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Benefits of WordPress for: Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Website Development

At iAnalyst we are proud to offer web development, search engine optimization (SEO) & overall internet marketing for WordPress sites, along with marketing for all other platforms & code sets. Though WordPress has become the leading content system management (CMS) and rightfully so. WordPress is the perfect marketing tool to expose your company to a larger audience. Since its creation in 2003, WordPress has become one the most popular blogging websites. WordPress has since expanded to be used as a full content management system (CMS) operated by numerous developers with over 76 million sites. With a variety of features, WordPress has become the best platform used by web developers.

Usability
One of the main reasons why WordPress has become so popular is simply because it is easy to use. Adding images, posting blogs, and formatting text can be done quickly and efficiently with limited HTML software. WordPress can be accessed from any computer as long as it has internet access and a browser. The flexibility of WordPress allows the developer to constantly update information in an organized and timely manner. Since the technology is so simple and easy to learn, it will save you valuable time that can be spent elsewhere.

Personalization
Just because this CMS is simple and user-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean it will give you generic end result; in fact, the platform allows for in-depth customization. WordPress gives the user the opportunity to personalize designs to fit their brand. If you choose to, you can have one theme throughout the entire website, or you can have multiple layouts for different pages. This will give your website a unique look that will keep visitors engaged.

Mobile-Friendly Capability
With the overall spike use of mobile devices over the past few years, it is more important than ever for a website to be mobile friendly. Customers will constantly attempt to access your website through mobile devices, so it is crucial for your website to be mobile friendly; not to mention Google’s updates and penalizations for websites not yet optimized for mobile use. WordPress offers this accommodation by recognizing if a visitor is viewing the webpage from a computer or a mobile device to adjust the way the content is viewed. This provides an advantage over having to create a completely different website exclusively for mobile customers.

Complete Control
Another major advantage in using WordPress is that you will have complete control of your entire webpage. With this, you also have the ability to assign certain capabilities to different users for the website. For example, you can limit certain users to specific titles such as editor, author, contributor, and subscriber, which ensures that you will have the control of everything on your webpage. No one will have the ability to change information that you don’t approve of.

Plugins
A major factor that has made WordPress so popular over the years is the availability of plugins. There are thousands of plugins that have already been created to increase the efficiency of web pages. Plugins allow for greater interactions between the administrator and the users, while making the website easier to manage. Plugins can range from ensuring the security of the webpage to adding a FAQs page to the website. Whatever additional feature you need, there is likely a plugin available for it.

WordPress is the most reliable CSM used to create websites and with good reason. The flexibility of WordPress accounts for a wide range of skills in web developing, so whether you’re an experienced developer or a beginner, WordPress is the perfect CMS to use.

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Choosing Sides: The War between Native App and Web App Development

The conversation about whether a business should invest in a native app or a web app has been going on for a few years. The reality is that both are necessary,  each serving a unique purpose. The question of whether or not to invest in the development of a mobile application, however, is an easy one. Every business imaginable, despite its size or the industry it occupies, has caught on the the reality that a mobile application is the best way to keep an audience engaged with their product.

Acting as visual reminders, mobile applications bolster a business’ overall marketing strategy by providing an easily accessible platform for consistent customer engagement and service deployment. It is undeniable that today’s businesses live and breathe on the customer base sustained by this connection.

These benefits come together to impact even small businesses considerably.

Though the “if” of mobile application development is indisputable, the difficulty of tackling the “what” and “how” is as well. Besides considerations such as budget and return on investment, businesses need to consider the main purpose for the mobile application. While native apps tend to dominate in user time spent on the application, web apps have far greater numbers in relation to unique visitors.

This is due to the features and drawbacks innate to the two types of apps.

Native apps can access the native hardware, features and information of the device on which it’s downloaded. They can be downloaded and installed directly onto the mobile device from an online app store and runs as a standalone. Native apps are readily available on app stores and come prescreened by the marketplaces on which they are sold, ensuring that the apps downloaded are simultaneously safe and of high quality.

Native apps are generally equipped for excellent user experience  with faster performance speeds, offline storage, push notifications, incorporation of gestures and accessibility offline.

Information storage on native apps can help conserve bandwidth by curbing the necessity to constantly refresh, as is often the case on web apps. This can be profitable as the connection of many mobile devices are metered.  On the development end, unlike a web app, developers are provided the SDK, tools and support, which helps with the ease and speed of the app’s development.

Web apps are accessible anywhere there is a web connection making it easy to access from any computer or device. They have a cross-platform common code base and don’t require submissions and approval from app stores. A readily available web app can be modified and given a responsive web design. In contrast, native apps are normally more expensive to develop, especially if you consider supporting multiple mobile devices, as each development platform requires an individual development process. In addition, each native app platform has its own programming language.

Web apps can be monetized through advertising and subscription fees, though a paywell or subscription system needs to be in place to charge users. Updates are automatic, ensuring consistency among users. Though limited, mobile web apps can also access native features and information, such as media and geolocation.

Ultimately, determining how to build your mobile app requires looking at one thing: the needs of your target audience. Does your app need to be Internet-enabled? Does it need to interface with any native device features? How essential is speed and performance? How, if at all, will it be monetized? Does your development team have the resources for development or do you need to hire a developer?

And, of course, the all-important question of budget.

As for who wins the war, even with the keen need for native features in the mobile sphere, when it comes to the question of reach vs rich user experience the answer is: it just depends on your company’s needs.

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Top 5 Internet Marketing Insights for 2017

“Google will buy Twitter for tens of billions of dollars. Twitter won’t change much, but there will be more ads. The ROI for buying advertising in Twitter will go up.” This is a quote by Andy Crestodina who is the co-founder of Orbit Media and is considered a leading industry expert.

2017 seems to be the year of substantial increases of innovation in the Martech and Adtech industry. Understanding these new market trends will help teams as they begin to plan a 2017 budget even though some of the new technologies they will need are still on or just leaving the drawing board. Many industry professionals are interested in seeing how Microsoft will utilize the big data they have to create a stronger ad program within their recent acquisition of Linkedin. The thought of combining a huge social network of over 400 million users with one of the largest search engines in the world is every digital marketer’s wet dream. That goes without saying the endless possibilities that will emerge with combining those resources with Windows, Office, Dynamics, and Cloud. Can you imagine writing a blog post or article on Office 365 and being able to just right click to find an expert quote from Linkedin?

Trend #1: Double down on Automation and Social analytics

I’d like to remind everyone that Social Media is still in its beginning stages even though some of us feel that large companies such as Facebook and Twitter have been around a long time they are still in their infancy stage. Such as the beginning of any relationship, martech and social media are still getting to know each other, but social media advertising is projected to generate $11 billion in revenue by 2017. It is one of the largest opportunities of marketing exploration for the upcoming year, and as I mentioned before some of these social websites still have many ideas on the drawing board that will greatly benefit Internet marketing. A DMA research study showed that 70% of companies are still not collecting data from social media channels, so it is important that budgets are allocated towards social media analytics. Many companies are still unable to create and implement a robust social media automation that actually works. Different platforms and tools are still growing to help with prospecting and delivering content to the right customers in the moment they need engagement. Industry experts agree that a more valuable concrete solution is desperately needed to take advantage of this relatively untouched resource. They hypothesize the best solution is some sort of a collaboration between apps, networks and platforms all integrated with a marketing dashboard for end to end reporting of the impact social analytics has across the customer journey.

Trend #2: Invest more in the video and podcast bandwagon

These avenues are and will continue to become the best ways to engage audiences using visuals, colors, sounds and/or music. This also works in tandem with trend #1 because a great video will help build brand loyalty and trust by enriching a prospective customer’s journey. Convenience and sometimes necessity are enabling more video and podcast use, especially among those with a preference of “watching the movie” or “listening to the audio book” rather than actually “reading the book.” According to the newest edition of the DMA statistical fact book, 4 times as many consumers prefer digestible video content to plain text. Even Nicola Mendelssohn from Facebook says it will “probably’ be “all video” in 5 years. There is also an Edison research study that revealed approximately 46 million Americans listen to podcasts monthly, and the average user listens to six a week. Huge corporations are already taking advantage of this such as GE and Netflix who each have their own podcasts with registered listeners. As for future video content, Yahoo is a pioneer and has begun to allow you to take out full-screen auto-play video ads on their homepage. You may sometimes even see pop up type movie previews before accessing their main site.

Trend #3: Becoming as ‘human’ as possible in a digital world as fans want to know the people behind the brand and feel that they are understood.

It is widely accepted that the Internet knows more about you than the coworker sitting 2 feet away from you, so it is easy to understand the increase in paid searches and pay-per-click type of advertising over the last several years. Unfortunately, this strategy can become expensive if you do not have a flawless keyword strategy, and not to mention that there many flaws ranging from generating irrelevant site visits to making people feel they are being spammed in their web searches. Reaching your target market in a more organic type of way using blogs and user reviews has been the best way to establish legitimacy in your respective industry. Focusing more on the journey of a prospective customer and painting a perspective of helping them to buy rather than just selling them is something to look forward to in 2017. An excellent method of establishing this is through a more interactive mobile app with innovative sales and promotions geared towards making a consumer feel like they are part of an exclusive group. For example, the T-mobile Tuesdays app has an offer every week from free dominos pizza to a free Samsung Galaxy phone. There is also Target’s rewards app which uses advanced beacon technology to put offers directly in the hands of their customers as they walk through the store.

Trend #4: Focus more on the Pragmatic approach to building your brand

Stay consistent and make sure your message is always clear through all channels on what your brand is and what it is not as this vision will be your guide towards sound decision making. The right message at the right time can guarantee success where as bad timing or the wrong message will incur a huge setback or even total failure. Take care of your employees and empower them to carry on the clear and compelling message to all customers and stakeholders. The pragmatic approach will continue to increase faster than content of audience-based advertising. Most of the successful companies in the upcoming year will deliver this seamless, relevant user experience to drive true outcome-based results.

Trend #5: Stay Mobile friendly and start becoming wearable friendly

This is a bit of old news but just in case you haven’t heard, make sure Google thinks your site is mobile friendly. It is surprising that many companies are still dragging their feet on this as well as on increasing their Google ranking, but this should be a top priority for any and all brands. It is also very important that content be coded extremely well for customers to be able to transition smoothly not only from a desktop to mobile, but also from any of those 2 to a wearable device. In 2017, it is projected that 1 out of ever 4 U.S. consumers will be using a wearable device, so be sure to take this into consideration when planning a future budget. This means there will be even more data on every move the specific target market is making, and we must be prepared to produce and distribute content to fit each individual target buyer accordingly.

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Instagram Influencer Marketing : Breaking Down the Numbers

Instagram Influence Marketing

With Instagram Influencers playing such an important role in the influencer market place, it’s important to understand “who” exactly Instagram Influencers & followers are, & “how” exactly they are using the platform. This article is a brief quantitative breakdown of what Instagram actually is & what makes the social vehicle work. In this article the “who” represents the Influencers & their followers. In this article the “how” represents the way an influencer & follower post, inculcate post, & engage in post. Instagram has become one of the most popular social platforms on the internet. The platform should be examined closer, especially if a company is going to strategically utilize an influencer marketing campaign on Instagram.

The first area to research is the “who”. With over 400 million active users, 77.6 million of those users are found in the United States. It’s strongest demographic is teens 15.5 million . The increase of teens using Instagram outside of the United States has increased 85% since 2013. 90% of Instagram’s user base, falls under the age of 35 years old. 14 million active users can be found in the UK, while the country that uses instagram the most in the Middle East & Northern Africa is Saudi Arabia. This gives a better understanding of “who” the instagram influencers & followers actually are.

The second area to research is the “how”. Instagram users post photos and videos onto the platform. It is important to note that photos make up 91% of all instagram post . The 400 million active users produce 75 million instagram post daily . 47% of the U.S. access the platform via their smartphone, while the other 53% access the platform through a tablet. The average engagement rate for an instagram post is 1.1% . The engagement of a post is measured through likes, comments, & shares. A formula evaluating Instagram engagement has even been developed. The formula is called “Comment Weighing” . Comment Weighing is the process of identifying the quantity of comments a post receives, and then dividing those comments into value groups (this will be explained in another article). This should give a better understanding of “how” instagram influencer’s & followers are using the instagram platform.

As instagram continues to grow so does the value of it’s influencers . Instagram has a nicely shaped target market & healthy platform usage. Understanding both the “who” & the “how” will help a company better develop the appropriate Instagram influencer marketing campaign. Other important information has been found pertaining to what makes Instagram Influencers successful . It is encouraged to continue to do more research into the platform . The platform is on the rise and has been forecast to continue to rise in the foreseeable future. In conclusion, companies should be utilizing Instagram influencers more heavily, while taking a more magnified strategy when utilizing Instagram influencers within a marketing campaign.

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Macro Social Influencer’s True Value

Macro Social Influencer’s most of the time are celebrities, professional athletes, & musicians that have a vast following outside the internet. The macro influencers following on the internet, is vast and crosses over a larger age range, geographic target, & has influence covering multiple industries.  The question many companies come to when evaluating the value of a macro influencer, is will cost of the macro influencer provide a positive ROI.   This article is for companies that can afford macro influencers.  If a company cannot afford to pay an influencer $3k + per influence, then the company would not have to strategize over a macro influencer’s ability to produce a positive ROI.  This is an overview to help strategize looking into the value of a macro influencer.

Being that a macro influencer has a much larger demographic base, the most important variable to be evaluated is the base (entire following), broken up to see how many target markets are touched and the total of the following for each target separated. A cost cannot be put on the macros total base (altogether). Different groups have different values because they are harder to be influenced. It is important that the value placed on a macro influencer (digitally), is done through separating the entire following into the appropriate target markets and then auditing their values (separate line items) together. By separating the target markets by line item with individual values, this is the only way to get a true value on a macro influencer.

Following the paragraph above it is important to deduct the target market that is not of value. With macro influencers crossing over into wider ranges of demographics, there’s a certain percent that does not match a company’s target market. However, when valuing a macro influencer, the value tends to be paid on the entire following, even the percentage of the following that a company does not need.   By deducting the total amount of target market that is not needed against the target markets that are, a true value can then be determined. A true value will give a company a number to negotiate from that is real for the company. If a company does not develop a formula like this than often the value of a macro influencer is not correct and a premium is then paid that is not justifiable. Sometimes a premium gets paid because the target markets a company wants to influence, are at a level that places the macro influencer in an exclusive category (positioning). When that happens a company often overlooks the markets that are not of interest and will pay a premium to the macro influencer regardless. Most of the time this is not the case and true market value is an important number to justify the macro influencer’s value. The importance of the true number often plays an important role on the company receiving a positive ROI. It’s the starting point of macro influencer risk (influencer risk will be discussed in another article).

With macro influencers touching a much larger demographic, which leads to a much larger cost to have them influence, more research needs to be placed into the demographics of the macro influencer. Larger does not always mean better, exposure. This is a big mistake that many companies make. It is extremely important to look into this figure especially when the cost is of an amount that is substantial. Many other variables play into the selection of a macro influencer but the influencers true value, should be the number point of interest as discussed in this article. Regardless if the influencer is a macro or micro, it is always important to all companies to ask themselves the question: If a company cannot see its product, service, or message genuinely being used, appreciated, or promoted by the influencer; Then the Influencer, most likely may not be the right match for the company.  Keep in mind the influencers following will see right through it, & the company will not get the ROI its looking for.

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What is Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has become the new talk of the internet marketing realm.  Influencer marketing isn’t as new as one would think, however the results of it’s success have begun to turn heads with in big corporations.  This article’s purpose, is to be a brief overview of what Influencer marketing actually is. 

Influencer marketing’s main goal is to get back to the root of social media’s authenticity.  This is where people post organically about something that is near and dear to them (photos, commentary, videos. etc.) & the message comes through as genuine because it is. Whether it’s about fashion, weight loss, parenting, etc., the people posting tend to have a large niche following, because other like-minded people have interest in what they’re posting, blogging, or videoing about .  These people doing the posting, blogging, & videoing are called “influencers”.

Now, the goal of the company doing the marketing, is to find these “influencers”, that may have some type of connection to their product, service, or message that they’re marketing, & have the “influencer” post , blog, or video about it to there specific following.  The better the influencer, the better results (engagement, shares, interest, etc.).   

Influencer marketing is not for every company.  It takes a lot of work to set up the influencer network properly, with a unique budget allocated to the system, campaign, & management.  There is no short cut with influencer marketing, which is great because it keeps the marketing authentic.  Companies like Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, Twitter, & Yelp have been talking about how they work hard to keep reviews found on their search engine or platform authentic. If influencer marketing is done correctly, the potential to push a market, product , or message genuinely is massive.  

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Influencer Marketing: Micro Influencer’s are Different

When searching for social influencers for a influencer marketing campaign the big question companies ask themselves is: Should we go with a macro or micro influencer. The budget for the two are very different, as well as the type of influence.  A macro influencer is often a famous celebrity, athlete, or musician.   Also a macro influencer just like the name promotes, has a vast following that he or she influences.  On the other hand, a micro influencer has a very targeted following & is not famous amongst the masses.

Micro-influencers typically have genuine passion for a specific topic or industry, to which they work very hard to advocate this digitally. It’s an effort that comes with time and multiple postings, videos, pics, etc. At one point, the influencer’s popularity begins to (trend), within a niche market and the following then expects a continuation to read more, see more, & experience more of what the influencer is posting.   Again, micro influencers are not celebrities, & may only proclaim expertise, with passion towards a specialized industry or topic. This comes off as more trust-worthy to many followers. This is one reason why people like to follow these types of influencers.  In a lot of ways, it’s the perfect cocktail (1-part expert, 1-part average consumer, 1-part authentic, & 1-part genuine), mixed together to make a perfectly stirred individual to promote or review a product, service, or message to their following.

Micro Influencers may be able to get a product, service, or message out to a more defined following over a macro influencer at a better rate (CPE). This may work better for a company on a tighter budget or aiming at a more defined target market. However, It’s still important to remember regardless if a company goes with a micro or a macro influencer: “If a company cannot see its product, service, or message genuinely being used, appreciated, or promoted by the influencer; Then the Influencer, most likely may not be the right match for the company.  Keep in mind the influencers following will see right through it, & the company will not get the ROI its looking for”.

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Influencer Marketing Ethical or Deceitful?

In the past year the authorship of articles having to deal with influencer marketing has sky rocketed. As more comments, shares, & engagements arise one statement finds itself to be most popular. Should companies be utilizing influencer marketing or is the internet marketing tool/strategy unethical.  In order to answer such a loaded question, the influencer, the follower, & the company need to be examined closer.  In the past, “certain companies” have used “specific campaigns” utilizing marketing tools & strategies that may have been seen by some to be misleading. However, to assume a specific tool or strategy misleads a consumer 100% of the time, regardless the company or influencer involved, may be a bit inaccurate or skewed.

When critiquing an influencer, the question that comes up: If an influencer is 100% genuine about a topic or subject matter, does their message become less genuine once they receive payment or free product from a company that they’re posting, videoing, or blogging about. The answer is no. Influencers do not just pop up overnight. Specifically, micro influencers spend a lot of energy creating quality postings. With quality comes credibility, with credibility comes traffic, & with traffic comes a regular following.  This does not come from deception it comes from genuineness & authenticity. Most micro influencers understand, the moment regular followers detect that they are not being 100% genuine, a credibility loss then occurs. A decrease in credibility, correlates to a direct decrease in regular following.  The regular following of an influencer is the most important thing an influencer has. They would never purposely do something that would result in a loss of followers.  With that being said, majority of the time the amount of company products, services, & messages that a micro influencer turns down, is at a far higher percentage than, of the ones that an influencer actually takes on.  Macro influencers have a little more wiggle room because of the vast following they have. However, they still take into consideration what they choose to influence.

When critiquing a follower, the question that’s comes up: How much does a follower need to know to ensure the follower understands whom he or she is following.  The time someone spends on the internet is very precious and internet browsing is nothing new.  The follower completely understands whom they choose to follow is a decision made, 100% by themselves. If a follower is not sure about a specific topic or subject matter discussed by an influencer, they have the ability to engage with question or comment directly with the influencer, and/or share the influencers post with friends and family to get perspective on what is being stated or shown.  When it comes to minors on the internet public and private filters are used to ensure influencers that post about adult subject matters are not easily accessed.  Followers ultimately hold the control pertaining to influencers.  If a follower has an inkling that an influencer is being disingenuous they have the ability to call out the influencer publicly, privately, & stop following them.   

When critiquing a company, the question that’s comes up: How much does a company really care if an influencer is genuine or not, when writing a post, video, or blog.  They care greatly. Why; because, the amazing thing about influencer marketing, is if an influencer is not speaking genuinely about a product, service, or message, the tool/ strategy will not work.  If you have read any of the past articles written about influencer marketing pertaining to companies, you will always see the same comment quoted here, “If a company cannot see its product, service, or message genuinely being used, appreciated, or promoted by the influencer; Then the Influencer, most likely may not be the right match for the company.  Keep in mind the influencers following will see right through it, & the company will not get the ROI its looking for”.    It’s very simple the product, service, or message has no short cuts when it comes to influencer marketing.

Companies should be utilizing influencer marketing as a marketing tool or strategy. Not only should it be used, it should be encouraged. If anything, Influencer marketing is bringing additional ethics to the internet, and we should embrace the tool & strategy, and build off of it.   

 

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All Influencers Are Not Created Equal: How to Analyze Social Influencers

When it comes to choosing the right influencer for your product, service, or message choosing the right influencer is extremely important.   Keep in mind certain industries & topics have a larger selection of influencers to choose from. While some industries & topics are very limited. Obviously, the bigger the pool of influencers the pickier one can be when making selections. If the influencer pool for a certain industry or topic does not showcase an influencer that looks promising, it’s best not to settle on a sub-par influencer. The strategy then would be, to look at a macro influencer that crosses into the industry or has credibility indirectly on the topic. If there is still not a viable option, then be patient and continue to research other influencers. Let’s take a look at different variables that come into play when researching which influencers are best.

Look at the influencer’s following, in its entirety. Typically, an influencer has a primary platform that their following uses. However, their core following often follows them on other platforms too. Look at the primary platform and all other platforms used, to better quantify the overall following of the influencer. Next you want to look at the influencers average engagement per blog, video, or social entry. If an influencer has a following of 100k on Facebook, & an average engagement of 2k per entry that gives you a better understanding of how active the influencers following really is. It can also reveal which topics, photo types, etc. get the most engagement for that specific influencer. Many other quantifications can stem from the influencer’s total following. Take the time needed to evaluate.

Influencer vs. Influencer often sizes up how valuable an influencer is with regards to an industry or topic. Influencers are very proud of what they place onto the internet and pride themselves on their following but often overlook the importance of hierarchy. Why is this important, because an influencer may value themselves at a price point that is not justifiable. One easy way to justify an influencers valuation is by comparing their stats to some similar influencers. Some qualitative factors need to be pointed out because no influencer is exactly the same but a range of where an influencer should be is ultimately what you’re looking for. Also keep in mind a micro influencer is a micro influencer, and a macro influencer is a macro influencer.     Often micro influencers get this confused and believe that they are in fact a macro influencer when in reality they are not. It’s not to say one is more valuable than the other but it’s important to size up influencers based on what they really are. Some influencers are jaded on reality but it doesn’t mean the company selecting its influencers have to be.

These are just a couple variables that should be researched when selecting the right influencer for a company. It’s important to understand every influencer is a little different and just because they have a successful following in regards to a specific industry or topic doesn’t mean they would be a perfect fit for every company with in that industry or topic. If a company cannot see its product, service, or message genuinely being used, appreciated, or promoted by the influencer; Then the Influencer, most likely may not be the right match for the company.  Keep in mind the influencers following will see right through it, & the company will not get the ROI its looking for.

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Influencer Marketing: Finding the Right Social Influencer

Finding an influencer to represent a product, service, or message; Through, post, blog, or video isn’t a minor or easy task.  Many variables need to be addressed when choosing the appropriate influencer.  An important variable to look at first, is the demographics of the influencer’s following. Specifics when evaluating the influencers demographics can be vast.  Start by looking at the primary location of the influencers following, platform popularity, & top age ranges.  As mentioned above, many variables play into identifying the right influencer. This article will only be discussing demographics & the specific subsets of demographics listed above.

Influencers can be found all over the world but a product, service, or message maybe only needed to be influenced regionally or nationally.  Knowing the country that an influencer is popular in is easy to figure out, but it’s imperative to know what parts of the country make up the primary following of the influencer. An example of this is finding an Influencer that has a great following for a specific market or subject with a primary following found in the Pacific Northwest.  The target or subject maybe perfect but the geographical primary location of the influencer’s following, may not match the one that is being targeted.  This is why understanding an influencers geographic popularity is important.  Often the easiest tool to review is the analytics. Most influencers will provide you with his or her specific following details (platform or search engine analytics).  Other ways to research this is by finding where the influencer is based out of. Many times the core following of a micro influencer revolves around where the influencer is living.  Reviewing past posts, blogs, or videos could reveal regional slang or mentions. If further research is still needed, try perusing through the influencers engagements and/or comments.

Influencers use a plethora of platforms to connect with their followers. Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Youtube, WordPress, etc.   It’s important to take into consideration where the influencer has the most popularity. Each platform prepares a message differently. It is significant to figure out which platform is best to showcase a specific companies’ product, service, or message.  Influencers typically have popularity in more than one platform. However, they usually have one primary platform that shines over the others.  Knowing where the company will best be represented is a great variable to evaluate. Some platforms bring new excitement to users, some are used out of comfort, while some signify popularity to niche sub cultures.  This could also reveal a new value associated to the influencer.  By taking a look at the overall demographics of a platform and comparing them to the demographics of the influencer’s following, may be able to show a solid platform following or a rarity.  A rarity pertaining to the following of the influencer may raise question, or add value to the influencer.

The most popular age ranges of the influencer is another important variable.   Micro influencers typically have an age range that prefer to follow them.  Majority of the time the age range falls in line with the age of the influencer.  Sometimes an influencer may be popular discussing an industry, subject, or topic that is popular amongst an age range different than their own.   Knowing the age range is important. Make sure this variable matches correctly before choosing the influencer.

As mentioned above finding the right influencer for a company is a detail oriented task. Demographics are extremely important & a great first variable to look at when searching for the perfect influencer. In conclusion, a company should take its time when choosing an influencer.  If a company cannot see its product, service, or message genuinely being used, appreciated, or promoted by the influencer; Then the Influencer, most likely may not be the right match for the company.  Keep in mind the influencers following will see right through it, & the company will not get the ROI its looking for.