Help Your Brand Rock The Next Influencer Campaign
You’ve put together a fabulous campaign. You’ve selected a group of “ultimate” influencers.
You are ready to rock your next influencer campaign!
Or are you?
Have you given thought to all the little details that can make or break the success of your campaign?
After five years of partnering with a large number of brands, we’ve been a part of some fantastic influencer campaigns – campaigns that have left the brand, the influencers, and readers, all wanting more.
Campaigns led by brands that have paid attention to details.
Unfortunately, not all brands pay attention to those details.
Attention to details matters. It’s the little things that mean a lot.
So we’ve compiled a list of tips, focusing on those little details, that we hope will help your brand produce a highly successful influencer campaign.
In no particular order here are…
15 Tips That Will Help Your Brand Rock An Influencer Campaign
Get Connected
Influencers are all about being social so, when we try to promote you, and find out you don’t have a Twitter or Instagram account, it drives us crazy!
Help us help your brand! Get social on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (at a minimum).
Help Keep Us Connected
Are you looking for influencers to help promote your hotel or destination? Help us help your brand by making sure we have a reliable WiFi connection.
Give us the tools we need to help promote your brand or business, and you’ll likely receive more “in-destination” promotion.
#HashtagYourCampaign
Hashtags identify a topic of interest or campaign on social media, and help your brand easily track social media shares for that campaign.
Hashtags allow followers to find additional information on your product, service, or destination, especially if you have a group of influencers working on the same campaign.
Influencers are well-versed in using hashtags. Make sure you provide them with an appropriate hashtag(s) to use before commencing your campaign. Hashtags make it easier for influencers to help promote other influencers shares from the same campaign.
Everyone Loves Lists – Including Influencers
Help make the promotion of your product, service, or destination easier by providing influencers with a clear list of hashtags and social media handles you want them to use for your campaign.
Provide this information to an influencer in an email. If you have invited an influencer to an event or destination, share this list in the media package you provide to the influencer upon their arrival.
Share And Share Alike
Influencers love to share all the great things about your product, service, or destination. It’s what we do best!
But guess what? We can’t do it alone. Well, we can, but we shouldn’t.
Don’t let influencers hear crickets on your social media feeds!
Help us help your brand by sharing our blog articles and influencer social posts on YOUR social media channels.
Make sure your social media team is informed. This is key. Give them influencer social media handles, and the campaign hashtag, and get them engaging with the campaign influencers!
Respect Our Followers – Your Potential Customers
Our readers and followers are your potential customers.
Make certain your social media team is responding to comments from our readers and followers when they comment on your social media channel.
Influencers often encourage readers and followers to visit your social media pages. Respect our readers and followers. Show them you care that they took the time to visit and comment on your page. Respond to their comments and questions.
Everyone likes to be acknowledged and to know that they’ve been heard.
Get To Know Us
Get to know all influencers you are considering working with. This is a very important point.
Check for engagement – not just number of followers. It’s no secret. Many “influencers” buy fake followers these days. Don’t be fooled by numbers.
Spend time on the influencer’s blog and social media channels. Get a feel for who they are, what they like to write about, and the quality of the work they produce.
Give Us Space
Give influencers some space to make decisions for themselves. Don’t be too rigid with guidelines. Professional influencers know their audience, and they know what works for their blog or social media channels.
Let us keep “our voice” in our articles and social media shares, as much as possible. Authenticity matters. Influencers do not want to simply regurgitate a brand’s message.
A great influencer can tell your story while still being authentic. They can weave some of their own experiences into your brand’s message, and write a much more compelling story, when given the freedom to do so.
Help Us Follow The Rules
Influencer marketing is always evolving – and so are the rules to keep everyone in check.
Like disclosure.
The FTC in the United States, and the Canadian Ad Standards, have very specific rules regarding influencers and disclosure.
While influencers need to know the rules they must follow for proper disclosure on their blogs and social media posts, so too must brands.
Don’t make disclosure difficult for influencers. Understand what is required for influencers to be compliant.
For example, make it easy for us to use the branded content feature on Facebook. Without the ability to do this, our Facebook share will get deleted by Facebook.
Disclosure matters to professional influencers and our readers, and it should matter to your brand.
Have Clear Expectations
Have clear expectations of what you want from your campaign, and what is expected of the influencer, BEFORE you reach out to them.
Don’t throw additional requests for social shares, articles, or gathering metrics at influencers once a list of deliverables has been agreed upon.
If additionals “asks” are truly required, be sure to account for them with additional compensation for the influencer.
Make Sure We Are A Good Fit For Your Brand
This point goes hand-in-hand with our “get to know us” tip.
Check out our “about me” page. Read a few of our articles. Browse through our social media shares. Learn a bit about who we are. Make sure we are a good fit for your brand, and your campaign.
As much as we want to partner with you, sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. If it doesn’t make sense to us, it most certainly won’t make sense to our readers why we are promoting your campaign.
A good fit helps both of us stay authentic.
Follow Up
Your relationship with an influencer shouldn’t end once they publish their blog post or hit send on their last social share.
Follow up after a campaign to let the influencer know that they did a great job – or provide them with some tips on what they could do better for next time.
A pat on the back, and even some constructive criticism that can help an influencer improve their skills for next time, will be welcomed by an influencer who values doing their best for a brand.
You Scratch Our Back, We’ll Scratch Yours
Establish a genuine relationship with your influencer.
Share some of your influencer’s content (if it’s a fit for your brand) on social media.
Touch base by email or on social media once in a while.
Let your influencer know they are appreciated. A little kindness can go a long way. Next time you need a quick retweet on something – you may just get a share – no strings attached!
It’s Okay If We Don’t Like Something About Your Product/Service/Destination
Encourage Influencers to be honest when reviewing your product, service, or destination.
Tell them it’s okay to mention things that “aren’t a good fit for the influencer” – everyone likes different things. This doesn’t mean it’s bad, it means the influencer is being real and authentic.
Encourage Influencers to suggest how you could make your product, service, or destination better.
No one is going to believe an influencer who is always gushing that “this is the BEST product EVER”. Readers and followers are smart. They can see right through that.
Get respect through honesty. Everyone has flaws – even the best products, services, and destinations. Don’t be afraid to let an Influencer point out those flaws.
To be clear, this is not about bad-mouthing a product, service, or destination. It’s about an Influencer being honest and explaining why they don’t like something, while pointing out why readers may actually love it.
Be Willing To Think Outside The Box
Keep an open mind when partnering with Influencers. Be willing to take our advice if we have a suggestion that we think will work well for your campaign.
One size doesn’t necessarily fit all. We know our readers well, and know what works for our blog or social media channel.
Do you have any more great tips to help brands rock their next influencer campaign? Share them in the comments below!
