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How to collaborate with influencers: A guide for marketers
Getting influencers on board a campaign is easy, the real challenge is knowing the right influencers to work with and how to best work with them.
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A social media influencer at work. (Shutterstock/paulaphoto)
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nfluencer marketing is not something new. In fact, the majority of marketing campaigns we see nowadays always include them. Getting influencers on board a campaign is easy, the real challenge is knowing the right influencers to work with and how to best work with them.
Here are some tips for my fellow marketers based on my experience:
Start with the objectives
This is the first step to answering the why, what, who, how and when of any influencer campaign. Why are we doing this? What do we want to communicate? Who do we want the influencers to talk to? How do we measure success? When do we start?
Now choose your influencers based on the objectives set
If the main objective is awareness, reach must be the primary consideration for your selection of influencers, which can be determined simply by looking at their number of followers. Make sure to do your due diligence of checking whether all their followers are existing users though. For this, you can consider working with a third party agency with tried and tested metrics in determining how many real followers an influencer really has, like Gushcloud.
Now, if you are gunning for high engagement or a deeper level of interaction with your target audience, reach takes the back seat and quality of content now takes the spotlight. It is important to always align the influencers’ interests with your brand, product or service, then check whether the type of content they’ve been publishing is hardworking, engaging and most importantly, authentic.
Make sure the influencers who will collaborate with you truly understand what they will convey
An influencer’s willingness to collaborate is very important. Good thing most influencers in Indonesia are very open to discussion. Before starting any campaign with influencers, invite them to your office or even to a restaurant where both parties can talk more about the brand, product or service; go over the campaign details, specifically the messaging; and agree on the KPIs. Doing so will not only make them realize how important their role is in the campaign, but also make them feel valued by the people who hired them, which will be very beneficial in the long run.
Read also: Beauty enthusiasts trust influencers more than celebrities: Report
Learn to trust the influencers you choose to work with
As mentioned earlier, collaboration is very important. Working with influencers should be a two way-process, not a dictatorship. If you chose them because you know they are the right influencers for the job, trust them with their creative process but also remember to be clear with your guidelines before they start. Nobody knows their audience more than them, so give them the freedom to tell your brand story through their own words. An ideal creative process will yield authentic and impactful social content.
Always go back to the objectives
It is important to check how your chosen influencers are performing against the campaign objectives set. This should be done every week if not every other week, depending on the duration of the campaign. If they are not doing as expected, reach out to them again and come up with a mutual solution. Again, collaboration is key. In fact, it is the key to success.
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Edo Oktorano is Gushcloud Indonesia’s director of marketing. In his day-to-day business, he is in charge of the Operation, Sales and Marketing Communications departments. As one of the core members of the management team, Edo is responsible for the company’s sales and profit performance, brand imaging and strategic operating plans.
