How to Create Your Influencer Brand Strategy


An influencer's brand is their most valuable asset for cutting through the noise and achieving longevity. Yet many creators dive headfirst into content production and partnerships without laying the strategic groundwork for their brand. This lack of forethought leads to inconsistent, fleeting results.


In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore how influencers can take a more intentional, methodical approach to brand-building. We'll cover how to set brand goals, conduct competitor research, determine your persona, identify differentiators, and document your strategy. Follow these steps to craft a distinctive, memorable influencer brand that evolves with your career.


How Do I Set Goals for My Influencer Brand?


In the boundless digital space, it’s easy to spread yourself thin chasing vanity metrics like views and follows. But Keith Keller, Brand Strategist at Creative Corps, urges influencers to instead set “S.M.A.R.T” goals that track tangible growth:


“Having Specific, Measurable results that you can Audit and Revise over Time is key for maintaining focus as an influencer,” says Keller. “Otherwise you’ll drift aimlessly.”

He advocates setting clear key performance indicators (KPIs) around metrics like:


  • Follower growth across platforms
  • Revenue and profitability targets
  • Content viewership and engagement
  • Paid advertising return on spend
  • Email list subscriber gains
  • Strategic brand partnerships


To stay on track, re-evaluate these goals quarterly and refine timelines. Pace yourself on long-term branding objectives while knocking out quick wins to build momentum.


Set Clear Quantitative Goals


Consider monthly, quarterly and annual targets across these key performance indicators:

  • Follower growth (e.g. gain 10k Instagram followers in 6 months)
  • Revenue and profit goals (e.g. reach $5k profit per month by Q4)
  • Content performance (e.g. get 5 videos to 100k views each in 2022)
  • Paid advertising KPIs (e.g. $0.10 cost per click on YouTube)
  • Email list growth (e.g. double my subscribers this year)
  • Partnership metrics (e.g. collaborate with 3 top brands)


Define Your Qualitative Goals


Don't overlook the softer brand recognition goals:

  • Achieve "expert in field" status
  • Build an engaged, passionate audience community
  • Establish a distinctive, recognizable aesthetic
  • Be known for unique insider access and perspectives


Set Clear Timelines


Determine priority order and pacing across short and long-term goals:

  • Knock out quick wins in the first 3 months to build momentum
  • Make foundational branding shifts in the first year
  • Pursue 1-2 big stretch goals to keep yourself motivated


Re-Evaluate Regularly


Review your goals quarterly and refine as needed. Adjust goals to respond to shifting social platform algorithms, trend changes and more.


LA-based influencer Jonathan Foy says "I make sure to reassess my goals almost every quarter as things change so fast in this industry."


Key Takeaway: Set clear quantitative and qualitative KPIs on growth, revenue, branding and content to drive focused, measurable progress across short and long-term timelines.


How Should I Conduct Competitor Research and Analysis?


The creator space is highly saturated, making thoughtful positioning vital. As branding professor Dorian Drake explains, “You need a crystal clear perspective on competitors to identify where you can provide unique value.”


Conduct deep ongoing research on influencer rivals and indirect alternatives. Look for gaps where you can establish your distinctive voice. Analyze elements like:


  • The topics, formats and lengths they gravitate towards
  • Their posting frequency and growth trajectories
  • The engagement levels and retention rates of their audience
  • Their monetization and partnership models
  • The brand personalities they exude through content


Use these insights to home in on underserved niches aligned with your inherent strengths. Find your special sauce that competitors lack.


Getting to know your competitor influencer brands intimately will help differentiate yourself. Be exhaustive.


Identify Your True Competitors


Map out not just your direct head-to-head rivals, but also those creating similar content or vying for share of attention. Consider indirect alternatives too.


Analyze Their Content and Branding


Look at competitor posting frequency, formats leveraged, topics covered, lengths, engagement rates, aesthetic styles, personalities projected and more. What resonates most with their audience?


Evaluate Their Growth


Assess subscriber gains across platforms as well as churn rates and unfollow velocity. How rapidly are they growing their community? What efforts fuel their expansion?


Review Monetization Models


Learn what revenue channels rivals use, from sponsorships to affiliates to merchandise. What partnership and pricing models seem most effective?


Map Out Their Brand Positions


Plot competitors on axes like niche vs. general focus, edgy vs. comforting personality, etc. Look for unoccupied white space you can own.


Conduct Ongoing Tracking


Regularly revisit competitors to monitor new trends and strategies. Tool like Google Alerts, Mention and More Sprout Social can automate monitoring.


Key Takeaway: Conduct deep ongoing research on influencer rivals and alternatives to find gaps where you can establish your unique positioning and voice.


How Do I Determine My Brand Persona?


While establishing your niche is crucial, don’t overlook the importance of nailing your brand persona. Be intentional about your mission and core values.


LA-based influencer Jonathan Foy notes, "My brand persona stems from my true self. I've defined my self, my mission statement, and values clearly over time."


Let these elements shine through in all creative and business decisions – from the tone used in community interactions to the sponsors you align with. Ensure your brand bio encapsulates this personality cohesively.


Your distinctive brand persona stems from your true self. But you need to proactively define it.


Personality Profile

  • What are your inherent quirks, passions, communication style, values and interests?
  • Which topics get you fired up? Which meaningful causes do you want your brand associated with?
  • How can you best project your true personality through content and interactions?


Mission Statement

  • Distill your brand purpose and ambition into a short, memorable mission statement or slogan.
  • Esteemed podcast Business Unusual simply states its mission is to "question conventional wisdom".


Core Values

  • Identify 4-5 core principles and priorities that drive your brand.
  • For example, sustainability vlogger Shelbizleee built her brand around values like eco-friendliness, mindfulness, and growth.


Brand Bio

  • Pull together these key persona elements into a short "About" bio for your channel. Keep it succinct and engaging.


Key Takeaway: Your niche, archetype, mission statement, values, and bio constitute your distinctive brand persona and identity. Ensure every piece of content aligns.


How Can I Identify My Differentiators in a Crowded Influencer Market?


Conveying why you offer differentiated value is critical according to Dorian Drake: “Remind your audience consistently why you’re worth following versus competitors."

Share your origin story transparently to build trust and humanize yourself. If you’re quirky or weird, don’t mute that - flaunt your distinct personality in content.


And constantly reinforce your niche authority in tangible ways. For example, if you pride yourself on exclusive industry access, showcase that insider perspective in your videos.


It's crucial that your brand stands out as uniquely valuable. Assess your differentiators:


Analyze Your Strengths

  • Objectively audit your inherent skills, perspectives, talents and knowledge base.
  • What content abilities, insights or access do you have that competitors lack?
  • Esteemed artists often succeed by narrowing in on one signature style versus being a jack-of-all-trades. Find your special sauce.


Identify Underserved Niches

  • Research niche opportunities aligned with your strengths that have substantial search volume but minimal top influencer coverage.
  • Avoid oversaturated niches like beauty, comedy or gaming where it's hard to stand out.


Showcase Your Personality

  • Let your genuine personality shine through in content and community interactions.
  • If you're inherently quirky and weird, don't be afraid to embrace that differentiation.


Consistently Reinforce Your Differentiators

  • Tangibly remind your audience of your differentiated value and perspective through unique branding, content formats and positioning.
  • Don't be shy about hammering home why you're worth following versus competitors.


Key Takeaway: Discover what makes you inherently unique - be it distinct skills, niche focus, personality or access - and build your entire brand around reinforcing and communicating that differentiated value.


How Should I Document My Brand Strategy and Guidelines?


In the constant churn of the digital space, maintaining brand alignment across teams and growth stages is challenging. That’s why Dorian Drake stresses the importance of documentation - “meticulously capture your brand strategy foundations and evolving guidelines in living documents that you revisit regularly. Share relevant sections with your collaborators to ensure cohesion.”


Compiling your goals, persona, differentiation points, guidelines and other elements into a central resource keeps everyone on the same page. Tighten up execution through clarity.


Meticulously document your brand strategy elements for consistent execution across teams and growth stages:


Create a Brand Strategy Document

  • Consolidate your goals, persona, differentiators, guidelines, metrics etc. into a single Brand Strategy document.
  • This core doc synthesizes your strategic foundation.


Build Separate Guidelines Docs

  • Create individual docs detailing visual identity, content style, partner guidelines, email strategy, etc.
  • These operationalize your strategy with tactical requirements.


Revisit Regularly

  • Set reminders to revisit all docs regularly to optimize guidelines and realign with goals.
  • Adapt your documented strategy as you grow and receive feedback.


Share With Collaborators

  • Provide relevant docs to contractors, employees, partners to ensure aligned external execution.
  • Your strategy brings cohesion across a distributed team.


Key Takeaway: Meticulously document your brand strategy foundations and guidelines in living documents that are revisited regularly and shared with collaborators for optimal execution.


Level Up Your Brand with a Comprehensive Strategy


If you take away just one lesson from this deep dive, let it be this: a thoughtful brand and content strategy is mandatory for influencer success.


We covered a lot of ground across goal-setting, competitor research, persona development, differentiation, documentation and more. But while the tactical steps matter, what counts most is an integrated approach.


Don't view branding and content creation as one-off activities. Envision how every piece - your quantified goals, analyzed competitors, consistent guidelines, and more – comes together into a cohesive strategy.


With clarity on your differentiators, an authentic persona, thoroughly analyzed competitors, data-driven goals, and meticulous documentation, your distinctive value and voice will shine through.


Avoid getting overwhelmed by all these moving parts. Take it step-by-step. Revisit regularly to realign efforts. And above all, keep your unique perspective at the center – not what others are doing.


The path to influencer longevity is paved through brand strategy. Take the time to lay this foundation before going all in on content creation and partnerships. Do the hard thinking now to thrive for years to come.


For even more hands-on guidance, book an appointment with us by filling out our contact form here. Let's build your unforgettable brand together.