From close relationships with the media to influencer strategies that align directly with both side’s needs, leaving a lasting impression with influencers is a part of our skillset that we hold near and dear to our hearts. This Valentine’s Day, we’re teaching you the art of influencer relations and how to work with influencers to launch a campaign that your audience will fall in love with.
Don’t Date Out Of Your League (Or Niche): Get to Know Your Target Influencers
Building a strong relationship with influencers starts with understanding their values, interests, niche and target audience. What makes them tick? Take the time to research their background, previous collaborations, content style, content schedule tendencies and engagement. Are they an Instagram mom blogger who only collaborates with kid’s clothing and baby furniture brands? They’re probably not who you’re looking for if you’re a restaurant or makeup brand. By demonstrating genuine interest and knowledge of their work, you’ll lay the foundation for a meaningful partnership.
Swipe Right: Tailor Your Communication to Their Preferences
Just like your Bumble opening line, your initial message to an influencer is essential. It’s important to remember influencers receive dozens of collaboration requests a day, just like the hottest matches on a dating app. There is no exact guide on how to reach out to influencers, as many of them require different communication tactics. Influencers often have instructions in their bio for collaboration requests, whether it’s an email for their management company, to direct message them or email them directly. If they have an email in their bio, it probably means they don’t want you to reach out via DM. After you get the method of communication analyzed, start with capturing their attention. Reference a recent post of theirs or let them know how much you love their content. Make sure your brand messaging resonates with their personal brand. Keep your message succinct and leave a call to action for the influencer to respond to. Always end your message with an invite to hop on a call to talk through any questions they may have.
A 50/50 Relationship: Contracts That Keep
Arguably one of the most important aspects of a great influencer collaboration is what’s in the contract. If all pieces of information are in the contract, there is very little room for miscommunication or a collaboration to fall through. The best contracts are the ones that benefit both parties in an equal way. Influencers typically receive some sort of product, service or financial payment in exchange for their social media content. Contracts should include names/signatures of both parties, expectations, parameters and deliverables that should be provided. (Ex: Two Instagram stories, one static post, one reel.)
We’re no strangers to a great influencer relationship! In fact, one of our clients, Flower Child, had the opportunity to collaborate with Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell with support from our agency. Needless to say, the collaboration was successful and benefited both parties. Talk about 50/50! TJA is constantly looking for ways to support our clients. You can check out more collaborations and partnerships on our “prove it” page!
An Influencer’s Love Language? Gift Giving: Provide Influencers with Tools and Product
Many successful influencer campaigns become successful because of the way in which they receive a product or service. For example, an influencer package (much like a PR package) goes a long way. Influencers love eye-catching packaging that they can unbox with their followers. If your brand provides a service, focus on going above and beyond when they experience it. If you’re a medspa, surprise the influencer with champagne and a small gift or make the waiting room experience unlike any other. Focus on how you can elevate the influencer’s experience when they capture content so they are authentically excited about the collaboration and brand.
Keep the Spark Alive: Consistent Engagement with Influencers
Once your collaboration is over, you can’t ghost an influencer. If you enjoyed your collaboration and received the results that you were hoping for, make sure your influencer relationships stay nourished. Keep in touch via email to learn what they’re working on or comment on their latest social post. Go the extra mile and share a post to your brand’s social media. Keeping the spark alive with the influencers you work with almost always brings another “yes” to future collaborations.
Love Can’t Be Bought – But Ads Can
Social influencers have emerged as modern-day Cupids, using their platform to spread love for different brands and products. As a paid social agency, we utilize influencers with paid social opportunities to craft content and strategic partnerships that create a bridge between brands and the influencer’s key audiences. Influencer whitelisting allows brands to post as the influencer. By targeting specific demographics and posting as the brand under an influencer’s name, this creates a direct connection to the social media user’s heart and feed.
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As we wrap up this love-filled journey, we hope you’ve learned that, just like in matters of the heart, building strong relationships with influencers takes time, effort and a genuine understanding of their values and interests. From the meet-cute butterflies to the comfortable long-term relationships, working with influencers can be the best thing that happened to your brand. Make sure to keep them around! And if you find yourself in awe of topics like this, keep up with us on our blog.
