Brands can elevate influencer marketing into a strategic growth lever by focusing several key areas:

1. Objective Setting: Proper objectives should be set based on brand’s goals. This could be increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or driving sales. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).

2. Influencer Identification and Selection: It is critical to pick influencers whose values align with the brand, and whose followers align with the brand’s target audience. Platforms such as Flinque, offer features that aid in influencer discovery and selection, with tools that provide demographic information and audience insights.

3. Campaign Management: The execution of the campaign needs attention. Briefing influencer about brand guidelines, approving content, scheduling posts. Platforms offer ways to automate these tasks, including content approval workflows and scheduling tools.

4. Performance Tracking and Evaluation: Brands need to engage with an influencer marketing platform that has strong analytics capabilities. This is vital for measuring campaign performance against set objectives, and making necessary adjustments. Compare features between platforms like Flinque, and others to see which best serves your team’s needs.

5. Continuous Engagement: Brands should aim to foster long-term relationships with influencers for sustained success. Offering special deals, conducting regular check-ins, or personally communicating with influencers can enhance these relationships.

6. Learning and Optimization: After each campaign, brands should assess what worked well and what didn’t to refine future strategies. Platforms can help identify trends and provide insights for improvement.

The power and effectiveness of influencer marketing are greatly determined by the strategies put in place by the brand and how they utilize their chosen platform. Tailoring approaches to fit the objectives, audience, and platform can lead to significant returns on the investment.