the site. That way they can showcase to brands which influencers would be the best to work with on a successful campaign.

Takes money to make money

The potential for Whalar to take your product to the next level is vast but it comes with a price. Potential clients need to have a budget of at least $25,000 for an influencer marketing campaign.

Whalar explains that “bychoosing to work with an influencer a brand can have unprecedented success with the right person and their respective audience. Working with influencers not only spreads the word about a brand but it will also grow the brand’s social channels through the implementation of tags and hashtags. Influencer marketing is consequently fast becoming the most effective medium for online brand expansion, advertisement and marketing.”

I’m sold on the fact that Digital Influencers are the key to marketing success. That said, I think it’s less about the ‘celebrity’ status of an influencer and the amount of followers they have, but all about creating amazing quality content and storytelling. Whalar just happens to feel the same way which is why this is a startup in particular and a phenomenon I general that is worth keeping an eye on.

#Whalar