Phạm TúThis article is geared towards marketing teams at Vietnamese SMEs, specifically regarding the utilization of interns and junior staff who directly work with and book KOCs/KOLs on social media platforms.
The Reality of Intern and Junior Staff in Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has become a prevalent strategy used by many businesses to promote their products and brands. Almost any brand can afford to utilize influencers, but achieving effectiveness and cost optimization is not easy.
In reality, finding and selecting influencers who align with a brand is a time-consuming process. Many factors need to be considered, such as:
- Number of followers
- Engagement rate
- Content style
- Target audience
- Reasonable cost
On average, an advertising campaign lasting 3-6 months requires at least 20-50 KOCs/KOLs. With the number of influencers reaching thousands today, searching and evaluating each one consumes a significant amount of time and budget for businesses.
This approach saves time and personnel costs for the company. Interns and juniors, with a lighter workload, can dedicate time to searching for potential influencers, checking their fees, and filtering out an initial suitable list. Then, once the KOL list has been narrowed down from thousands to a few dozen, the leader or marketing director will make the final decision on which influencers best fit the campaign. Therefore, utilizing interns and juniors for the initial search is logical, saving time and effort.
But is this the optimal solution when evaluating an influencer’s potential for an advertising campaign still heavily relies on the practical experience of marketing professionals?
There are numerous cases where advertising campaigns feature influencers who are not suitable for their target audience. Influencers may have personality issues or lead unhealthy personal lives. Of course, the brand’s image suffers the most. In such situations, the cost savings from using interns/juniors to screen KOLs won’t be enough to offset the damage caused by losing customers.
While the final decision should rest with experienced leaders to ensure the influencer marketing campaign’s success and effectiveness, a properly screened KOL list from junior staff can save more than just time and budget in the present. It can also significantly reduce risks after the campaign.
Experience in KOL Selection
These are the experiences in KOL selection during the initial screening phase that IMVN has accumulated over 5 years of working with influencers. Businesses can apply these to train interns/juniors in the process of selecting KOLs for communication campaigns.
Prepare templates with complete information and requirements for the KOLs/KOCs that the business needs to use
With the specific characteristics of each industry, businesses will optimize different lists of KOCs/KOLs, but still need to ensure consistency in some criteria, such as: number of post views, presence or absence of scandals, writing style, etc. In reality, preparing information templates is a task that has been done by personnel who understand the business, and lower-level staff just need to apply them.
Use standard communication methods
This refers to using company email, with certification from management (cc) to check quotes. Absolutely do not use personal accounts on social platforms like Zalo, Messenger, etc. This avoids ambiguity and unclear information, especially regarding quotes.
Clearly define responsibilities for departments working with KOLs
The intern/junior department’s tasks should only include screening KOL images and checking prices. Tasks related to advertising content, price negotiation, and finalizing prices should not involve this department but be transferred to other relevant departments like Creative, Account, or Sales.
Some tasks should be under the authority of senior staff or higher:
- Filming time
- KPI commitment
- KOL’s personal income tax
- Product receipt and return process
- Regulations on image usage
- Advertising content and writing style
Take responsibility for the campaign
Even if the company has seniors/department heads/marketing directors responsible for deciding on influencer usage, there will always be incidents that can cause your influencer marketing campaign to be unsuccessful or even fail. So, being mentally prepared is essential. If you have an agency, you can acquire their knowledge faster. When a campaign is ineffective, it’s easier to blame the agency than to take responsibility for the results with your boss.
In conclusion, while utilizing interns and juniors for initial KOL screening can be cost-effective, it’s crucial to have experienced leaders make the final decisions and ensure proper training and guidelines are in place to minimize risks and maximize the success of influencer marketing campaigns.
