Over the years, influencers have become a big part of the online community. Every other brand wants to collaborate with these influencers, as they possess the ability to influence people’s opinions.
However, have you ever wondered how people of similar interests are interlinked with each other on the internet? And who influences these influencers?
Influencer mapping is the answer you’re looking for. This guide will give you an insight into what an influencer map is and how you can track all the influencers of a specific genre or common interest with the help of influencer mapping.
In this post, we’ll walk you through the following topics:
- What is influencer mapping?
- Why is influencer mapping important?
- Influencer mapping tools
- How to measure influence using influencer mapping?
What is Influencer mapping?
Influencer mapping is a type of data visualization technique that is done before the launch of an influencer campaign to understand shared interests and various interconnected relationships between influencers. All the influencers of a specific genre or niche can be identified with the help of an influencer map.
Influencer mapping also helps you identify a group of influencers in your niche, helping you make an informed decision while choosing the ideal influencer for your campaign.
Why is Influencer mapping important?
Influencer mapping can be of great importance to your company, as it gives you a clear outlook into the type of influencer you require to represent your business objectives. It also helps you determine the level of influence an influencer has on their followers.
The influencer map also goes on to show the following ways in which various influencers are interconnected with each other:
1. Common interests
Influencer mapping helps you figure out various common characteristics and behavioral traits of a particular niche of influencers. It also helps you find out other common interests of these influencers apart from their niche.
For example, if you are searching for an influencer who is a gamer, your influencer map will indicate all the popular gamers and the similar interests they share.
2. Relationship between influencers
Influencer map gives you an insight into who the most followed influencer of a particular genre is. It shows you if the influencers of that certain niche follow each other on social media platforms or not. Influencer mapping also goes on to show how frequently they interact or collaborate.
3. Engagement rate
An influencer map is a great way to categorize influencers based on the number of followers they have. But, many times influencers buy fake followers, and their profile is filled with inactive bot profiles. This is where the engagement rate steps in. Influencer mapping gives you a clear visualization of the level of engagement these influencers have with their audience.
Influencer mapping can help you analyze and compare influencers’ engagement.
Example:
Influencer 1: 123K followers on Instagram; Average likes on a post: 40K; Average comments on a post: 200
Influencer 2: 57K followers on Instagram; Average likes on a post: 35K; Average comments on a post: 5000
Here, ‘Influencer 1’ comprises a large following but less engagement compared to ‘Influencer 2.’ So, Influence 2 would be a better option to collaborate with.
4. Common affinities
Influencer mapping shows you the various brands and businesses that the particular sets of influencers have worked with. It gives you an idea about the brands or your competitors that frequently collaborate with these influencers. You can analyze their previous collaborations and then come up with better influencer marketing strategies.
5. Content
Influencer mapping helps you understand the level of knowledge and passion an influencer has for their content. It also gives you an insight into how their content is perceived by their followers and peers.
Influencer mapping tools
The process of influencer mapping can get a bit hard at times, because while manually creating an influencer map you are doing everything yourself, right from collecting to analyzing data.
This is where an influencer mapping tool comes in. An influencer mapping tool asks you to fill out your influencer requirements and gives you a list of suitable influencers accordingly.
A good influencer mapping tool like Happine.cc can help you save a lot of time that you would have otherwise wasted by manually making an influencer map. It helps you sort the list of influencers based on: the number of followers they have, the type of content they post, and their social media engagement rates.
An influencer mapping tool works in the following ways:
- First, you need to fill out basic details of your influencer requirements. These details include target age group, gender, key locations, engagement, and the number of followers an influencer has.
- After you fill in these details, the influencer mapping tool would promote your influencer campaign on their platform. This helps your campaign get noticed by a particular set of influencers.
- Based on the promotions, you receive applications from influencers who are willing to collaborate with you.
- Next, the influencer mapping tool gives you an estimated ROI (Return on investment) based on the type of influencer you shortlist.
- Lastly, it helps you keep track of the revenue that has been generated. It keeps you updated with all the successful conversions that occurred during the influencer campaign.
How to measure influence using Influencer mapping?
One of the major traits that you look for in an influencer is the level of influence they have on their followers. Influencer mapping gives you all the required statistics by which you can analyze the influence of an influencer.
The following are 4 parameters through which you can measure influence:
- Reach: It gives you an idea about how many followers they have on each social media platform.
- Relevance: In it, according to the particular niche, we can find out the number of times their name comes up and if the people of that field are aware of them.
- Resonance: It determines the level of engagement that a particular influencer has with their followers.
- Reference: In it, we get to know if the particular influencer is being mentioned in social media posts by other prominent influencers of the same niche or not.
Interesting Stats
Based on a Global Study in 2009, 70% of customers trust recommendations from total strangers, while a Forrester Research study indicates that 70% of customers believe in recommendations from family and/or friends.
According to a 2010 Nielsen report, 90% of customers trust the people they know for purchasing decisions. Additionally, 70% trust online user reviews and ratings. In 2012, the belief in peers, including friends and family, increased to 92%.
The Global Trust in Advertising Survey conducted by Nielsen gathered insights from 30,000 online respondents across 60 countries. The survey reveals that recommendations from friends are the most trusted form of advertising. Some of the key statistics from this survey are:
- A total of 84% of people believe in a brand if a friend, family member, or acquaintance refers it to them.
- 42% of customers are more likely to trust recommendations from another person, even if they don’t know them personally, over branded content.
- Over 80% (specifically, 83%) of global respondents express complete or partial trust in the recommendations of friends and family.
- More than 60%, to be accurate, 66% say they would trust consumer opinions posted online.
- 70% of respondents reported completely or somewhat trusting branded sites.
According to Harvard Business Review, 84% of B2B buyers consider referrals as the starting point for their purchasing process.
The organic reach of Facebook was only 5.20% in 2020.
As per the Digital 2020 April Global Statshot Report by We Are Social, the following statistics are observed:
- There are 4.57 billion internet users and 3.81 billion active social media users.
- Among the Internet users aged 16 and 64 –
- Over three-quarters (76%) increased their smartphone usage.
- 47% spent more time on social media.
- 47% listen to Internet radio.
- 47% of male users spent more time shopping.
By looking at all these statistics you can clearly understand users trust recommendations from people they know. This includes their friends, family, and even strangers. You can leverage this while partnering with influencers and use it to effectively promote your business.
Conclusion
Making your mark in the market has become quite a challenge over the years. To survive amidst this relentless competition, you need to look out for the right people who are willing to promote you.
Influencers are bigger than ever in the social media space. According to the Digital Marketing Institute, “49% of Consumers Depend on Influencer Recommendations.” Therefore, an influencer can be the ideal choice to represent your business objectives and goals.
Influencer mapping is a process that helps you reach your goal faster. Make sure you carefully read about the concept of influencer mapping with the help of this guide, and let us know if it worked for you!
If you are new to influencer mapping, Happine.cc can help you automate the process within a few hundred dollars.
