When it comes to influencer marketing, in many cases, it’s up to the brand to go after the creators they want to work with.
But how do you ensure it’s a viable long-term partnership; that the creators speak your brand’s language? Or, even better, how do you set yourself up so influencers reach out to you?
There are 3 key principles to follow if you want to have the right influencers choose to work with your brand.
How to Get an Influencer to Choose Your Brand
1. Influencers choose brands that align with their core values.
If you haven’t seen the stats yet, the number one reason influencer marketing has taken off in recent years is trust. And in order for trust to be built, an influencer must connect authentically with their audience.
This means there is a core set of values they hold, which guide not just the content they produce for their community, but also the brands with whom they partner
For example, if you offer eco-friendly or sustainable practices as part of your brand ethos, aligning with an influencer of the same values is an obvious match. Ideally, this creator would be a fan of your brand – or willing to become one – so they can wholeheartedly produce content from an authentic, credible place.
One of the biggest mistakes brands make is to focus on reach, which is an old school approach and it often doesn’t work. Instead, focus on shared core values. There are plenty of “small but mighty” influencers out there who will yield high conversion results when you prioritize authenticity over follower count.
2. Influencers choose brands that care about their consumers.
Creating a stellar user experience for an influencer’s followers is an under-utilized technique to attract the right brand ambassadors. How you treat their followers once they join your database is equally critical.
There’s nothing an influencer hates more than aligning with a brand that abuses their customers’ trust by spamming them or selling off data. It’s also distasteful when your production, fulfillment, and follow up processes are subpar. Influencers are masters when it comes to the online content space, so they are turned off when a brand is unable to deliver a top-of-the-line experience for their community.
When working with your influencers on campaigns, ensure you have adequate stock on hand, an intuitive website user experience (prioritize mobile!), rock solid shipping practices, and a clear customer service and feedback loop.
Maya Angelou once said, “At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” By designing a top-notch user experience, you’ll begin to attract influencers who see how you make their community feel… and choose to partner with you because of it.
3. Influencers choose brands that are enjoyable to work with.
In a data-driven world, it can be easy to forget that influencers are real people. There is a vital human component that must be considered in recruiting the right influencers for your brand.
So in addition to looking at the metrics and KPIs that are important to all marketers, be sure to make the experience of working with you easy and enjoyable… even fun!
For example, one of the top reasons influencers choose brands is how easy it is to do their job well.
Here are a few unexpected reasons that influence the brand partnership decision:
- Does your brand let influencers create – or are you micromanaging the creative process?
- Do you have clear expectations and open lines of communication?
- Do you share data with your creators?
- Do you have a system to pay influencers on time?
- Do you treat your influencer partner like a valuable member of your team… not just another vendor?
These are just a few of the “human” factors that weigh into whether an authentic influencer chooses to work with your brand.
Technology is another vital key in attracting and recruiting the right creators for your business. For example, influencers love working with brands that use simple platforms for communicating data and campaign success.
Hands down, the top ranked platform for influencers and brands is Creatable. It offers seamless content creation, review and approval systems, and crystal clear analytics – for both the influencer and the brand. Creatable connects directly into your brand’s ecommerce system so no data gets lost… and you are able to finally move into first party data tracking, which is vital for the upcoming changes in digital marketing.
Influencers also love that they can be paid directly via the Creatable platform – no more tracking down various accounting people or feeling frustrated due to lack of communication.
To find out more about how one platform can consolidate all your influencer marketing needs and give you the competitive edge over other brands out there, schedule a demo with us here.
