What is Influencer Mapping & How Does It Work?

The concept of “influencer” has gained a whole new meaning during the past few years - they are not just popular social media personalities anymore.

Nowadays, working with relevant influencers is an effective way to be one step ahead of your competitors in the digital world.

HubSpot says that 89% of marketers who currently run different influencer marketing campaigns will increase or maintain their investment in 2023.

This shows us that influencer marketing is, and will continue to be, a great way to craft social campaigns online.

But what is influencer mapping? How can this concept help your business? How do you do it? In this guide, we are going to answer all of these questions so you can harness the influencing power of the right individuals.

What is Influencer Mapping?

Influencer mapping is the process of identifying, analyzing, and segmenting key influencers based on business objectives and marketing goals.

Influence mapping creates the roadmap to connect with different influencers that can positively impact the objective of a brand by participating in an influencer campaign.

We live in the digital era - nowadays, multiple campaigns based on influencers bring better results than old forms of marketing, such as print marketing.

Therefore, businesses have an ever-growing need to compare multiple influencers in order to find the right path for the campaign ahead.

What’s the Purpose of Influencer Mapping?

The general purpose of influencer mapping is to create a structured list of potential and reliable influencers who can talk to truly engaged audiences.

To do this, it is necessary to identify key influencers based on their characteristics, preferences, own influencer’s voice, social media channels, engagement level, and more.

Mapping influencers creates a map in which brands can see how the influence flows into an audience, and provides useful engagement data that can later be analyzed and integrated into successful campaigns.

Why Is Influencer Mapping Important?

Social network influencer mapping works like an audience segmentation tool, but for influencers.

The power of influencers is evident, but if you fail to choose the right ones, then getting the required results will not be possible.

There are many factors that back up the importance of influence maps, and these are the three main ones.

1. Avoid Fake Influencers

There are many fake influencers out there who use bots or tools to increase their audience size artificially.

By creating an influencer map, it is possible to connect with genuine influencers who actually make an impact on their specific Influencer Audience.

These days, finding reliable influencers is as important as choosing the correct social channels - the pieces of the puzzle need to fit together to achieve the required results over time.

2. Understand Your Target Audience

Influencer mapping identifies the key influencers' audiences needed to reach your goals.

A study by Morning Consult titled “The Influencer Report” shows us that 72% of Gen Z and Millennials follow multiple influencers on social media platforms.

By understanding the particular audience of an influencer, it is important to tailor the marketing messages to the right target audience, which brings outstanding results.

Moreover, influencers can help companies encounter hidden audiences - perhaps there’s a hidden audience or a market waiting to be discovered!

3. Optimize Resource Allocation and Measurability

Prolific influencers can spread awareness of your brand, but they can be costly or ineffective if measured wrongly.

The results that influencer campaigns produce need to be measured in factors such as participation effectiveness, engagement level, and engagement behavior of audiences .

Likewise, it is possible to find successful partnerships (and optimize resources ) based on how the brand’s campaigns reflect with the influencers.

The spending on influencer marketing in the United States was $4.1 billion in 2022 (Statista), which creates the need to allocate resources successfully before jumping onto a new campaign.

The 5 Main Steps of an Influencer Mapping Campaign

Influencer mapping is not always straightforward - the steps can vary depending on the different influencer marketing campaigns performed by brands.

However, there are five general steps of influencer mapping that can be followed in a standardized way. Let’s learn how to do influencer mapping by following these steps.

Step 1: Define Your Influencer Marketing Campaign Goals and Audience

First, it’s crucial to define the brand’s marketing goals.

Is achieving higher engagement the goal of the brand, or do you prefer to generate more leads?

Are you looking for more revenue, or do you want to grow your numbers on social media networks?

The goal of the influencer marketing campaign defines the rest of the map , so this step is completely necessary.

Step 2: Search and Find Influencers

Now, it’s time to find and connect with important influencers who can generate leads, increase engagement, and generate more revenue for you.

There are several influencer marketing platforms that can be used for this purpose, as locating different influencers is not always easy.

The best way to search and find influencers is by using Hypetrace influencer database.

By using Hypetrace, you can locate influencers who can help with your campaigns within a few steps. This includes information on nano, micro, macro, and mega influencers.

Moreover, HubSpot says that 56% of marketers who invest in influencer marketing campaigns work with micro-influencers , so there’s a wide range of people to choose from.

Step 3: Gather Influencer Data and Analyze Creators

After searching and finding influencers, it is time to analyze their profiles, reach, content type, audiences, and more.

Then, shortlist influencers based on how they can help your brand achieve the desired goals.

Analyze likes per post, content engagement, audience size, content creation effort, and other factors important to the marketing strategy.

The shortlisted influencers will work as your real starting point , as these are, for now, the right influencers to work with.

Step 4: Create the Influencer Map and Start the Campaign

The center of the influencer map is the goal of the campaign.

Then, right around the goal, add the influencers' names and decide which one of them will help you reach your goals.

It’ll later be time to connect with the right influencers, talk with them, show them the proposal, and move forward with the campaign.

Step 5: Measure Your Campaign and Improve Your Marketing Strategy

Keeping track during and after the influencer campaign is necessary to measure the results of the strategy.

Some influencers might work better than others , but at least your influencer map can help you identify new people to work with.

Overall, constantly checking the performance of the campaign is the key to further success, all thanks to influencer mapping.

3 Tips for Effective Influencer Mapping Campaigns

Influencer mapping can heavily vary from one company to another as the sizes, industries, and objectives are not always the same.

To achieve an effective influencer mapping campaign, consider the following three tips:

1. Set a content strategy based on the content of influencers. Make the content of your brand align with the voice and tone of the influencer for better results.
2. Negotiate reasonable contracts with the influencers to increase the cost-effectiveness of the campaign.
3. Keep the influencers engaged with the campaign as long as it brings great results.

Summary: What is Influencer Mapping?

Influencer mapping is the secret ingredient behind successful influencer marketing campaigns.

Identifying key influencers, engaging with relevant audiences, and connecting with individuals whose voices hold influence open up a wide range of opportunities for companies across various industries.

It’s clear that influencers can help bring the desired results, but without a clear map to follow, you might end up getting lost in the vast ocean of social media leaders.

FAQ

Is Influencer Marketing Same as PR?

Influencer Marketing is similar to PR, but they are not the same things. Influencers are more independent and marketing-focused - brands get what they pay for (sponsored posts, videos, mentions, and more). In contrast, PR management focuses on managing the whole reputation of a brand through human relations and communication strategies.