Influencer Marketing Best Practices for Brands
Influencer marketing has taken the digital space by storm, and in turn, the best practices for brands to employ whilst developing a campaign with an influencer are being brought to light. Like any professional endeavour, there are certain professional courtesies and behaviours that should be applied to ensure smooth sailing on the campaign front.
To help kickstart your 2018 creative journey, here is our guide to the best influencer marketing practices your brand should incorporate.
Research, research, research
It’s important that you develop a campaign that aligns closely with both your brand’s message and values, alongside matching the look and theme of your brand! You want to maximise the authenticity of a campaign, whilst simultaneously making it feel as organic as possible. So it’s important to assign your campaign to the right influencer. Alas, your researching and investigation skills come into play. Get digging and find an influencer who matches the feel of your brand!
As a brand, remember that quality can trump quantity when it comes to analysing an influencer’s follower count. Just because one influencer has more followers than another, doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to be best suited for your campaign objectives. While they could have a large following, once you dive into their audience analytics, you may find that a large portion of these followers would not actually benefit from your brand’s product or service. Thus, your campaign goals may not be met! Be thorough in your research to avoid any ill-suited partnerships, and don’t overlook the effectiveness of micro-influencers in achieving your campaign goals!
At Scrunch, we understand the demand for more time efficient practices. So, what have we done to lessen the burden of research? Well, we’ve gone ahead and taken the hard work out of the research process. Scrunch lets you search, locate, and reach out to influencers across the world, and even refine your search process to best suit your brand’s vibe. As a power plan member, you even have the ability to look at the influencer’s audience demographics to be positive you are picking the right influencer. This will help in identifying macro influences with a majority following that isn’t suited to your brand goals, all the while saving you time and money!
Remember your business goal
When you are in the initial stages of developing your campaign, a key practice to familiarise yourself with is the communication of your campaign goal. This goal should be centered around what you want to achieve as a result of the collaboration. It is essential to ensure this goal is transparent throughout the campaign strategy well before the collaboration is underway. Your brand’s goal should be the framework behind the campaign, rather than shaping your goal around the campaign.
To find out why shaping your campaign around your business goals is key, check out this article on the blog.
Your campaign contract is serious business
As influencer marketing skyrockets, social media influencers are being propositioned with collaborations from brands more frequently than ever. So, when they are presented with a brief they like, the Scrunch campaign team works vigorously to create a contract for both parties to sign.
As a brand, you expect influencer to take the signed campaign contract seriously. In the same respect, influencers expect the same level of professional courtesy to be extended from the brand’s end. Even a small change such as extending the products visibility from partial to full can undo hours of hard work. As a key practice, brands and influences should take on the responsibility of fulfilling the commitments that were agreed upon within the contract.
While brands are given free reign on developing their requirements and participating in the creative development of the campaign, it important to remember that this is a legally binding business deal. For the benefit of all involved, the pre-set guidelines should both be met, and respected.
Building a relationship
We have touched on the importance of building a relationship with influencers in our blog, but we are reinforcing the importance of implementing this as a priority practice for your brand in 2018.
Growing a relationship with an influencer not only amplifies your business opportunities for future collaborations, it ensures a clear communication pathway with one of your brand’s key stakeholders.
Nurturing this relationship with an influencer doesn’t necessarily mean you have to collaborate with them again. Some relationships are a one-off endeavour, while others transform into a long-term partnership.
If you can’t decide what’s best for your brand, we have made a Pros and Cons list to help you identify the best avenue for your partnership!
Get involved in the discussion
When selecting your influencer, part of your decision-making process would have included analysing their active engagement levels. But why should the campaign’s engagement stop at the influencers? Jump on board and join in the conversation by engaging with both the influencer and their audience. You can do this by simply commenting on the influencer’s content, answering questions from fans or even acknowledging positive feedback from fans. Active engagement on the brand’s behalf can go a long way in promoting both the brands image and the influencer’s content, so jump online and get involved in the discussion!
Giving agencies a say
Invite your influencer agency into the conversation and give them a voice. Often agencies can offer insights into both the influencers and the brand’s perspectives, and save a lot of communication malfunctions early on in the piece! Find Forbes top seven picks for influencer marketing trends here!
To ensure your influencer marketing campaign flourishes this new year, implement these practices and watch as your brand grows!
