how to work effectively with influencers
TRANSCRIPT
Hi!
“I found some of them rude, dismissive and stuck-up. They would only accept invitations to Michelin stars, insist on certain dishes and would take a long time to feed back any reviews at all.”
What Influencers say about the brand relationship
What brands say about the influencer relationship
Why it’s important to get the relationship right
How to get it right …
How to work with influencers
effectively
“I can’t pay the bills with goodie bags, and products worth 10p.”
some of the issues brands need to address to achieve successful influencer relations
budgets creative
control Irrelevant
approaches Press
releases…
irrelevant approaches
“I write about life after the
death of my child.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve
been offered toys or clothes for him
to review.”
“I get an email that
doesn’t have my name on it, I know they
haven’t looked at my blog properly
and they follow up with
‘I love your blog’, well you quite
clearly don’t as you don’t even
know my name!”
irrelevant approaches
Common gripes
Unclear pitches waste influencers time (20 hours) and put them off responding (20-100 brand emails a day)
“Dear Blogger”.. Lack of research Not reading ‘about me’ section, reading posts or Watching recent vlogs to ‘get them’Not aligning brand with area of interest
Blanket Press releases
irrelevant approaches
“If you have a successful blog,
it’s really easy to get insulted if they reel off a
list of demands and then say
they’re going to share it on their
social media channels as a
reward. There’s no payment or
benefit apart from ‘exposure’. It’s easy to get annoyed with
offers like that.”
inadequate budget/expecting
influencers to work for free
“When you realise how much is spent
on events you think, why did you
do a launch event...
Why didn’t you just pay your influencers?
Especially when you’ve paid to get
there and arranged
childcare. This is one of the
reasons I’ve moved away from
working with brands.”
Just, no…
Assuming exposure on your social channels is ‘payment’ or enough
Confusing hobbyists from business bloggers
Thinking press relations and influencer relations are the same
Acceptable budget for blog or vlog ill understood
Brands not paying
High Demands for low reward
inadequate budget/ expecting influencers to work for free“What tends to happen is you get
along the line discussing the project but the brand will say: ‘we don’t pay influencers’
or ‘maybe payment is
something for the future,’ but for now,
if you just do this for us.”
What about editorial and creative control?“I switch off when they
approach with a list of demands; you must attend
this launch event, you must say this, this and
this, you must achieve this
much engagement,
but this is what’s in it for you. It’s never
worth anything.”
What about creative and editorial control?
It’s not a creative ‘partnership’, you’re following guidelines and broadcasting for them
They think they have rights on your opinion
My community wants to hear what I have to say, not what a company wants to say
selling out and managing fall-out with followers who complain
View from a vlogger
“I found some of them rude, dismissive and stuck-up. They would only accept invitations to Michelin stars, insist on certain dishes and would take a long time to feed back any reviews at all.”
What brands said…
What brands said.. “It is hard to
know whether the influencer
you are approaching is
going to want a fee or will be
offended by the suggestion that this would be a
commercial relationship.”
What brands said.. “Influencers can extend your reach, widen your audience base and
ultimately, increase your profit through word of mouth alone but we always ensured they mentioned us in as organic a way as
possible.”
It’s difficult to know How to approach and build a relationship
A poor review could have severe consequences for our business
I don’t know if I’m offending them if I offer payment
Bigger influencers are hard to work with
What do brands really think about working with influencers?
Why getting the influencer relationship right is important• Introducing centennials…
• The oldest of centennials are just starting work
• Centennials are first mobile native generation and grew up with social
• A PowerReviews study found 52% of centennials seek reviews on third party blogs before they make a purchase.
• a Forbes study found 33% of millennials rely mostly on blogs before they make a purchase.
• Social media, YouTube, unboxing videos, blogs, reviews, are an important step in the buyer’s journey
• Digital stars becoming more popular than mainstream celebrities taking over influencer lists (Variety survey)
How to get the influencer relationship rightBrands need to Send a clear pitch.
Detail what you want, by when, and with what budget
But Influencers also need to be upfront about fees and expectations from the outset
Review influencers content across ALL their platforms to understand who they are and if you align before approaching
Give more editorial freedom to create unique content. co-create it. no-one wants manufactured content
Avoid quick-hit engagement and focus on building longer-term relationships
Thank you!
@contentprlover@brandcontentuk