Leaving a lasting impression with influencers is essential to your brand. Here’s how to master the art of influencer relations and how to work with influencers to launch a campaign that your audience will fall in love with.
DEEPER DIVE: 6 of the most influential Arizona-based influencers
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 children’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.
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. 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 social media bios for collaboration requests, whether it’s an email for their management company, to send a DM, 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 by capturing their attention. Reference a recent post or let them know how much you love their content. Make sure your brand messaging is authentic and 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! The James Agency is constantly looking for ways to support our clients.
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, 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 as the influencer experiences your brand. 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.
Consistent Engagement with Influencers
Once your collaboration is over, don’t ghost your new influencer connection. 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 use your brand to 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
Our agency blends influencers with paid social media opportunities to craft content and strategic partnerships that resonate with the influencer’s audience. Influencer “whitelisting” allows brands to post as the influencer with the influencer’s permission. By targeting specific demographics, your brand can boost your message with the influencer’s audience, creating meaningful connections and positive associations with your brand.
Don’t want to do the footwork? Reach out to The James Agency today to get your influencer campaign in the works.
Author: Molly Hammond is Public Relations Account Manager at The James Agency, Scottsdale’s integrated strategic marketing agency specializing in all facets of advertising, public relations and digital. To learn more, visit www.thejamesagency.com.
