Consumers, their desires and their behaviors are changing more rapidly than ever before, and this has put a new spin on the age-old search for earning consumer trust, generating leads new leads and converting those leads into new customers. And now, we want to do all of this digitally with the goal of engaging people whom we haven’t yet met.

At Envoy, we counsel our clients on a daily basis about the importance of the digital journey and how deeply rooted the connection between genuine messaging and strategic targeting is to the success of any campaign. How do you serve the best message to the right audience at the right time? More than that, how can you do this in a genuine way, so it’s focused on the consumer rather than yourself?

Insert the rise of influencers.

Facebook has big plans to play matchmaker between brands and influencers. That’s right — the social media platform titan recently announced the unveiling of its influencer branding dashboard called Brand Collabs Manager. Brand Collabs Manager is a search engine that brands can use to connect with influencers more easily.

We’re no strangers to exploring and using the newest tools to help out our clients and lighten their workloads, and Brand Collabs Manager can help. So, although this tool is still relatively new, here’s what you need to know as of now.

How It Works
Influencers, also called creators, who use the Brand Collabs Manager dashboard can list their profiles, which are searchable within Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager tab. An influencer’s profile is essentially their portfolio, where you can find everything you need to know about them, as well as see examples of their work.

The idea of searching through potentially thousands of profiles sounds like a headache, sure; that’s why Facebook has enabled a percentage feature, which rates how well an influencer matches to your brand. This percentage match is based on your requirements as a business, the influencer’s relevance and their audience reach.

However, at this time, you need to submit a request for your business to use Brand Collabs Manager, as it’s currently in beta and not available to everyone.

Why It’s Important
The rise of influencers and the need for fresh content is on a continual upswing, and the demand for both only increases as time goes on. With Brand Collabs Manager, Facebook has identified this need and made it accessible.

Anyone who has tried to establish an influencer program knows how taxing (and sometimes expensive) it can be. Where do you find influencers? How do you manage them? Should you pay a third party?

Approved brands can surf the Brand Collabs Manager dashboard and connect with influencers who are creating fresh content for brands and distributing it to their networks in genuine ways.

Have questions about influencers and how to integrate them into one of your campaigns? Check out this case study where we integrated influencers into a holiday campaign. Give us a call if you’d like us to do the same for you! We’d love to help with your branding and marketing needs.