In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks to the founder and CEO of Markerly, Justin Kline. Markerly is a technology company and agency that works in the influencer space. They began in 2012 and work in a massive variety of verticals. Justin and Josh explore how influencer marketing has evolved from its origins. It’s become easier to become an influencer, but the space has also matured. Justin explains that marketing and advertising came about through the desire to influence in general. This concept predates even modern advertising and marketing, he shares. Markerly runs large scale influencer campaigns and they work in a couple of ways. One half of their business is the influencer database they maintain, and the other half is their advertising services. Justin shares that niche content creation and audience targeting gets harder and harder over time, but Markerly amplifies content by recognizing how to market to these niches using influencer marketing.Justin and Josh also explore certain aspects of influencer marketing to be aware of. You should be asking questions about engagement rates – and doing your own research on these topics. Influencers aren’t exactly keen on sharing these details necessarily. Justin shares some tips on looking at these indicators. Use third party engagement tracker tools and external data sources. Also, follow your intuition. If something pings as fishy to you, it probably is. Look at the types of accounts following the influencer you’re looking at, for instance. You also want to think about brand alignment. You have to pair the right influencers with the right brands – and the right customers. Brand affinity, especially with larger brands, is one way to target specific audiences with the right influencers. If an influencer has looked at similar brands and align with the ethos of a brand, that’s how Markerly chooses brands and influencers to pair together.Josh also asks about performance indicators. You have to remember that bigger influencers are much busier, and require more touch points than just an affiliate code. However, if you’re willing to pay for more ‘expensive’ influencers, you’ll see a larger return more quickly. It all depends on what your brand is striving to do and what your goal is for your influencer campaign. Smaller influencers are likely less expensive but don’t underestimate their reach. If they really speak to their niche, and you see an opportunity in that niche, consider trying to work with them on a single campaign to see what happens. Establishing relationships with the influencers you work with is not only good public relations, it’s pragmatic and can only serve to improve the work you do together. Want to learn more? Check out Markerly’s website at https://markerly.com/.  Check out Markerly on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/markerly/. Check out Justin Kline on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/klinejustin/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.