15 Influencers Weigh In On How They Like to Work With Brands
15 Influencers Weigh In On How They Like to Work With Brands
Influencer marketing is hot. And it’s no surprise that this authentic marketing strategy brings in a strong ROI when executed correctly. Rooted in authenticity, influencers meet consumers where they want to be met with their brand endorsements.
What better way to grow expertise in an industry than to go straight to the source? To learn more tactics on working with influencers, check out
this post,
this post and
this post. But in the post you’re reading now, we have rounded up expert advice from 15 influencers we’ve worked with on tips for brands from the influencer point of view.
Alex Tran
“Brands should never assume a blogger will work for free or "exposure." Things brands should ask when negotiating are conversion rates and what rates does an influencer have (via media kit or otherwise) when approaching them with an opportunity.”
Maria Mitchell
“Brands should ensure that an influencer is a good fit for their brand before contacting them. Make sure their values and interests align with your brand, and know that if they don’t typically do partnerships like you’re suggesting, it may be a hard sell. Get to know their content and personalize your email. Don’t send a canned email and copy/paste the title of a recent blog post to say you love their work.”
Ashley Drewes
“I wish brands helped promote review posts to their audience. It would be more beneficial to both brand and influencer for the brand to share the influencer(s) post to their audience. The influencer is already sharing the brand with their audience and sharing the influencers post would be equally beneficial. I also like when brands work long-term with me rather than a one and done."
Janis Brett Elspas
“When offering a potential collaboration opportunity please be clear
in writing at the outset exactly what the deliverables and deadlines
expected are as well as all the compensation details.”
Michelle Goth
“When sponsoring blog posts, brands should think long-term whenever possible. Encourage the influencer to build a post that has longevity through keyword targeting, while also incorporating your desired messaging. When blog posts are optimized for good search performance, your sponsorship messaging has the potential to be seen for years, rather than weeks. The influencer also benefits from increased traffic to that post over time, it's truly a win/win for me.”
Cristy Harfmann
“I am grateful when brands give us creative freedom and trust that we know our audience best and will create content that will resonate with them.”
Cindy Kerschner
“My most successful campaigns involved brands that interact with my posts and social feeds. Direct engagement through comments and shares always increases consumer interest and drives up platform hits. Followers are more likely to click on direct brand links when they see a brand's participation.”
Nicole Brady
“If an influencer shares something relevant to your business, AMPLIFY IT. You can reshare or retweet without making changes. You can add your own branded narrative and link to their content. You can include backlinks or embed their content on your site. Be creative in how you use the content (with attribution), but find ways to actually use it.”
Alison Blackman
“I only work with samples. It's not that I need to stuff a closet (and I NEVER sell anything--I will give it away if I can't use it) but samples are the only way to really work provide authentic work. I never understood how a high-resolution photo of a fragrance, for example, would provide anything meaningful to my readers and followers unless all I talked about was the bottle. Not everyone understands fragrance notes, but once I smell a perfume I can break it down in understandable terms. I prefer brands to be upfront about what they are offering so I can spend my time working on things that make sense for my readers.”
Jessica Formicola
“The tools brands use to estimate monthly pageviews are often incorrect. Asking the influencer for screenshots of statistics is acceptable and often welcomed to prove reach, this protects the brand and the influencer.”
Dr. Lisa Leslie-Williams
“I have an Amazon Storefront that generates thousands of dollars in sales every month. These things are a huge miss for brands if their only focus is on followers or pageviews, Be willing to dig deeper and think outside the box when it comes to creating the right partnerships.”
Dena Garascia
“It would be great if brands understood and took into account the amount of time and effort that bloggers put into their collabs, from content creation, filming or staging of photos, film and photo editing, and the actual writing and editing of the posts. Bloggers need to be compensated accordingly for their work, as influencer partnerships have to be mutually beneficial.”
Sue De Chiara
“I wish they'd give us more room for creativity sometimes. Let us run with the product and why we love it, without a script. Also, don't have a whole bunch of influencers post about the same product on the same day. Looks inauthentic.”
Iveth Rodriguez
“For brands, working on establishing long-term relationships/partnerships with bloggers/content creators is definitely beneficial. The longer a content creator posts naturally about a brand, the more its audience will recognize and become familiar with it.”
Kristina Petrick
“I love when brands allow me the freedom to suggest partnership deliverables. We know our channels and followers the best. And, we're a consumer of your brand. By allowing us to share our voice and content naturally, we're able to deliver the best, most authentic results.”
Do you have any influencer marketing tips to share? We’d love to read about your experience in the comments below!
