As the influence of social media continues to grow, influencer marketing is slowly becoming one of the most effective forms of digital marketing.
A poll conducted by Oracle found that 37% of customers place more trust in social media influencers than in companies.
Through influencer partnerships, you can increase brand awareness, customer loyalty, and marketing ROI.
However, it takes much more work to build lasting relationships with influencers than it does to just buy ads.
And this is where influencer relationship management comes in handy.
In this article, I'll take you through five strategies you must try to improve your influencer relationship management.
Here are five influencer relationship management strategies to set the ball rolling.
Marketers are convinced by the success of influencer marketing to the tune of 80%, with 89% claiming it is as effective as or more effective than traditional advertising.
Latest advertising methods such as creating enaging shoppable videos, mentioning brands name in their posts, guest posts to good authority websites, etc.
However, finding the right influencers is not easy as, 78% of marketers say finding influencers is difficult.
The ground zero for any kind of successful influencer relationship management is finding the right influencer for your brand.
You need to ensure that the influencers you've chosen for your campaign align with your company's values and image. Doing so will build a foundation built on mutual trust between both parties.
To build good influencer relationships, you should provide mutually-beneficial opportunities to influencers. Without equal satisfaction from both partners, the partnership is unlikely to last.
Influencer agreements are critical for building a strong working partnership with influencers.
They help you define expectations, outline responsibilities, and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
You don't want to end up paying someone thousands of dollars for work that wasn't completed properly or didn't meet your expectations.
Here are some tips to create an agreement that avoids any potential conflicts and helps you excel at influencer relationship management.
Influencer agreements should spell everything out clearly. Don't assume that they'll do anything for you because you're paying an influencer $5,000 per post.
You'd be surprised how often people misuse influencer agreements to get their way, so be careful.
Are you paying your influencer a flat fee, a commission, or both? How much do they earn per post? What happens if they earn less than expected?
Do you pay upfront or wait until the project is finished? Is there a cap on how much you can pay? You should address these questions and others in your influencer agreement.
This clause prevents influencers from representing your competitors for a specified period of time. It also ensures that influencers don’t publicize your product or service with other brands. This gives you control over their online presence.
Clearly specific how many and what types of posts influencers need to create as part of your agreement. Also, mention the frequency or dates of content publishing.
With the correct influencer management tools, you can manage influencer relationships as well as keep track of their work and performance.
These tools allow you to manage multiple influencers and projects simultaneously. They also help you track influencer and campaign performances.
This streamlines the process and makes working with influencers feel like a breeze. Influencers will also appreciate your professionalism and would love to work with you in the future as well.
Always keep an open line of communication with your influencer, whether it's before, during, or after a campaign.
Inquire about things and pay attention to how they respond. If they have questions, you should react to messages in a prompt and honest manner.
When working on projects together over an extended period of time, it's important to keep the influencers informed of any advances at your company.
At the end of the day, you want to create a single communications hub that makes it easy for influencers to contact you, whether it's via email, text, social media, or whatever else works best for them.
Also, stay in touch with influencers even after the campaign is over to build and nurture long-term influencer relationships.
One of the best influencer relationship management strategies is to give creative freedom to influencers, but also direct their efforts in the right direction.
Giving your influencers too much leeway can lead to poor-quality content that doesn’t meet your standards, leading to poor brand perception.
You should provide content briefs that clearly communicate what you expect and what you’re trying to achieve. However, you should leave the creative aspects to them. This will make them feel like you respect and trust their work.
Also, if they do a good job, don’t forget to appreciate their work and thank them for their efforts.
Good influencer relationship management starts with finding the right influencers who align well with your brand. Then, you need to set clear expectations and work professionally to make it a mutually beneficial partnership.
Treat influencers with respect, show appreciation for good work, and give them the creative freedom to surprise you with their work. Use influencer marketing tools to manage multiple influencer projects, campaigns, and relationships.
Follow these influencer relationship management strategies and build fruitful influencer relationships. Good luck!
