Are your stars lined up and ready to take you to the promised land? 

The National Football League kicked off last month, and fantasy football leagues are in full swing. The online game, which has soared in popularity, allows individuals to be an NFL general manager (GM), picking players and earning points with the ultimate goal of winning a virtual championship. 

Wait … what does this game have to do with marketing?

Influencer marketing teams that want to win a “championship” of their own (in this case, complete a successful campaign) can learn a lot about selecting their own team of influencers.

Think about it like this: both fantasy football and influencer marketing involve thoughtful data-backed selections aimed at picking “players” who will achieve the best outcome. 

Let’s take a look at the similarities between fantasy football drafting and selecting influencers for B2B campaigns. 

Scouting players: Researching skill sets and impact

What do fantasy football competitors do before draft day? Many spend countless hours looking through databases to uncover the latest athlete stats, rankings, and projections, digging deep to analyze recent performance and reliability.

Similarly, when selecting influencers, marketers do the same thing, conducting deep research in influencer databases and on social media platforms to uncover details on past performance, zeroing in on engagement rate and reach the same way fantasy football fans analyze yards and touchdowns. 

Draft Tip #1: Look beyond vanity metrics like follower count. Dig into the “advanced stats” like engagement rate, click-through rate, and true reach.

Understanding the league: Mapping out your influencer selection

In a fantasy football draft, participants have the chance to pick up to 16 players, who must fill position-specific slots such as quarterback, running back, kicker, and wide receiver. 

While influencer marketing campaigns aren’t constricted to a number of individuals or categories, those in the campaign should all serve a specific purpose. For example, a campaign with the goal of reach and Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), would want to draft a “quarterback” who can gain big yards (reach) and a “running back” who can convert touchdowns (lead generation).

Draft Tip #2: Ensure each of your influencers fills a role that will help your campaign reach and exceed your primary KPIs.

Drafting a balanced roster: Diversifying influencer types

Those new to fantasy football might think the key to a winning season lies in selecting only the very best players with eye-popping stats. In the same vein, marketers may believe contracting only “big-name” influencers will ultimately lead to a successful campaign.

If only it were that easy.

Those who have won championships — and conducted top-performing marketing campaigns — know that the formula for getting the most “points” involves a balanced roster that includes superstars, rising stars, and specialists.

Let’s take a look at how these influencer types align with our recommended influencer mix:

• Superstar/Macro Influencer: Large followings, proven track record with broad appeal.
• Rising Star/Up-and-Comer: Great potential with broad appeal to most audiences.
• Specialists/Niche Expert: They’re specialists in their field with a tremendous amount of practical experience.

Draft Tip #3: Don’t rely on superstars. Select a diverse range of influencers to reach your target audience.

Finding your sleeper pick: Low-risk high-reward influencers

Have you heard of the term “sleeper”? In fantasy football, a sleeper pick is a player who the fantasy drafter believes will outperform their draft position. Essentially, someone with a high upside that’s not on too many other radars. 

If you look hard enough, you’ll find that there are plenty of “sleeper” influencers available. These are individuals who may have been overlooked in the past due to experience, niche, or even region.

Draft Tip #4: Allocate a small amount of your budget toward one or two sleeper picks. Building your relationship with them early in their career can lead to long-term partnerships with loyalty attached.

Editing “my team”: Monitor and optimize your lineup

If you’re new to fantasy football you may not know that failing to adjust your lineup of players is a quick path to losses and becoming someone who is not-so-affectionately known as a “bottom dweller.”  

The same can be said for marketers who don’t track the performance of their influencers. To come home with “the win,” those in charge of partnerships need to continuously evaluate and adjust, relying on real-time data to back their decisions. 

Draft Tip #5: Set benchmarks for individual influencers prior to the campaign. Use these to determine if those in your campaign are reaching projections. If not, be prepared to optimize your campaign by adding new influencers and adjusting content strategy.

Winning it all

Are you ready to put on your scouting hat and turn your fantasy lineup of influencers into a reality? Follow these actionable steps for best results:

• Scout smart: Look at valuable metrics like engagement and true reach, and be sure to analyze the performance of past campaigns.
• Ensure your picks align with your objectives: For example, If your goal is brand awareness, pick a macro influencer with great engagement. 
• Have a balanced roster: Maximize the reach and resonance of your campaign with a variety of different influencer types.
• Pick a sleeper: Don’t be afraid to take a chance on an overlooked influencer who may have a high upside. 
• Enhance your roster: Don’t be afraid to add or remove influencers from your campaign to get your desired result. 

Follow these steps and you’ll be ready to draft and manage an influencer lineup that can provide championship-worthy results.

In fantasy football leagues, you can auto-draft your team and hope for the best. We can’t recommend this approach for fantasy football players or marketers who want to form a successful contingent of relevant industry players.

Bring your marketing fantasy to life! Let us draft a winning influencer strategy that covers it all — selection, negotiation, content creation, publishing, and performance reporting Contact us today.

About the author

Alex White is the Social – Influencer Lead at TopRank Marketing and a proud U.S. Navy veteran. He leverages his industry experience to build deep, authentic relationships with today’s top B2B influencers, always delivering exceptional campaign results for a variety of Fortune 1000 brands. Alex’s approachable nature and can-do attitude regularly makes him a client favorite to work with, and our team agrees.