Branding is not a loner’s ballgame. You need people and eventually, you need more credible people with higher social quotient to either associate with your brand or be your advocates.

That’s when influencers come into the picture. They can help sustain & flourish your branding endeavors in a dynamic business marketplace. And, we have the numbers to back up what we say: 

• According to Nielsen, more than 80% of the customers trust recommendations from friends and family; the same proposition fits into an influencer they love

And if that’s not convincing enough here’s something that you just can’t deny:

• According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the ROI from influencer marketing is 11x the ROI from conventional marketing efforts 

Influencer marketing therefore can be your way to a secret vault meant for enhancing your brand equity.

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the budget for influencer marketing has soared from 1.7 billion in 2016 to 13.8 billion in 2021; moreover, the projections for 2022 are a whopping 16.4 billion. These stats must be enough to speak of the value of social quotient in marketing and how it’s absolutely indispensable for every brand today. 

Unfortunately, most brands don’t know how to make long-term relationships with influencers. 

As humans, we all tend to get influenced in one way or the other and certain people cast longer spells than others. Well, there might not be universal laws of what kind of people we often get influenced by; however, the universal psychology of getting influenced has been long been leveraged in marketing as influencer marketing. 

This blog shows you the ways to enter into long-term partnerships with influencers:

1. Research Whom You Want to Approach – Research for a content crusader who can spark magic in your target audience group with authenticity or appeal or both. The influencer need not essentially be from your niche but should have a mass appeal among your target audience.

This might seem easy but this is one of the toughest things to do.

2. Prepare a Respectful Pitch – The next step is to pitch the influencer to partner with you. Remember that it needs to be a win-win situation for both the parties and that must be respectfully reflected in your pitch. Also, your pitch should be unique because your influencers are not free to entertain all – Tom, Dick, and Harry kind of speech. 

3. Personalize Your Pitch But Don’t Sound Clingy – You have to let your influencers know that you have done your research and you know them. Reference to some of their previous content in your pitch and let them know how awesome you think they are.

However, there’s a caution!!!

Don’t sulk up for attention or be too clingy. You don’t need to compromise on your value. Keep your dignity intact.

4. Connect Across Multiple Channels – As digital denizens of the modern era, you can think of various ways of collaborating with the influencers of your choice across omnichannel such as social forums, PR endeavors, and more ways you can think of. This ensures that you have a partnership beyond a single project at a time. And that’s a wise man’s thing. 

Well, you see, even if you can’t open up an entire door of possibilities – make sure to keep that window pane open & fluttering the background so that you keep an eye on the opportunities within your reach. 

5. Give Them The Autonomy They Need – Some of the influencers may be unconventional and may have a different tone or way to work than you. Allow them creative freedom and trust them for what they do. Too much interference can be a big setback to your plan of sticking around with them in the long haul. 

6. Always Keep Your Promise – Please be very particular that collaborating with influencers needs to be a mutually beneficial affair, not a one-way street. Give them the rewards or giveaways or exposure or monetary benefits that they deserve and what has been promised while collaboration – be transparent. 

Remember, influencers can give your branding paradigm the much-needed social boost that it deserves. Not only do they catalyze your brand resonance but also build a lasting impression of your brand in the minds of the audience. 

We hope after reading this blog, you’re all ready to get your influencer marketing campaign sizzling and kicking.

Why not start right now then? 

If you like this blog, hit the like button, and don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section.

You see, as a rule of thumb, most of us like people who are in turn liked by other people – being likable can be a quantifiable asset in marketing if you know how to do it right. 

This blog not only teaches you some nitty-gritty of influencer partnerships but also tells you how to partner with them in an engaging way for the long-term to capitalize upon their reputation to catalyze your brand growth. 

Author Bio

Priya has about 7 years of experience in Market Research. Currently, she is working for Valasys Media, as an Assistant Manager – Content Strategist, which is amongst the top B2B Media Publishers across the globe. She has been preparing several personalized reports for our clients & has done a lot of research on market segmentation, cluster analysis of audiences & inbound methodologies. She has worked with government institutes as well as corporate houses in several projects. She possesses various interests and believes in a data-driven approach to problem solving. She holds a post-graduation in science also writes extensively on all things about life besides marketing, science, data science and statistics. She is a firm believer in higher realities and that there’s always more to life than we understand. She is a psychic healer and a tarot practitioner, who believes in a spiritual way of living and practices Yoga and meditation. When not writing you can find her enjoying music or cooking.