6 tips for working with social media influencers

Influencer marketing is and will continue to be a very important part of a brand’s growth. Whether a brand is looking to partner with content creators to promote an event, seeking out someone to shoot images for a brand’s use or simply leveraging ways to enhance its image, it’s essential to know the most effective ways  to work with influencers.

As someone who has worked with influencers for over five years, I’ve put together six tips for working with them that will best position brands for overall success.

Know what you want to achieve

First,  before working with an influencer, know your goals. Are you trying to increase brand awareness? Are you working to gain more social followers? Or are you hoping to improve direct sales? Different goals mean different considerations, and it’s important to give your influencer partner a sense of your direction.

Look at audience engagement rather than size

When it comes to influencers, it’s not all about followers, and there are multiple ways to gauge the impact of someone’s ‘influencing’. First, take a look at their number of likes and comments. Are their followers actually engaged in their content? Next, look at the actual comments—are they positive, are there conversations between followers?

Pro tip: if an influencer has a blog, make sure to check their Domain Authority to predict how likely a website is to rank in search engine result pages. A score of 30 or more is what you want to look for.

Know this is their job

Many content creators are either doing this as a side job or their full-time gig. The world of free influencer partnerships is quickly becoming a thing of the past. They offer a service and audience that you are hoping to reach, and they should be compensated. So, in your initial outreach to an influencer, either offer a price you’re comfortable with or ask them for their pricing. Many influencers have set prices for posts, Stories, giveaways, blogs, etc.

Give influencers creative control

Influencers did not just coincidentally build engaged followings. They know what their audiences want and are experts on their followers. Giving an influencer creative freedom will help to move the needle more than just having them share content your brand has created. If this makes you too nervous, ask the content creator to run posts by you for approval before they share with their audiences.

Run the numbers

Once you’ve finished your campaign, it’s really important to go through the results. Ask if the influencer you’re working with if they can share analytics before they share any content. That way, they’ll know to keep an eye on engagement and report back to you in a timely manner.

Pro tip: set deadlines and guidelines for the analytics you’d like them to report on in your contract.

Cultivate a relationship

Influencer marketing has exploded in popularity over the years, which means influencers are often inundated with offers, gifts and paid opportunities. One way to break through all the noise is to invest time and effort into building a long-term relationship with content creators you enjoy working with. This typically results in those influencers being champions of your brand and sharing more about your brand whenever they can.

To learn more about working with influencers, click here to access our full guide to working with influencers.