How To Forge Influencer Partnerships That You Won’t Regret

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Marketing has evolved from trade to tech. The world of marketing, as we know it today, circles technology and strategies. It wasn’t always this.

There was a time when marketing was adopted by brands to simply sell their services or goods. It was during the 1900s when individuals started realizing that purchasing things is much better than creating them. Mass production became the need of the hour to serve the growing consumer market.

In the 1940s, during the Industrial Revolution, the competition got intense. The skill to develop and market a brand became more valuable as the industry progressed. The goal of sellers then was only to develop persuasive communications with consumers for selling their products or services.

Then came the age of television and print media. The phase where marketing transitioned to adopting creative practice. From the era of the Industrial Revolution to digital marketing in today’s time, we have come a long way. Today, we need strategies, campaigns, and technology to outshine others in the market.

One thing that never lost its value in the world of marketing from the time of its origin is referrals. We all know how effective and beneficial referrals are for a brand. When a friend recommends a product or service for your problem, there are high chances that you will invest in the same. The reason being your friend’s trust in the product or service and your trust in your friend.

Influencer marketing is nothing short of a referral on a large scale. When an influencer talks about how awesome your product is, it inflates your chances of acquiring more customers. This is because the customer is facing a problem and they trust the influencer.

If you are planning to invest in an influencer partnership, there are certain things to be careful about. You can read about how you can forge influencer marketing perfectly below.

Know Your Purpose and Set Objectives

What is the why behind your need to get into an influencer partnership? Until you have an answer to this question, it’ll be difficult to gauge the right direction. Just like other marketing forms, influencer marketing needs to be well-planned. In fact, with the kind of budget it might need, it should be among the perfectly outlined aspects of your brand building or customer acquisition strategy.

Once you know the exact goal to get into this partnership, it will make it easier to execute the campaign. The goals of your outcome can be inflated reach, creating a buzz, or generating leads. Anything. You can simplify other attributes of your strategy by taking this one step.

SEE ALSO: Marketing Your Business on Facebook: Boosting Sales on Social Media

These objectives will help you find the right influencer for your brand. It will also make it unchallenging to know the kind of messaging your content should portray. Make sure your goal is established before you sign the deal. Without a goal or purpose, you won’t have the right approach. You wouldn’t know what to do once your influencer gets on board. Hence, to escape the awkward times, be vigilant in understanding your purpose.

Be Selective When Finding an Influencer

Don’t let the high follower count fool you. They can be magnified artificially. So, what do you look for if it’s not the numbers at the top? Follower loyalty. In more technical terms, engagement rates.

When you discover profiles that have millions of followers, but hardly any likes or comments, it shows a lack of loyalty or interest from their audience. This absence can hamper your campaigns and dissolve the purpose of influencer marketing for you. Without an ardent following, if an influencer promotes your product or service, no one will care.

We are not saying numbers don’t talk. They do. But only the right ones. Keep an eye out for the engagement ratio. The higher this ratio, the more invested that influencer’s audience is. It’s close to impossible to get fake engagement. These numbers are a manifestation of the efforts that have been spent on organic growth. Get influencers on board based on their engagement rates, not follower count.

You can use various digital tools like YouTube BrandConnect to find your ideal partner for your brand’s influencer marketing. Selecting the right influencer is crucial. It can make or break your campaigns.

How to Reach Out to the Influencers

Sliding into Priyanka Chopra’s DMs might have worked out for Nick Jonas but it doesn’t always work like that.

Sorry to say this, but in reality, things are way more complicated. Influencers have their message inbox and emails overflowing with senseless advertising and offers. They are also approached by their audience, asking them to collaborate or just to help them out. Bringing yourself in front of the eyes of such celebrities can get tricky. So, try a new approach instead and outshine others in the swamp.

It’s hard to forget someone who once did us a favor. That’s human tendency. Use this approach when reaching out to an influencer. Instead of asking them for a favor, you can play a reverse UNO card. You do them a favor first. Once you start a conversation, you can focus on building a relationship and collaborating with them.

Some of the best ways to do this are:

• Conducting an interview and pitching a leading publication to share that interview. It would be even better if you could manage to get a publication on board before approaching the influencer.
• Share their work, engage with their content, give reviews, and more. Investing your time into engaging with their content is the best favor you can do.
• Ask for a meaningful piece of advice. We all love it when we get a chance to share our expertise, they do too.

You only know their reel side, not their real side. They’re also human, treat them that way. It’ll make communication easy for you.

Make the Partnership Mutually Beneficial

Influencer marketing is not a one-way street. If you’re the only one who’s getting something out of the relationship, it’ll be challenging to find a good and reliable influencer. Before you step into the market, get an idea of influencer compensation. You don’t want to quote too low and then offend the potential partners in the process.

Like we discussed before, influencer marketing is similar to referrals but on a larger scale. We know how beneficial referrals can get. This partnership should benefit your influencers almost as much as it will do good for you if nothing more. Thus, make sure you have an idea about how compensations work in the world of influencers.

There are plenty of ways in which you can remunerate influencers. The most common form is cash. Obviously. It is also preferred by most influencers and they might request you for the same. Other forms of compensation that you can pitch to your prospective influencers are by offering free products, giving them discounts, and even creative freedom. Creative freedom is nothing but letting the influencer promote your product in the manner they want to. They imagine, create, and share reviews about the product or service without any intervention or censorship.

You can choose any form of compensation after mutually agreeing with your influencer. Make sure you’re always fair. They’ll help you boost your customer acquisition practices.

Use Influencer Partnership to Boost Customer Acquisition Strategy

Customer acquisition is the foundation of every brand. Without customers, finding success is impossible. Solution? Reinforce your customer acquisition strategy by collaborating with influencers. It has proven to be the most cost-effective way for the same.

We have all heard the phrase “people buy from people”. It still holds true. You’re more likely to buy a product that is recommended to you by someone who has already used it. The chances are much higher if that someone is who you trust.

When an influencer promotes your brand, talks about how beneficial it has been for them, or shares the valuable features, those who are in the need of that product tend to try out the brand. Why? It’s because they have faith in that influencer.

Influencers have the capability and authenticity that are needed to build relationships with the audience. This relationship can be extremely beneficial for you as well.

One thing that you need to be careful about is finding a relevant influencer. This will indicate the success of your campaign. Also, make it a habit to keep analyzing the data of your campaigns. This will help you moderate and modify the content being shared much easily.

You can also host giveaways and contests with influencers to further promote your brand. Giveaways and contests give a chance to win prizes. And who doesn’t like free products? By getting an influencer on board for this strategy, you will get a chance to reach a much wider audience. The more people you reach, the more popular your brand gets.

Build Links for SEO with Influencer Partnership

SEO is the biggest part of digital marketing. Influencer marketing is not only profitable for your social reputation but also gives your SEO strategies a boost, directly or indirectly. According to 57% of marketers, influencer marketing is a great way to fuel the content marketing strategies of a brand.

By taking an interview with an influencer or sharing an article by a leader will help you get better reach. To make sure that everything is done to perfection, you can get a marketing agency that offers bespoke SEO services on board. They will provide a comprehensive strategy including the trending topics, keywords, etc., to further push this published piece of content at the top of the SERPs. It will make it easier for you to get your customers aware of your brand.

Another aspect where influencer marketing can help your SEO is by getting backlinks for your website. Links are one of the most effective ways that can aid in bringing your website to rank better on Google.

There are dedicated agencies for guest post services. They can help you partner with known bloggers through guest posting or collaboration and get a new link back to your site.

SEE ALSO: How To Use Instagram Stories And Its New Features

You can use tools like SEO rank checker to where you stand as compared to your competitors. This will help you identify areas of improvement. You can change or upgrade your influencer marketing strategies based on those areas.

Be the number one not only on social platforms but search engines as well with influencer marketing.

Difference Between B2B and B2C Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is as beneficial for B2B as it is for B2C. Only recently, many brands have started implementing B2B influencer marketing. Content shared by leading names has proven to be one of the most preferred and credible sources for brands, as 95% of marketers would agree.

One thing that differs between B2B and B2C is the duration in the delivery of results. For B2B, the process is much slower and requires more planning than B2C campaigns. However, once it starts working, there’s no end. It improves your reputation and credibility among audiences. As a result, you get a chance to expand your reach.

Moreover, we know that news travels fast. In the world of corporate, it spreads with the speed of light. Once you get an influencer on board for B2B marketing, the word spreads and more brands become aware. You must bring known leaders and industry experts on board if you wish to derive desired results. It helps make your campaign seem more reliable. With B2B influencer marketing, it’s all about building and maintaining your reputation.

Conclusion

To wrap it up, we can say that influencer partnerships are fragile yet the most effective ways of acquiring more customers. You must be very clear about your goal and how you plan to compensate the influencer if you wish to make the relationship mutually beneficial.

Influencer marketing is a great strategy for your social reputation as well as for reaching the top in the SERPs if done right.