Influencer marketing is relatively new.  So for most brands, working with influencers is like a whole new dimension.

Just to get things straight, Influencer Marketing is effective!

There’s a reason why 86% of marketers will be utilising influencers in their marketing strategies in 2016  (Blogmint Influencer Marketing Outlook, 2016).

As a brand, if you’ve already tried it but didn’t go quite as smoothly as expected, it’s probably because you didn’t have this blog post to go by!

For most brands getting their ideal influencer to collaborate successfully is just like negotiating with bloggers for advertising space on their blog. To manage and create successful campaigns with influencers doesn’t require special skills just a strategy with a bit of method.

Here are a few pointers, a few do’s and don’ts, you should consider when you are using influencers to promote you’re brand.

 

 

 

What to do: Let them be creative

What not to do: Don’t be controlling

As a brand you want to capture the influencer’s audience.

 

The whole point of using influencers to promote your brand, is to let your product connect with their audience, in a way that you couldn’t have otherwise.

 

We know that as a brand, you probably have a vision of how you want the campaign to go; but you have to remember that an influencer is taking your product to their own audience. Meaning that they have to present your product in their own voice, in a way their audience already knows, understands and relates to.

 

So let them run with their creative spark! Trying to control how they present your product, won’t go down well, not only with the influencers but more importantly with their audience. The influencer knows their audience better than anyone and by now their audience may very well, be able to pick up on the influencer’s forced and unnatural content as being fake. Influencer’s content will be received much better when it’s authentic and your campaign will be brought to life when you give them that creative freedom.

 

Let go, otherwise you’ll end up with a frustrated influencer who will probably not want to work with you again and an unengaged audience who won’t buy any of your products.

 

As a brand you need to make your goal clear, whilst the influencer should provide you with the way to execute that goal. So although you should give clear guidelines and requirements, remember not to be too strict and controlling.

 

 

 

What to do: Make them feel special

What not to do: Don’t lack authenticity in your communication

Authenticity and communication are hugely important in influencer marketing and in any relationship. That’s why whatever you do, make sure you’re communicating directly to them.

 

Personalise your emails. Add their name to the start of the email and maybe mention a post of theirs you found particularly interesting. They want to feel special, as if the message is directed to them. They don’t want to feel like just another random influencer you happen to land on.

 

 

 

What to do: Make them fall in love with your brand
What not to do: Don’t force your products onto them

The secret to making authentic content is simply for it to be authentic! The secret here is to let them fall in love with your product before you ask them to give it a twirl.

 

Start looking for your influencer weeks before you actually need them to promote your product. This way they have more time to learn about you, your brand and actually start to share your love for it and create an authentic enthusiasm towards it.

 

Their passion will come across in their content they produce for you. And guess what? It’s contagious, so their audience is bound to fall for your brand just like they did!

 

 

How Zine makes everything easier

Managing your relationships and collaborations is one of the biggest challenges brands face when working with influencers. The smaller brands who don’t have as many resources or larger scale collaborations, tend to struggle when it comes to keeping up with who, when, where and how the content has been published.

 

Zine is a platform where brands can find influencers, negotiate their collaborations and keep on top of them all.

 

It’s important to bear in mind that working with influencers is a collaboration, there shouldn’t be a hierarchy. Influencers want to keep their audience and you as a brand want to win them over! The better influencers and brands work together the more engaging the content will be for the audience. Using platforms like Zine streamlines the whole process of the collaboration and help make them much more successful and long-lasting.