• by Amy Cotteleer , Op-Ed Contributor, November 13, 2024

Ad spend on influencer marketing is projected to reach nearly $56.3 billion by 2029. According to Sprout Social, most consumers (86%) make a purchase inspired by an influencer at least once a year.

The influencer landscape changes every day, making it feel overwhelming and often impossible to move confidently. With the right tools for selecting and vetting talent and online engagement, you can make fully informed decisions for your influencer campaigns.

Vetting Talent:

The first part of vetting talent is an official public records search. The goal here isn’t to penalize, but to avoid any surprise offenses that have the potential to appear down the line.

This should be followed by running talent channels through your creator and influencer software to scrutinize the creator’s performance. How many of their followers are real versus. potentially purchased? Are they getting consistent views and regular positive engagement?

The second round of vetting is unofficial and more nuanced. It involves conducting a broad content review, using social listening, and scrutinizing audience sentiment via online discussion both on and off platform.

Knowing creators often have full control over their comments section, it's important to search broadly on the social platforms they frequent  -- like TikTok and Instagram -- and also on third-party discussion sites like Reddit. By getting the whole picture of how talent partners are perceived, you can make informed decisions and identify potential concerns.

Influencers occupy a heightened space in the pop culture zeitgeist. In many ways, celebrity gossip falls second to whatever influencer drama is brewing. "Snark" pages can make it seem as if an influencer is far more controversial than they are, so being deep in the conversation and being able to analyze content objectively is important. You have to live and breathe the arenas in which they live, and that means being in the online trenches, day in and day out.

Analyzing the Issues:

Next, analyze the talent in a cultural context. We’re in a heightened political state right now, with the election making discourse feel even more heated and complicated to navigate. Creators are using their platforms to speak out about their beliefs now more than ever.

Your discretion around these discussions will vary depending on the values with which your brand aligns. Setting your own guidelines and ranking systems around these sensitive discussion points is important to ensure brand safety and minimal audience alienation when working with outspoken talent.

We recommend creating an internal measurement tool for this risk and identifying a level system to guide evaluation. Frequency of discussion may be one of these metrics: Are they posting about sensitive topics every day, or are those videos counterbalanced by non-political content?

Hard Nos:

The guidelines you build for talent evaluation should have detailed guardrails and deal-breakers that would disqualify influencers from partnership with your brand. Hate speech, offensive content, bullying, racism, and homophobia should be on the no-fly zone for all, but your brand may also have other hard nos that are unique to your values and those of your audience.

When vetted properly, influencers can boost brand awareness, consumer affinity, and sales. But as with any tactic, they’re never free of risk. These steps can help keep you prepared, aware, and ready to make confident, strategic decisions for your brand.