Influencer marketing is one of the most dominant advertisement forms these days. Thanks to so many people spending time on social media and platforms like YouTube and Twitch TV, it is no surprise to see influencers emerge as a powerful way to raise brand awareness and drive sales.
One of the best things about influencers is that they offer brands a platform to engage with consumers in a genuine way. People who follow personalities on social media are more inclined to trust them. After all, if that was not the case, influencer marketing would not exist. Or, at the very least, not be as prominent as it is now.
For brands looking to increase their efforts and make more out of influencer marketing, it usually starts with finding the right personalities who can represent the brand.
The question is, how can you build relationships with influencers for long-term goals and persuade influencers to join your cause even if you do not have that big of a budget?
1. Be Creative With Your Approach
It is common to start with outreach. After doing a little bit of research, you should have a list of potential influencers who fit the profile.
The first thing that comes to mind is probably sending them an email or a message on social media. If an influencer is busy, the odds are that they might not read all the messages they receive.
As such, you should take a different approach. Figure out if you can meet an influencer in a live event and go there. You could also find out their home address and send them personalized socks with text or another piece of merchandise asking for a collaboration (though be sure to add a letter because a pair of socks is obviously not enough).
The more creative your outreach is, the higher the odds of succeeding. Sure, micro-influencers and influencers who do not have that many followers, in general, might not require that much effort to establish the first contact, but you should still not underestimate how much a little bit of creativity can help.
2. Understand Influencer’s Audience and Interests
As already stated, you want to make sure that the influencer is relevant to your brand. For instance, you do not want to collaborate with beauty and health influencers if your business is about video games.
Do a little bit of research and check what their audience is like. How they are engaging and responding to the content that the influencer publishes. Be sure to pay attention not just to promotional posts but also to regular pieces if there are any.
By understanding an influencer’s audience, you will show them that you care about a genuine relationship when discussing goals and such. Talk about how much you understand their audience and why you believe it can benefit your brand.
Besides the audience, you should also take notes of the influencer’s interests. It is easy to get an idea of what they like from looking at their social media feed and other channels (provided you can find them).
Again, these interests can be a great way to break the ice as it is easier to strike a conversation when you are confident about a topic another party would find interesting. And in this case, it would be an interest in the influencer’s hobbies.
3. Engage With Their Content
You can start to make yourself noticeable without beginning the relationship between your brand and the influencer.
Leave comments on their posts on social media or even share the content on your own social media pages.
Such behavior gets noticed, particularly when you engage with the content of an influencer who does not have that many followers. Remember that it is not just brands looking for influencers. Influencers are also looking for opportunities to strike partnerships with brands, and if such a great opportunity presents itself, you can bet that they will jump at it.
4. Offer Exclusive Access
Imagine a brand that creates hand-made accessories. If there is a specific accessory that is popular but is in limited availability, you could strike an exclusive partnership with an influencer and offer them a few of these accessories to give away on their social media channels.
By being the only influencer who has this opportunity, they will feel more appreciated and willing to collaborate.
Of course, there are other forms of exclusivity. For instance, some brands go into detail about themselves and reveal some behind-the-scenes stuff to the influencers so that influencers become more aware of what the brand is like. Insights into how a business operates are appreciated by some influencers because they then have a better understanding. Not to mention the sense of feeling like they are part of the group and belong to it.
5. Give Influencers Creative Freedom
It can be tricky to figure out who is going to be in charge of the content creation. For the most part, it is common to discuss everything prior so that both parties are on the same page.
You want to avoid situations that disrupt the workflow because someone decided to create an entirely different piece of content than what was agreed beforehand.
If the influencer feels like they should be the ones in charge of content creation because they know what to expect from an audience and knows what works, it would be for the best to leave everything in their hands.
For one, you do not want to come off as someone who knows better in front of an influencer who has prior experience and understands their audience the best.
In addition, some influencers consider their creativity as one of their strongest suits, and taking that away can be detrimental to the relationship, so be sure not to miss this point.
Conclusion
All in all, if you are serious about influencer marketing and want to establish strong relationships with multiple influencers as a brand, prepare to work hard so that you can find lasting partnerships with influencers who will hopefully take your brand to the next level.
