While influencer marketing isn’t a new concept, it has grown rapidly over the last few years and remains a powerful weapon for brands. Influencers are the perfect brand storytellers, and their authenticity is what keeps their followers engaged. If you’re looking to integrate influencers into your communication strategy, here are a few things to know.

Understand why

Before you dive into an influencer campaign, you should understand and be able to articulate why you want to work with influencers in the first place. Some important reasons include:

  • Influencers can create quality content for your brand
  • Your brand and products will be exposed to new audiences
  • A large budget isn’t always necessary, and negotiation is often standard

Set your goals

Laying out your goals is essential at the beginning of the influencer marketing process. Are you looking to drive brand awareness? Generate sales? How will you measure success? Knowing your goals will guide how you draft your business contract and negotiate your partnership with influencers. I learned at a recent panel discussion that influencers (of any size) appreciate structure, including clear expectations and outcomes, from companies who want to partner with them. Setting specific expectations in the upfront contract will create a more seamless and mutually beneficial partnership.

Research all you can

Before partnering with influencers, there’s some essential information you should know about them. Ultimately, you’ll want to align your search with what you’re trying to achieve, to make sure the influencer is the right fit for your brand and goals. One of the most important metrics to look at is the influencer’s engagement - how many likes and comments their posts typically receive. Do they have a large following but only receive minimal comments on their posts in comparison? As mentioned above, influencers can expose your brand to new audiences, so it’s crucial to understand who their audience is and how they interact with the influencer’s content.

Offer creative freedom

I mentioned structure is vital (which it is!), but you should also be ready to give the influencers you’re working with some creative freedom. After all, creating content is what they do best and they’re the experts when it comes to knowing what will resonate with their audience. Authenticity is often what brands are striving for, and this is one way to achieve it.

‍