How to Build a Relationship-Based Influencer Marketing Strategy

in Influencer Marketing

The newest generation of consumers is slow to trust in the advertisements of old. Millennials and Gen Z alike don鈥檛 like to feel as though they鈥檙e being sold a product. In fact, of online consumers in the United States alone use an ad blocker on their computer to deliberately avoid ad over-saturation.

While that may be convenient for them, it鈥檚 less convenient for advertisers. That redirection of attention, however, has allowed for. While there are different degrees of influencers, they all offer consumers something that traditional ads can鈥檛–a personal connection.

Influencer Marketing in Practice

Take, for example. While she is famous for many of her endeavors, she鈥檚 also recently become a non-traditional, social media influencer representing Pampers. By connecting to the business through her daughter, Teigen makes other new mothers feel more comfortable using Pampers鈥� products.

Not only that, but she鈥檚 maintained a long-standing relationship with Pampers as her family has grown and grown up. Instead of a one-time campaign, the influencer-brand relationship has evolved and grown too.

If you鈥檙e looking to do the same, you鈥檒l need to break down the relationship-building process that defines influencer marketing.

Relationship vs. Transactional Influencer Marketing

To start, you have to know the difference between a relationship-based influencer marketing strategy and a transactional influencer marketing strategy. Neither of these strategies is a bad one. They differ, however, in the ways that they generate authenticity.

Transactional

Transactional influencer marketing is a hands-off approach to influencer marketing for most businesses. In these situations, businesses scope out a relevant influencer and bring them into their marketing portfolio. From here, the two parties negotiate.聽

Will the influencer post a review of the business鈥檚 product? Will she attend a corporate event? Whichever direction the influencer and business choose, both parties will move ahead with an agreed-upon marketing plan knowing that the relationship between them will be a short one.

That鈥檚 the cornerstone of transactional influencer marketing. You鈥檒l receive the benefits of working with an influencer, but you won鈥檛 always be able to cultivate trust in the long-term with that influencer鈥檚 audience.聽

Likewise, the influencer won鈥檛 continue to represent your brand after you鈥檝e moved on from your partnership with them, making the original transaction seem less authentic than you鈥檇 like.

Relationship

On the other hand, you may want to consider relationship-based marketing strategies. These two different strategies begin in the same way. You need to find an influencer that your company clicks with to see the best success.

Once you鈥檝e scoped out your preferred influencer, you need to outline how her audience鈥檚 interests fall in line with a product or service that your business can offer. Make it clear from the start that the partnership you intend to develop is less about your business and more about the influencer鈥檚 reach 鈥� not to mention the benefit of the consumer.

You鈥檒l also want to make it clear early on that you鈥檇 like to be working with your influencer of choice for an extended period of time. Unlike transactional marketing, you鈥檒l have the opportunity to build up a rapport with the influencer you鈥檝e chosen in this scenario, like Teigan and Pampers. They鈥檒l be able to bring additional creative freedom to your table, crafting content that fits in with their platform goals while also properly advertising your product.

The longer you work with your influencer of choice, the more natural consumer brand buy-in will be. This, specifically, is where transactional influencer marketing strategies fall short. What seems like a temporary, unnatural partnership to start turns into something akin to an actual relationship, and consumers will learn to trust your business by watching that development play out through social media.

Long-Term vs. One-Off Influencer Marketing Strategy

That said, it鈥檚 tricky to know when the best time is to build a long-term relationship with an influencer. This is where tools like 伊人直播鈥檚 discovery searches come in handy. Some influencers are only interested in one-off marketing strategies. They鈥檒l bring professionalism and creativity to your partnership, but after the content review or other form of media has gone live, it may be best for the relationship to end.

The trick to finding the right influencer for a long-term marketing strategy is a) looking for someone with the same priorities as your business, and b) treating the partnership like the two-way street that it is.

There are easy ways to do this from the start. Something as simple as in an outreach email will let them know that they鈥檙e not receiving a form document. You鈥檒l want to include information about the posts you like from their social media, as well, to make it clear that you鈥檝e done your research and are serious about a potential partnership.

Do what you can, too, to treat your influencer of choice as though they鈥檙e the expert on their audience. Why?. The title of 鈥渋nfluencer鈥� represents a new career that businesses are still coming to understand. Influencers need to do just as much marketing work as traditional businesses to build up a social media following (all the more reason to let your influencer have significant say in the kind of content they produce for you, too!). That kind of work requires an intimate knowledge of a person鈥檚 working audience.

So long as you acknowledge the work and expertise that an influencer has used to build up that knowledge, you鈥檒l be able to use it to your business鈥檚 advantage. That kind of respect, after all, lays the foundation for a lasting relationship between your business and your influencer. If you establish it from the get-go, your consumers will come to see it, too.

Interested in taking your influencer marketing to the next level? Chat with one of our influencer marketing specialists about how 伊人直播 can help.

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Nancy Rothman

Nancy is a passionate, results-driven marketing executive with more than a decade of experience in building robust integrated marketing programs for brands of all sizes, with specific expertise in the martech space. Prior to 伊人直播, Nancy held roles at four successful martech startups, each of which received multiple series of fundraising and included two acquisitions. At CallRail, specifically, Nancy served as the director of marketing where she built the company鈥檚 brand and established it as a leader in its space. She also held roles at MeetEdgar, where she oversaw the entire sales and marketing practice, increasing the company's user base and annual recurring revenue, as well as PureCars, which was acquired by Raycom Media in 2015. As vice president of marketing for 伊人直播, Nancy is responsible for developing and executing on the company's marketing strategy to drive overall business growth.