Influencers are digital professionals who bridge the gap between businesses and their audiences. You would see them on Instagram posting beautifully-curated visuals of the products they use to promote the brand, on Youtube to share their travel experiences and other daily activities, and a content marketing platform to help a brand achieve its goals. In short, they use media to their advantage by telling a story that promotes a particular product or service.
One thing about trusting an influencer to boost your latest marketplace,startup, or any other digital marketing campaign is the relationship you are forging. These people are freelancers who know their value and decide what they want to do, so it is necessary to have collaboration and interpersonal skills. Another would be the organisation of your workflow to make things exciting.
Whether you are a brand manager for an agency that needs to gather the latest and best influencers in the industry or someone who seeks to connect brands with people, here are some tips on building a healthy professional relationship with these digital storytellers.
#1: BE OPEN ABOUT EVERYTHING
There are many types of work for an influencer: It could be creating a series of Instagram content to post visually-appealing stories that promote the brand, video blogs that sum up their beautiful experiences with a product or service, and sometimes using social marketing platforms to directly sell. The key for people who collaborate with their digital professionals is to be open about everything. For instance, if you wish to introduce the latest platform that is new to them, give an orientation about it.
#2: BE CLEAR WITH THE PLATFORM
Most influencers are all-in-one professionals with an extensive online presence. It means they use all social media sites that help boost a brand or reach many people. While they have the skills, always be clear on what platform for a particular campaign or strategy. For example, if you wish to focus on boosting your Twitter insights, explain everything you want to achieve or your preferences on the entire project. Also, these people have their specialities, so consider that the influencer has their own marketing tactics for the platform.
#3: PROVIDE PRODUCTS AND EXPERIENCES
Enough compensation is a non-negotiable for content creators and digital professionals. On top of the financial rewards, you can always provide products or experiences for their work. Why? If you want them to promote a product in the influencer marketplace, they can only gather relevant information about it by using them. For instance, do you want to promote the latest skincare products? Give them a set, and they will create a story from it.
#4: ALWAYS GIVE REAL-TIME UPDATES
Updates are necessary for digital interaction and advertising. An influencer working with social media and marketing platforms needs the insights and metrics that indicate the performance, for example, a particular post that contains their stories about their experiences. Another would be the results because brands and other advertising specialists have to analyse these things. They need the information to know whether to modify a campaign or keep things as they are.
#5: BE REALISTIC WITH YOUR GOALS
Most brand professionals and agencies fail to recognise the importance of being realistic. First, some would give the influencer a limited amount of time to finish editing a video blog, and the consequence would be the possibility of curating inferior quality media. The second instance is being insensitive to people’s needs. What if the influencer in the marketing platform for creators has difficulties navigating this new website? You have to consider their workflow and how they come up with outputs.
#6: WELCOME EACH OTHER’S IDEAS
This tip goes for both ends of the collaboration. First, an influencer with social marketing platforms should listen to the brand and its needs. For example, if they intend to boost their declining Facebook insights, focus on those things because you would not want to suggest irrelevant matters. Second, the brand should also welcome the ideas of the influencer because they know what to do. The ideal communication in this situation would be sharing each other’s ideas and crafting something that works for both of you.
#7: KEEP IN TOUCH DURING THE PROJECT
The influencer in the marketing platformis far from passive. While some prefer taking tasks without even talking about it, the job gets boring when you do not collaborate or interact with one another. First, consider doing meetings that are convenient for both parties. You can do this to check the progress and to let them air out any concerns they might have. Second, you can arrange exciting activities for them or the marketing team. It promotes a healthy work-life balance if you think about it.
#8: LISTEN TO THEIR NEEDS AND CONCERNS
Being a good collaborator means having emotional intelligence. It can be teaching the influencer how to navigate the marketing platform for creatorswithout pressuring them, listening to their demands and needs for the job, and offering help when due. Why? Having this connection is necessary to build a good relationship and help improve the quality of the project. Not only that, but some people have emotionally-inclined personalities that make them value these things.
#9: BECOME A MENTOR WHO GUIDES THEM
You are both experts in the field: The influencer knows how to use a content and marketing platform to their advantage and promote a business, while the brand knows the metrics and other data to achieve. One integral aspect of building a healthy relationship is becoming a mentor who guides their students. For example, when the influencer got something wrong, do not ridicule them, but educate them on the matter to prevent making the same mistakes. Lastly, be open to criticisms because you are not always correct.
They are a content marketing platform that lets brands achieve their goals through influencers and other marketing tactics. Whether you are seeking to improve your sales and metrics, build awareness about a particular product, or connect with your audience, visit their website to explore more of their services.
