Your Favourite Influencer Might Be Wrong for Your Brand: Why Finding the Right Influencers Matters

Influencer marketing has changed the way brands communicate with consumers. A recommendation from a familiar face can introduce a product to thousands of potential customers, create conversations around a brand and influence purchasing decisions. As more businesses recognise this value, the number of creators available for brand partnerships keeps growing. Finding someone to promote a product is relatively easy. Finding someone who can promote it effectively requires considerably more thought.

One common mistake brands make when planning influencer campaigns is placing too much emphasis on popularity. A creator has a large following, impressive engagement numbers and a recognisable online presence, so they make the shortlist. The problem is that these qualities do not necessarily translate into a successful brand partnership. A creator can command attention without the audience, credibility, or content style needed to communicate a particular brand message.

This is why influencer selection deserves as much attention as the campaign idea itself. The relationship between a brand and a creator influences how audiences receive branded content, how credible the endorsement feels and how effectively the campaign achieves its objectives. For brands investing in influencer marketing, finding the right match begins with understanding what makes a creator relevant to the business.

The Popularity Trap in Influencer Marketing

The appeal of working with a popular influencer is understandable. A large following suggests considerable reach, and a creator with an established online presence may offer immediate visibility for a campaign. However, reach only tells part of the story. The number of people who could potentially see a post says very little about how many will pay attention to the message, find it relevant or take action.

Consider a skincare brand introducing a premium facial care range. A popular entertainment creator with 800,000 followers might offer considerable visibility, but their audience primarily follows them for comedy and celebrity commentary. Another creator with 65,000 followers consistently discusses skincare, shares product reviews and answers questions about personal care. The second creator has a more obvious connection to the product and may be better positioned to influence the audience's interest in it.

The first creator could still be suitable for an awareness campaign built around entertainment or mass visibility. The second might be more effective for product education and consideration. Neither follower count nor popularity answers the question of suitability on its own. The campaign objective should determine which creator makes the most sense.

This distinction is becoming increasingly important as influencer marketing matures. CreatorIQ's State of Creator Marketing research identifies creator suitability and brand fit as leading considerations in creator selection, ahead of follower count. Brands are increasingly recognising that the value of an influencer lies in their ability to connect a message with the right people, rather than simply putting that message in front of a large audience.

What Should Brands Look for Beyond Follower Count?

Follower count remains a useful measurement, particularly when estimating potential reach. However, it should sit alongside other indicators that provide a clearer picture of a creator's influence. A proper evaluation considers the quality of their audience, the conversations happening around their content and the relationship they have developed with their followers.

Engagement Quality and Audience Credibility

Engagement rate is often one of the first figures brands examine after follower count. Likes, comments, shares and saves can help indicate how audiences interact with a creator's content. However, the numbers require context. A post with thousands of comments may have limited value if most responses are generic. At the same time, a smaller creator might generate detailed discussions from people genuinely interested in the subject.

The nature of these interactions matters. A technology creator whose followers regularly ask about product specifications, pricing, and recommendations has built a different kind of relationship with their audience than someone whose comments are largely driven by entertainment. Similarly, a food creator whose followers ask for recipes and product recommendations may offer a food brand a valuable connection to its audience.

Brands should also investigate audience authenticity. Unusual follower growth, repetitive comments, inconsistent engagement, and suspicious account activity can indicate problems with audience quality. Access to a large following is useful only when real people are behind the numbers.

Content Consistency

A creator's content history provides important clues about their interests and areas of credibility. Someone who regularly discusses personal finance, for example, has an established connection to conversations about savings, budgeting and financial products. A creator known for documenting travel experiences may be more relevant to a hotel or tourism campaign.

Consistency also helps audiences understand what a creator represents. When a brand enters that conversation, the partnership is more likely to feel familiar and relevant. This does not mean creators must restrict themselves to one subject. It means brands should understand the interests and themes that have shaped their audience relationships before making a selection.

Brand-Creator Alignment: Does the Partnership Make Sense?

A creator can have the right audience and still be a poor fit for a brand. Audience relevance is important, but the relationship needs to make sense beyond demographics. The brand's identity, positioning, values and communication style should inform the kind of creator it chooses to work with.

A luxury fashion label, for instance, might prioritise creators whose content reflects an appreciation for design, craftsmanship and premium lifestyle experiences. A youth-focused beverage brand might find stronger alignment with creators who communicate through humour, popular culture and everyday social experiences. Both brands have different audiences and identities, so their approach to influencer selection should reflect those differences.

Brand values also deserve attention. A business that places emphasis on sustainability should examine whether a potential creator's public identity and previous partnerships support that positioning. A financial services brand promoting responsible money management should consider whether the creator can communicate financial information accurately and credibly.

This evaluation extends to a creator's previous collaborations and public conduct. The partnerships they accept, the way they discuss sponsored products and their general online reputation can influence how audiences perceive the brand. A mismatch can create confusion or weaken the credibility of an endorsement, particularly when the partnership appears to exist solely because a commercial agreement was reached.

Creative Compatibility and the Freedom to Communicate

Creators develop recognisable ways of communicating with their audiences. Some are natural storytellers, while others excel at product demonstrations, educational videos, reviews, or humour. Brands should understand these strengths and consider how they fit into the campaign.

A technology company launching a new smartphone might work with a creator who produces detailed product reviews. Another campaign for the same product could involve a lifestyle creator showing how the phone fits into their everyday routine. Both approaches can communicate the product's benefits, but they serve different creative purposes.

The brand also needs to understand how much creative freedom the creator requires to produce effective content. Campaign briefs should establish key messages, product information, deliverables and brand guidelines. Within those boundaries, creators should have room to communicate in their natural style. Their ability to connect with an audience often comes from the personality and approach that made people follow them in the first place.

When every word and action is prescribed, branded content can begin to resemble a conventional advertisement. A well-considered partnership gives the creator enough understanding of the brand to communicate its message without losing their individual voice.

Audience Alignment Should Influence Every Selection

A creator's audience is arguably one of the most important parts of the evaluation process. Brands need to understand who follows a creator, where those followers are based and what interests they share. This information helps establish whether the partnership can reach the people the campaign is designed to attract.

A Nigerian fashion retailer opening a physical store in Lagos, for example, would benefit from understanding the geographical distribution of a potential creator's followers. A creator with 500,000 followers might appear attractive, but if a significant proportion of that audience lives outside the retailer's market, the campaign may have limited relevance to its immediate commercial objective. A smaller creator with a concentrated Lagos audience could offer a stronger connection.

Age distribution, gender, location and audience interests should form part of the assessment. Brands should also consider purchasing behaviour where relevant. An audience interested in discovering new beauty products may respond differently from one that primarily follows beauty creators for entertainment. Understanding these distinctions helps marketers determine whether a creator can support awareness, consideration or conversion objectives.

Platform choice matters too. The same creator may have different audience characteristics across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Their content format and audience behaviour can also vary between platforms. A campaign intended to generate detailed product education might benefit from longer-form video, while a campaign focused on discovery could place greater emphasis on short-form content.

The important thing is to evaluate the audience in relation to the campaign rather than treating audience size as a universal measure of value.

Influencer Sourcing Requires Proper Research

Influencer sourcing involves identifying and evaluating potential creators based on a brand's campaign requirements. Social media provides several ways to discover talent, from hashtags and platform recommendations to industry conversations and competitor campaigns. Brands can also find relevant creators through existing customer communities and people who regularly discuss subjects connected to their products or services.

However, discovering a creator is only the first step. A profile might look promising, but brands need to examine the content, audience and professional history behind it before considering a partnership.

Vetting should include a review of recent posts, engagement patterns, audience demographics and previous brand collaborations. It is also useful to assess how frequently a creator publishes sponsored content and whether those endorsements fit naturally into their usual output. Someone who promotes several competing products within a short period may struggle to maintain a convincing relationship with their audience.

Commercial and operational considerations matter just as much. Brands should establish the creator's rates, availability, expected deliverables, usage rights and campaign timelines. They should also consider the creator's communication style and ability to work within an agreed brief. These details can influence how smoothly a campaign runs, particularly when several creators are involved.

A good shortlist should therefore reflect more than follower count or profile attractiveness. Every creator included should have a clear reason for being considered in relation to the campaign.

The Value an Influencer Marketing Agency Brings

For brands managing influencer campaigns internally, the sourcing and evaluation process can become time-consuming. Identifying creators, reviewing audience insights, comparing rates, conducting due diligence and coordinating partnerships all require attention. An influencer marketing agency can help bring structure and strategic direction to these decisions.

The agency's work should begin with understanding the brand and its objectives. This provides the basis for identifying the relevant creator categories, platforms and audience profiles. From there, the agency can support influencer sourcing, research, evaluation and shortlist development, helping the brand make informed selections.

At That Good Media, we approach influencer partnerships with an understanding of the relationship between a brand's objectives and a creator's strengths. Our focus is on identifying suitable creators whose audiences and content align with the communication needs of the campaign. This includes considering the relevance of their audience, the quality of their engagement and their ability to communicate a brand message in a way that feels natural to their community.

An agency can also support negotiations, creator communication, deliverable management and campaign execution. This becomes particularly valuable when a campaign involves several creators across different platforms, each with their own content style and audience expectations.

The goal is to ensure that creator selection has a clear strategic foundation. A brand should understand why a particular creator is being considered, what they can contribute and how their involvement supports the overall campaign.

Building Brand-Creator Relationships Beyond One Campaign

Some of the strongest influencer partnerships develop over time. When a creator has a genuine connection with a brand, repeated collaborations can help audiences become familiar with that relationship. The brand also benefits from working with someone who better understands its products, positioning, and communication priorities.

Skincare provides a useful example. An initial partnership might introduce a new product, while subsequent collaborations could explore its ingredients, show how it fits into a routine, and address audience questions. This creates room for more detailed storytelling and allows the creator to communicate the brand's offering over an extended period.

Long-term relationships can also strengthen brand associations. When audiences repeatedly see a creator working with a particular business, they begin to recognise the connection. This can be valuable when the partnership is consistent with the creator's identity and the brand continues to offer something relevant to their community.

However, long-term collaborations require both parties to remain invested. Brands should provide fair compensation, maintain clear communication and respect the creator's creative input. Creators should also remain transparent about sponsored content and ensure that their endorsements reflect their actual experiences.

Brands should periodically review the relationship to determine whether it still serves their objectives. Audience interests can change, creators can evolve their content and campaign priorities can shift. Maintaining a partnership requires an ongoing understanding of these changes.

Choosing the Right Creator Is a Strategic Decision

Influencer marketing involves more than finding someone who can publish a sponsored post. The creator becomes part of the brand's communication, and the audience will interpret that partnership through what they already know about the person.

Follower count can indicate reach, but relevance, credibility, and audience alignment determine how useful that reach is. The creator's content style, values and ability to communicate the brand message also influence the quality of the partnership.

This is why influencer selection deserves proper research and planning. A suitable creator should have a clear connection to the campaign, an audience the brand wants to reach and the ability to communicate in a way that feels natural to their community.

At That Good Media, we help brands approach influencer partnerships with this understanding, supporting the process of finding and connecting with creators who align with their campaign objectives.