As Influencer Marketing grows and cements itself as an integral part of every brand’s marketing mix, it is also developing and evolving into a larger and more complex beast. For this reason, when working with influencers its important to invest the same level of depth and development as other forms of advertising. As the experts, we understand these changes and see the exciting opportunities within this space for brands. We’re all about sharing our learnings so you can get the best results out of your influencer marketing campaigns. 

Let’s look at some exciting new ways in which brands can work with influencers.

Relationships that last

Brands will often work with an influencer once and then part ways forever, abandoning the relationship and unwittingly missing out on some great opportunities. We see the value in using one-off campaigns with influencers for certain types of brand activity, however we see greater value in moving towards building strong on-going relationships with influencers that result in powerful, highly engaging content and improved results. 

Many brands favour running one-off campaigns, as there’s a perception that more influencers are better. However, doing this could mean the brand is missing out on driving their message home and nurturing that natural customer to path to purchase. Research shows that consumers need anywhere from 5-12 ad contacts before they make a purchase and when you consider your own behaviour, you most likely will never buy something after only seeing it advertised once. 

Exposure is not the only reason why ongoing relationships with influencers work so well. When integrating influencers over a longer-term marketing strategy it provides influencers with an in-depth product and brand knowledge and true product buy-in evident in the authentic product reviews and the content created. This authenticity and knowledge naturally flows through the Influencers key messaging when influencers work with a brand for a longer period of time. 

The proof is in the pudding, a survey with over 400 influencers found that the majority of influencers found that campaign results were better when they had an on-going partnership with a brand over one-off campaigns.

…the majority of influencers found that campaign results were better when they had an on-going partnership with a brand over one-off campaigns.

Brands have started to take note and in our survey asking what influencer marketing trends bradns are planning to adopt this year, the most popular was ‘building long term relationships with influencers’. It is excellent to see brands open to making this move because we know they will see some great results. 

Pampers Diapers have built a long-lasting relationship with Chrissy Teigan since the arrival of her first child Luna. The partnership has resulted in some incredible content where Chrissy and her husband John Legend share touching moments with their children over the years. Chrissy’s followers and fans were thrilled to see the adorable content of her family and it showcased the Pampers products being used and loved in genuine real-life settings.

Collaboration is key

Influencers are talented creators who know their audience inside and out. It is easy to forget this, especially when you are putting together a campaign. Brands will often feel they need to finalise every detail of a campaign before they have even spoken to the influencers they are hoping to be working with. When the influencer  handed a detailed brand brief giving little to no creative freedom to the influencer it could result in the brand missing out on valuable input and insights from the influencer about what kind of content their audience responds to.

Getting your influencers involved in the creative process doesn’t just allow you to understand their valuable follower insights, it also allows for more authentic content to be created. Their audiences are highly engaged and will notice if the influencer is posting content that isn’t on-brand for them. The aim is to have your content fit seamlessly into their feeds so their followers don’t find your sponsored post jarring and inauthentic. 

There are different levels in which you can work with an influencer and have them involved in the creative process, you need to find what works for you. It is important to have clear campaign objectives and key messages outlined before you start to guide the content in the right direction and monitor and approve content thoroughly. This can make the process more complicated however the pay off will be worth it and here at The Social Club we take care of everything so you can sit back and watch the successful campaign results roll in off the back of authentic and creative content.

A great example of involving influencers in the creative process is a recent campaign we ran with New Zealand Natural the iconic kiwi ice cream brand. They worked with us to find foodie influencers who would help create delicious new sundae flavours to sell in their ice cream parlours. The campaign delighted audiences who were so excited to see their favourite influencers collaborating with the brand. There were comments tagging friends and saying how they can’t wait to try the sundaes for themselves, a great result.

Now we have given you a fresh perspective on influencer marketing it is time to put it into practice. Think about how your brand could benefit from building a powerful long term relationship with an influencer or how you could work with influencers to work in their creative input into your next campaign. We can help make sure this process is easy for you, achieve great results, get in touch today! We’d love to catch up for a coffee to chat about your upcoming campaigns.