5 Common Mistakes When Using an Influencer Database—and How to Avoid Them

Key takeaways

• Vanity metrics like follower counts and likes can give you a false sense of security when running influencer campaigns.
• Always verify influencers' audience demographics and engagement rates to ensure they will perform for your campaign.
• Historical campaign data is a goldmine that can help you predict an influencer’s future impact.
• Tracking metrics like reach, engagement, and influencer performance in real time allows you to adapt campaigns for maximum success.

5 Database Errors Weakening Your Influencer Network

Many brands invest in influencer databases but fail to unlock their full potential. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry, there’s actually a silver lining. It means that a more profitable, successful campaign is just a few tweaks away.

1. Over-reliance on vanity metrics during your influencer search

Follower counts and likes are often labelled vanity metrics. That's not because this data isn't useful - it most certainly is - it's simply that it's insufficient. Relying solely on superficial insights can create a false sense of security, leading you into partnerships that may ultimately fall short of expectations.

For example, an influencer could have a large follower count that's propped up by fake followers or a disengaged, legacy audience. Alternatively, the influencer could have an active audience that doesn't match your target demographic, leading to a campaign that fails to connect.

An intelligent, data-backed influencer marketing campaign will leverage a database to gain deeper insights, including:

• Audience demographics: Ask yourself: Who is your target audience? Then, filter search results to find influencers whose audience's age, location, gender, and interests match. Kolsquare's State of Influencer Marketing Report found that 48% of UK brands find audience demographics an important metric.
• Audience Credibility: Databases may score the influencer's audience credibility. This tells you how likely it is that followers are bots or inactive users.
• Engagement quality: 43% of UK brands consider engagement rates when selecting influencers. Focus on the engagement rates for the social media platform and the specific feature you plan to use, such as Instagram Reels rather than Instagram. It's also important to check the number of comments and shares the creator typically receives because these are strong indicators of value.
• Historical campaign performance: Has the influencer performed for other brands? Have they worked with competitors recently? What's the estimated earned media value (EMV) from past campaigns? A database can help you answer these questions.

How can Kolsquare help? Kolsquare provides detailed, verified data on audience authenticity and engagement. You can access metrics like credibility scores, engagement rates for each platform, average comments, and shares, giving you a clear picture of an influencer's connection with their audience. It also offers insights into their past campaigns, including EMV and the ad content. This helps you evaluate whether a collaboration will resonate with their audience or risk coming across as inauthentic.

2. Neglecting audience relevance on social media platforms

The power of influencer marketing is connecting with audiences through a trusted, relatable, and entertaining figure on a channel audiences choose to follow. But there's a catch. It only works if you choose an influencer with true resonance, and whose audience matches yours.

While content analysis alone can provide valuable data - it accustoms you to the influencer and informs you whether their style fits your campaign and brand identity. - it can also create false impressions.

For example, let's consider a male clothing brand targeting Gen Z. Wouldn't a 20-something male fashion influencer be a great choice for collaboration?

The answer: not necessarily. Below is Indi Singh, a male model who frequently posts fashion looks.

With 466k Instagram followers and a 2.29% engagement rate, he seems like a great choice for a collaboration. But all is not what it seems. Only 32% of his audience is male, making him a better partner for brands targeting both genders.

Influencers' audiences also indicate who their content resonates with. If you choose an influencer with a large percentage of followers that matches your target audience, it confirms that they're experts at creating content that appeals to that market. This means that you can trust the influencer's creativity and vision.

To find influencers with the right demographics, filter results in your database to look for influencers with audiences who match your target audience, including:

• Location
• Age
• Gender
• Interests
• Language

How can Kolsquare help? Kolsquare makes it easy to find influencers with the right audience demographics. During the search process, you can filter results to view only those that match your requirements. Just click "More filters" under the search bar, select a platform, and specify audience age, gender, location, and more.

Book in for a Kolsquare demo today!

3. Ignoring historical campaign performance

There are few better ways to predict how an influencer will perform than past data. These insights are available on most platforms, and if you're not considering them, you're missing out.

Imagine you're in the process of hiring a social media marketer. If you had a database of all your applicants' past campaigns and results, wouldn’t that be a game-changer?

With an influencer marketing platform, you have that data at your fingertips. It would be a shame not to use it!

Here's the historical campaign data you can access on an influencer database:

• Past collaborations: Discover which brands influencers worked with, how often, and on which social media platforms. This lets you track patterns over specific time periods to see how they were activated and whether they were competitors.
• Past content: Dive into the types of content they’ve created, such as Reels, Stories, or TikToks, and explore the hashtags they’ve used. You can even view the actual posts with detailed timestamps to understand their style and consistency.
• Content performance: Get a complete picture of how their content performs with metrics like EMV, likes, comments, views, impressions, and reach. These insights help you assess their potential to meet your campaign goals and drive engagement.

Kolsquare tip: You might find an influencer who is perfect for your campaign - they fit your niche, have an engaged audience, and create fantastic content. But if they've recently worked with a competitor, your campaign may feel disingenuous, and influencer marketing thrives on authenticity. If audiences suspect that a creator is prioritising earnings over honesty, they won't believe the content.

4. Misusing segmentation tools and software

Segmentation is dividing customers into distinct groups to target them more effectively. It enables you to tailor your marketing to each category's needs and perceptions. It's a powerful tactic, and 80% of companies using marketing segmentation report an increase in ROI, according to Emergen Research.

However, segmentation must be undertaken carefully. Casting too wide a net, except during global events like the World Cup or Olympics, often leads to lacklustre campaigns.

You must be specific. As Michael Solomon, author of The New Chameleons: How to Connect with Consumers Who Defy Categorization, explains, “You have to choose your sweet spot if you’re a small business and really figure out who is your ideal customer.”

Even for larger brands, a segmented approach allows them to strengthen relationships with specific communities. For example, dairy giant Arla used TikTok influencers to build relationships with a Gen Z audience. Below, content creator David Templer showcases a grilled cheese recipe featuring Arla cheese. He has 637k followers, with 52% between the ages of 18 and 24.

Segmentation is most effective when the audience is specific and well defined. Common segmentation approaches include psychographic (values, interests), behavioural (past actions), and demographic (age, location, income) data. You must carefully choose each category. Defining the wrong niche can result in campaigns that fail to resonate with social media users.

Here's the process to follow to define a segment during an influencer marketing search:

• Identify the niche you want to target based on your product or service. For example, you may want to activate an audience you haven't previously targeted or continue to build awareness in your core market.
• Determine campaign goals to ensure segmentation aligns with your desired outcomes.
• Use the database's detailed filters and verified data to find creators who fit the niche's criteria. These may include audience age, interests, and location. Nano and micro-influencers work effectively for niche campaigns.

Leveraging these tools allows you to boost ROI and create campaigns that truly connect with the right audience.

5. Skipping continuous monitoring

Launching your influencer marketing campaign is just the first step. You should continuously track progress to fine-tune your strategy on the go and unlock its full potential. Whether it’s doubling down on influencers delivering exceptional results or quickly shifting strategies to capitalise on emerging trends, ongoing monitoring keeps your campaign agile and effective.

Your influencer marketing database is your most powerful tool for this. Use it to track key metrics like reach, engagement, impressions, and ROI. These insights help you measure success and ensure every collaboration contributes to your goals.

Kolsquare takes campaign monitoring to the next level with the following tracking tools:

• Real-Time Metrics: Instantly access live data on reach, engagement, and ROI to evaluate performance at any stage of the campaign.
• Influencer Performance Analysis: Quickly identify which influencers are driving results to adjust your collaboration strategy without missing a beat.
• Spreadsheet-free Reports: Kolsquare makes reports easy. It delivers all the insights you need in an easy-to-digest format, saving time and effort.

These insights inform you which influencer relationships are performing and how to streamline the campaign.