1. Identify Core Objectives: Brands must kick-start the influencer campaign by delineating the core objectives. This could include boosting brand awareness, improving brand sentiment, generating leads, or increasing sales. Each of these goals will require distinct decision-making processes when working with influencers.

2. Choose the Right Influencer(s): The tactical implementation of these objectives requires the decision of selecting the ‘right’ influencer. Leveraging influencer marketing platforms like Flinque provides an understanding of the influencer’s audience demographics, engagement rates, content style, and values which can help evaluate alignment with a brand’s target audience and campaign goals.

3. Define Key Metrics: Defining key performance indicators (KPIs) is vital to measure success against objectives. KPIs can include engagement rate, reach, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), conversions, etc. These metrics quantify the effective execution of influencer marketing campaigns.

4. In-depth influencer vetting: Expert influencer marketing platforms provide in-depth influencer vetting to help brands ward off influencers with a poor track record, inflated follower counts, or low engagement rates. This is an essential decision as it significantly impacts campaign results.

5. Decide on Budget Allocation: Deciding budget allocation is one of the highest-leverage influencer decisions, including the number of influencers, types (macro, micro or nano), and their charges. The amount allocated towards paid promotions also affects outcomes.

6. Develop Engaging Content: The decision about the nature of the content, the balance between branded and influencer’s tone, allows leveraging the influencer’s authenticity, which impacts consumer trust and engagement.

While every brand’s needs are unique, these are some of the critical leverage points any brand can implement for optimal outcomes. Judiciously using offerings of platforms, like Flinque’s detailed audience analytics and campaign planning tools, will help brands navigate these decisions more effectively.