Rules of Inspired (not tired) Influencer Relationships
Influencers: how to sail a new sensation and smash the ceiling of success... instead of sinking the strategy.
Brands. Bloggers. Public Relations.
Knowing the principles of incorporating influencers is imperative. Brands are allocating out-of-this-world amounts to secure such strategies, so relationship ruin is not not an option. Why should it be? When it can instead be remarkable.
Right now
Nail polish company Formula X created a #ColorCurators campaign. They launched the series with Song of Style; specifically tapping into influencers to create their own colors.
Something Navy was featured in TRESemmé’s NYFW TV commercials
Chiara is Pantene’s newest ambassador
Welcome today’s celebrities: bloggers.
Leaping from the pages of trend report analysis, brands are exponentially expanding their budgets to elevate through influencers.
Steeped in smarts, not just a superficial show, this movement magnetising for the right reasons
Bloggers are booming and touching consumers where they turn (decisions) most: trust. Take brand perceptions, reputation, web traffic, social standing and sales... bloggers = buzz.
Twisting their Be Social assists with bloggers tangibility to your target is generally achieved in three ways: publicity, collaboration, and content creation.
Case study: Gap – Styld.by
What kind of blog post about influencers could possibly leave out fashion brands? It’s a fact that bloggers can have even more clout with consumers, particularly early adopters and trendsetters, than some traditional publications.
According to Velocity Digital, 61% of consumers have made a buying decision based on a blog. That’s some heavy pull. Gap has responded to these digital trends by pulling together a site full of content created by influencers. What’s particularly interesting is that their definition of “influencers” includes not only bloggers like Olivia Lopez of Lust for Life (who happens to have 238,000 Instagram followers) but also publications with big reach like Conde Nast Traveler.
The site is interactive, making it easy for visitors to share to their social networks. The site strikes the perfect balance between promoting Gap while maintaining a distance that feels really authentic. One of the main reasons influencers are so useful is that they represent the brand without being it. Genius.
6 ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL INFLUENCER OUTREACH CAMPAIGNS
Curate a burly list of bloggers. Not biceps (unless protein powder and gym junkie's are your thing), but media muscle. Who holds the audience you're after? Who's reputation either resembles or would bolster your brand's? Scour social media until you see who seamlessly speaks to your audience and has the strongest hold on their scene.
Acquire and analyse their media kits. Look at unique monthly visitors (UMV), but also look at their engagement rate. This is how many comments are on their blog posts or Instagram photos, which indicate that their audience is not only real, but engaged!
Provide the blogger a detailed creative brief on what you are looking for, including inspiration on the photo content, verbiage and visual aspects of the collaboration. The blogger can use this guide as a framework for their post and will assist with managing expectations and eliminate the back and forth.
Based on figures from your list, determine your budget, expected reach and outcome prior to reaching out with your campaign idea.
Have your lawyer craft an agreement with the blogger that includes details on FTC guidelines. We also suggest having a clause on how long the content needs to stay live on their properties. It’s often that you will find bloggers take down the content after being live for a 30 days. Ideally you want to the content to stay published indefinitely.
Provide trackable links to be embedded in the blog post to be able to track clicks and traffic generated from the content. This will help you gauge whether this blogger was a good fit for your brand.
6 WAYS TO RUIN AN INFLUENCER COLLABORATION
Uninformed estimations: calculating unrealistic expectations from inaccurate data and incomprehensibly researched information. Setting unachievable goals through improperly planned numbers and prominence of bloggers required.
Don't demand what you deserve: these blogs are businesses and a blogger has rates for a specific reason. Failing to be fair and respectful in sticking to the plan, asserting your agreement and seeing it through; can jeopardise content creation, dedication and timeliness.
Not getting nitty-gritty: being unspecific and vague with requirements and restrictions. Without breaking-down the collaboration into it's elements and dedicating separate values and descriptions of various outputs envisioned; either party can whittle down the relationship, cut corners or be left feeling miffed. You don't want the investment going unaccounted for.
Forgetting to require FTC disclosure when paying for sponsored content.
Delays: handing over important creative assets and information so that the influencer has time to creatively put her own stamp on the campaign, destroys scope for creativity and quality. No one likes being given the details at the 11th hour.
Expect an amazing post without supporting campaign collateral and communication. Cementing the strategy as part of a powerful campaign that stays true to the brand and aligns with broader goals, is vital. Shifting success to be shouldered entirely by influencer's is risky. Not recognising the responsibilities that remain in your domain, is a recipe for ruin. After all it's a collaboration, not coercion or commission.
For more information, see this topic summarised in the video by the Content Marketing Institute below:
