Influencer marketing is making a tricky transaction from a widely secret marketing weapon to a key element of many businesses promotional plans. With this newfound popularity comes a challenge for all those that want to truly leverage influencers to their benefit...
...getting their attention.
From celebrities to niche micro-influencers, influencers inboxes are full with 'work with us' messages from keen brands. So how do we make sure that our message stands out from the crowd and entices our desired influencers to work with us?
In this article, we cover the five steps you need to take when grabbing influencers attention.
Quick Overview
Want the key points of this article in just 39 seconds? Check out the video our agency partner has put together below...
1. Align your brand vision
Just like great businesses, great influencers have strong values and are always looking to partner with brands that share them.
Although an influencer may not of heard of your business before, a good influencer will certainly do their research before they agree to partner with you. This is why is it crucial to clearly communicate your businesses vision and values throughout your marketing materials.
As a business, it can be tempting to maintain a state of indifference in an attempt to avoid potentially alienating any of your audience. However, this usually leads to customer and influencer, in turn, being indifferent to your business...not ideal when you want to excite them about partnering with you.
2. Offer value
Paying influencers is pretty normal when it comes to brand partnerships. In fact, if they are putting time and skill into creating partnered content, not paying is practically a crime. But there is a reason why money can seriously sour an influencer relationship.
It is certainly true that many (but not all) 'influencers' build their audiences to make money. Working with these types of influencers can be detrimental to your brand, effectively affiliating your business with those with no real knowledge or understanding of your niche.
Have a budget - yes.
But do not lead influencer conversations with financial incentives. Instead, look to offer other value that will excite influencers when working with you. This may include brand exclusives, products and services. You may be surprised by what actually motivates influencers when you really start to scratch the surface.
After all, if the influencer isn't excited about engaging with your brand on this level...are they really good a match?
3. Communicate your needs
Just ask any marriage councillor worth their weight and they will tell you...
"The key to great relationships is great communication"
The same is true of relationships between influencers and brands. When contacting and working with influencers we should also aim for complete transparency and expect it in return.
Start by being 100% clear about what it is you are hoping to achieve from the relationship and how you suggest you go about it. However, also be open to tapping into their own expertise and getting their thoughts on how best to execute a project.
4. Offer flexibility
Working with an influencer isn't the same as buying ad space...or at least it shouldn't be. Although the influencer audience and reach is a huge benefit, the focus should be on leveraging their creative expertise and their understanding of the audience you are trying to reach.
For this reason, it is crucial to allow influencers creative flexibility in the content they make on behalf of your brand. Although this does offer some risk, not doing so will result in staged and unfamiliar content being published on influencer feeds. This in turn will lead to alienated audiences and will ultimately give your brand a bad reputation.
5. Be nice
We have already highlighted how working with influencers isn't a simple transaction like buying ad space. This may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many people forget it...
"Influencers are real humans"
With this in mind, being a decent human when talking with them is going to go a long way. Ultimately, most influencers are not business people and although many will have financial gain in their mind, they are very unlikely to work with you...or at least give your relationship the effort it requires if they don't like you.
Grabbing influencer attention can be hard work, especially when they have huge audiences and are getting bombarded with messages every day. Following the tips we have outlined here will put you in the best position to get a response and engage your desired influencers.
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