11 Influencer Marketing tips from online influencers

September 25, 2015 10:18 am Published by Kirsty Sharman

This blog post was originally written by Ruan Fourie. An effective Influencer Marketing campaign is advantageous to both to the influencer and the brand. But Influencer Marketing as we know it now is relatively new, there are no rules  set in stone to guide us. It's important to understand how the relationship between marketer and influencer can be effectively maintained to help both parties. Webfluential greatly simplifies the Influencer Marketing process with our intuitive tech platform that connects brands and the right influencers for a campaign. We have also managed a lot of campaigns and worked with a vast variety of influencers. Influencers that we are proud of. The Webfluential Influencer Marketing platform is a great tool to help you with your own campaign. We decided to speak to two of our influencers and ask them for some tips on working with influencers. These tips have helped our account managers so much, that we have decided to share these tips with you too.   Sarah Bailey co-founded Uk-Bloggers.co.uk in 2013 as a place for bloggers to share, discuss and help one another. Since then UK-Bloggers have become more than just an information hub for bloggers, but now PRs and SEOs are also a part of the community. Here is what Sarah had to say about working with online influencers:

Be personal

It's always much nicer to receive an email from someone who has taken the time to look at your blog, than someone who is obviously just messaging as many people as possible. With Webfluential you can easily see all the influencers social channels and familiarise yourself with what type of content the influencer shares.

Know a bloggers worth

Blogs have long gone past the days of just being a personal online journal. Blogs have become a legitimate media channel, and just like other media channels getting your brand to the audience has a cost. Webfluential helps make sure that you are not paying more than you should be, but also makes sure that influencers get paid, and thus do a professional job.

Know local rules

Make sure you are up are up to date with local rules/laws around disclosure and make sure that your influencers are also aware of rules and guidelines around sponsored content and native advertising. This is not just for your own protection, but also to protect influencers from any penaties. Added bonus is that it's always best to be open and honest about the brand-influencer relationship, so that the influencer's audience does not feel like there is an attempt to mislead them.

Don't expect us to work miracles

While many of us can write quickly, we often need more than an hours notice to pull something out of the bag. Give influencers a decent amount of time to respond, and then produce the content. Briefing influencers in a timely fashion will ensure that you get the best content for your Influencer Marketing campaign.

Build a relationship with the influencer

If you are looking to work with bloggers again, treat the relationship like you would any other professional or business relationship. Maintaining relationships with multiple influencers can be a very time consuming process. Webfluential has campaign managers that are experts at doing exactly that, with every influencer that forms part of your campaign.

Feel free to give us constructive criticism

Notice a typo, or a grammar error? Let the influencer know, we don't mind. Also if you have any constructive criticism, send it our way. Influencers are always looking for ways to create better content. Constructive criticism is a great way to learn and improve. This will also help strengthen relationships for future Influencer Marketing campaigns the influecner could be involved in.  

Brent Spilkin has spent the last 20 years becoming an authority in the digital marketing space. Brent is no stranger to online influence as he himself has used his online persona to flourish in the public arena and work with international brands in the media space. "Spillly" is not just an online influencer, he is also Brent Spilkin the Founder of the Growing Pains business consulting. Here are Brent's tips for working with influencers:

Give influencers the creative freedom to drive your campaign goals

Conversations can’t be faked, so don’t force your influencer to use your copy or tone. Allow them to speak in their own voice only giving them guidelines on your message.

It’s not just about follower numbers

Reach is important but the number of followers an influencer has is only part of the reason you want to use them in your campaign. Check that each influencer also has a high level of engagement and that historically their engagement is positive. Webfluential’s platform can give you insight into the engagement that an influencer’s content gets.

Make influencer campaign goals clear from the start

Clearly define what you hope to achieve for your campaign with the influencer at the briefing stage. Knowing that you want general awareness, test-drives, likes or leads, greatly changes the way an influencer will interact with his followers and how the campaign messaging will come across.

Turn influencers into brand ambassadors

Reward and treat your influencers with respect and they will become loyal brand ambassadors to your business that will speak highly of you long after the campaigns they were involved with are completed.

Give influencers the opportunity to work together

Inform each influencer who the other influencers are on the same campaign. Actively engage with more than one influencer in conversations to allow more engagement around your brand and ultimately reaching the primary audience.

Start your successful Influencer Marketing campaign today

At Webfluential we work hard at creating and maintaining healthy working relationships with influencers, so that every Influencer Marketing campaign is successful. Sign up as a marketer now if you are planning on making Influencer Marketing part of your future marketing strategy.