How to Swim in the Right Lane: Building Smarter Social Campaigns

If you’re still limiting your influencer selection to size, tier, and tribe, it’s time to think again! 

Our in-house expert and Head of New Business, Molly, has given us the scoop on why selecting the right influencer partners is more nuanced than micro, macro, and nano. 

When it comes to influencer selection, our team at Socially Powerful has built a strategic framework ensuring they lean on influencer partners based on specific brand objectives – learning from historic performance data. 

Building a Tailored Solution

Rather than grouping creators solely by tier or tribe, we bucket them into swimlanes that align with specific brand objectives – from conversion drivers to credibility-builders and pure-play content creators. Why? Because the creator economy isn’t one-size-fits-all, and it never has been.

Influencers that convert aren’t necessarily ideal for an awareness campaign. Their content may come across as authentic, but oftentimes can be a lot more lo-fi and lack the polished visuals and storytelling needed to drive brand equity. 

Some influencers make sense from an affinity and alignment perspective. They naturally fit into your brand’s world and share the same values. These influencers can also double up as your brand ambassadors from a credibility standpoint. Some of these partnerships may even come across as non-endemic on face value, but just make sense. Doja Cat’s partnership with JBL or L’Oréal Paris, and Carlos Sainz. The brand tapped into Formula 1’s growing female fan base and the Williams driver’s online buzz around his gorgeous locks. 

@ice_blood5

Réponse à @r🍒 😭😭💗#dojacat #grammys #jbl #funny #icon #fyp #fy #fyy @Doja Cat

♬ son original – wet

You may look to have a cohort of creators specifically to create creative, visually pleasing content. While they may not have the reach or engagement to warrant posting on their channels, they are utilised by brands to fuel content for owned socials or paid activations. 

The Bottom Line? Swim Smarter, not Harder. 

When you tailor your influencer selection to specific objectives, you stop treating creators as content machines and start leveraging them as strategic partners. Whether it’s conversion, credibility, content production, or brand equity, there’s a lane for every purpose. And the smartest brands are already using this playbook to drive performance at every stage of the funnel. 

While our swimlanes give structure to the chaos, we understand the need for intuition. Not solely relying on rigid structures, but having enough fluidity to give audiences content experiences that resonate over just reach. With platforms like TikTok honing the one-funnel commerce approach—where strategic swimlanes meet cultural fluency.

It’s not just limited to who can perform where; it’s about when and how to activate them across the funnel.

Want to stop swimming in circles? At Socially Powerful, we don’t just plug creators into briefs. We architect influencer ecosystems that flex with format, audience behaviour, and platform nuance. 

Let’s build a strategy that moves the needle. Get in touch and discover what social-first really looks like.

Our influencer marketing agency and social agency are located worldwide, with our agency network based in the USA, UK, UAE and China.

If you want to find industry insights, visit our influencer marketing and social media blogs.

@sociallypowerful