It's no surprise that more and more companies are investing in influencer marketing. A Twitter post from someone with tens of thousands of followers can result in a slew of new clients and admirers. However, the fact that influencer marketing is popular doesn't imply it's simple to implement a good campaign.
Instead, this one-of-a-kind marketing strategy is centered on forging strong, mutually beneficial relationships between companies and influencers – and then maintaining those ties to ensure long-term success on both sides.
Let's take a closer look at why sustaining great influencer relationships is important for building genuine audience connections.
Why is the relationship between brands and influencers so crucial?
Relationships are the foundation of influencer marketing.
Strong ties between the brand and the personality are required for successful influencer marketing campaigns. To achieve a good ROI, firms must build and maintain strong connections with the appropriate individuals in their industry.
The likelihood of a successful marketing campaign is small if significant relationships with the relevant influencers are not made. If they don't like your brand or care about it, the content they create will likely be lazy and uninspiring. Therefore, to keep influencers genuinely involved in the brand's ongoing growth, it's vital to nurture the relationship.
How to build influencer relationships
Here are seven ways on how to establish a quality connection with an influencer.
1. Reach out in unique ways
Influencers receive hundreds of letters requesting collaborations, and the best ones are selective about who they work with. So, connect with the influencer uniquely rather than sending an email or DM.
For a natural method, check what events they'll attend this year or send a simple note on their birthday. You can, for example, write a handwritten letter and mail it, snap a photo of it and post it on social media or send it through email.
A creative headline can also be compelling. After all, catchy titles are a highly effective marketing technique. Including a few emoticons in the message might also be beneficial.
You can also have your custom QR code to strengthen your brand. It’s not only a unique thing to have for your company but also makes your clients’ physical-to-digital engagement easier.
2. Demonstrate your devotion
You should seek alternative methods to express appreciation to an influencer besides providing free items. If the cooperation goes well, you can vow your devotion to them and resolve never to collaborate with any other influencers.
Another option is to interact with their social media content in a unique way. For example, aside from sharing or reposting an influencer's post, you could also write a detailed comment or link to the posting in your next blog article. You can also keep up with online trends. For example, do not doubt to make a post about Black Friday memes if you see it's a searched popular term, because that will give you new opportunities to reach a larger audience.
Make customer testimonials. When seeking to attract new clients or, in this case, influencers, customer testimonials create an incredible sense of trust and show others that your company is compassionate and cares about client satisfaction.
Lastly, a simple “thank you” through text messages can go a long way towards demonstrating your gratitude for an influencer and your desire to continue working together. Since text message marketing has become a popular option for businesses, it can perfectly work to keep in touch with influencers as well.
3. Keep an eye on the team
You'll discover different team members depending on the degree of influencer you're interacting with. The fact is that influencers, like celebrities, raise brand recognition and make money, which means their team is engaged in making sure the product they're promoting is excellent.
You can set expectations for the company and the agency by securing constructive, transparent discussions with the influencer's manager or agent. You should also get a feel of how straightforward or challenging an influencer will be to deal with at this stage. If your manager or agent is complicated, it is time to think about how to quit your job or collaboration with the influencer and leave.
Similarly, if they're a privilege to work with, ask for their list and continue establishing connections with other influencers inside their firm. Finally, don’t hesitate to contact agents personally or via LinkedIn; they want to provide amazing offers to clients like you.
4. Know your influencer's audience
The fact that you took the effort to learn about the influencer's target audience demonstrates your commitment. Furthermore, if you do not spend time analyzing the influencer’s demographics with Instagram influencer search tools, the chances of selecting the incorrect candidate to work with are rather significant.
Recognizing what the influencer's fans enjoy can provide you with a topic to discuss with the influencer. Then, when both sides are on the same page, it will be easy to develop a marketing plan. Also, consider providing an Instagram feed planner for your influencers so that they won't have to make any additional expenses which will also make things easier.
5. Be open and honest
Some influencers dislike companies that are deceptive and don't go right to the point. However, it’s exhausting to exchange lots of emails simply to get one thing out of the way, so it's no wonder that many influencers are abandoning a brand that beats around the bush.
Try not to fall into the same problem as the others, and be clear about what you desire. The sooner you sort out the issues, the sooner you can start forming an influencer collaboration. After all, time is valuable, and both the client and the influencer want to maximize their time together.
6. Allow your influencers to participate
Involving influencers in conversations about your company is another efficient approach to build influencer connections.
An influencer's popularity is, in part, due to the fact that they know what their audience likes. Therefore, your ambassadors should have full knowledge of how their material is performing. For example, did they receive a lot of feedback, likes, or shares? Is there any feedback from their group's significant members?
Most businesses never ask influencers to do anything other than produce content. Their depth of detailed understanding, on the other hand, makes them ideal candidates for contributing fresh new ideas to your company. Consider putting their name on your site or include a link to their post in a marketing email.
7. Have an offline relationship
It's easy to overlook that genuine relationships offer a distinct value to our lives because of the normality and consistency of our online interactions. Invite influencers to your company's events, trade fairs, product launches, and other business celebrations.
Enabling influencers to become a part of corporate culture by inviting them to trips and office parties can also help to personalize the connection.
Conclusion
Establishing a relationship is a two-way street. It's critical to create a real relationship based on mutual admiration, shared interests and passion, progressive feedback, and honest gratitude if you want your work to be supported by a face in the industry.
So, have these seven tips in mind when you start to develop your connections with an influencer.
About the author:
Andrii Kalashnyk is the CMO at trendHERO with 9+ years of experience in digital marketing. He started out as an email marketing manager, moving on to copywriting - and for the last three years has been focused on analytics and influencer discovery.
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