When many people think of influencers, they only imagine glamorous events and trips, selfie sticks, and makeup tutorials. Instead, we think about how you can leverage the reach and influence of influencers (which literally means “to influence”!) to position your brand! Because while followers accompany their favorite influencers throughout their day and around the world, they also get to see which products they’re currently using most or which new favorite brand they’ve just discovered.
Coincidence? Sometimes yes – but usually it’s a well-executed influencer collaboration, i.e. a collaboration between a brand and an influencer. Ideally, this doesn’t mean that an influencer recommends a product or service just because they’re paid to do so, but because they truly believe in it. The days when influencers offered a platform for all kinds of products for a small fee are over. Instead, professional creators now conscientiously use their reach as brand ambassadors for brands they truly stand behind. And that’s exactly what makes a successful influencer collaboration: persuasive power through authenticity. We’ll explain the advantages and disadvantages of collaborations with influencers, how you can find and implement an influencer collaboration, and how you can measure its success. We’ll also show you some examples of brands that are already using influencer marketing to increase their brand awareness and optimize their brand perception.
Advantages and disadvantages of influencer collaborations
Like any marketing measure, influencer collaborations have many, but not only, advantages:
Advantages of influencer collaborations | Disadvantages of influencer collaborations |
· High reach, allowing you to reach people who have never heard of your brand · Great trust of the community in “their” influencer · A face for your brand – creates emotional appeal · Special creativity and high commitment of influencers ensures high-quality content · Both short-term and long-term advertising effects · With good selection, a one-off campaign can become a long-term partnership, which only increases credibility | · High research and communication effort if you do it alone · Relatively high costs · Only limited control over the content of the cooperation · Risk of developing a negative association with an influencer, especially if this is your first collaboration. |
As you can see, the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages. We can tell you from experience that the time-consuming preparatory work is worth it – especially thorough research when selecting influencers. At medialabel, for example, our influencer network only includes influencers we trust 100%, and we maintain constant contact with them. We particularly value the creativity of the content creators we work with. We firmly believe it’s worth relinquishing control here: The resulting content usually fits best with the influencers’ other content, making it appear authentic and credible.
Find and implement a meaningful influencer collaboration
Now it’s time to find the right influencers for a collaboration. We’ve already explained how to do this in this blog post on finding influencers. In short: First, consider which target group you want to reach. Then consider which influencers the members of this target group might follow, and browse the social media landscape. Keep in mind that not only Instagram, TikTok, & Co. might be of interest, but that there are also LinkedIn influencers and Pinterest influencers! Depending on the product or service, a collaboration on these channels may also be interesting. Which platform you choose depends, of course, on your marketing goals.
As you can see, it’s quite a lot of work when you consider how many influencers there are nowadays! Of course, there are also various influencer networks you can turn to. These are usually run by experts who are very familiar with the influencer industry and can take this labor- and time-intensive step off your hands.
The next step is to submit a collaboration request. How do you contact influencers about a potential collaboration? Most professional influencers prefer to be contacted by email, as messages in their direct messages on social media can quickly get lost. However, collaborations with micro-influencers in particular can also be initiated by making initial contact via DM!
Regardless of how you contact the influencers of your choice, remember that these are real people with whom you want to collaborate. Influencers are not service providers that you can simply “hire”. Instead, you should first introduce yourself and your brand. Explain what your brand stands for and what added value you bring to your customers, and why you believe this could also be of interest to the influencer’s community. The more personalized you make such letters, for example by referring to a previous collaboration or specific content, the higher the chances are that you will spark the influencer’s interest. Keep in mind that you are certainly not the only company that wants to collaborate with the influencer! Depending on their reach and interaction rate, they can choose from a variety of potential collaboration partners. Which collaborations influencers enter into and which they don’t depends not only on the terms and conditions and the brand, but also heavily on the type of communication!
Once you have secured an influencer for a collaboration, it’s time to negotiate the details. What kind of collaboration do you have in mind? What ideas does the influencer have, and what information do you definitely want to include in the campaign? Influencer ads can look very different, so it’s important to clarify mutual expectations. It’s best to put agreements in writing.
What should definitely be agreed upon in the contract is the number and general content of the posts you expect from the influencer, as well as the negotiated budget you will pay them for this. The amount will, of course, depend heavily on the influencer’s reach. Micro-influencer collaborations naturally cost less than collaborations with multipliers who have an extremely wide reach, but they still have various advantages! Read more about influencer marketing costs here!
Let’s briefly summarize the steps on the way to a successful influencer collaboration:
- Find influencers
- Contact influencers
- Negotiate terms and conditions
But that’s not all: while the influencer collaboration is ongoing, you should monitor everything that happens: from the individual pieces of content published by the influencer to comments and interactions, right through to any reviews of the campaign on other channels. And once the campaign is over, it’s important to measure its success and analyze what went well and what you want to do differently next time.
Do you need support with any of these steps or would you like to put the whole topic of influencer marketing in experienced hands? We at medialabel are happy to help! We can take care of everything for you, from influencer research to establishing contact and developing the campaign to measuring its success, so that everything is consistent. Feel free to contact us and let’s increase your success together!
Influencer collaboration: The most important KPIs for your success
To measure this success, you should start measuring performance right at the beginning of the collaboration. To do this, you collect various metrics, known as key performance indicators (KPIs), which allow you to determine how successful certain aspects of the campaign were.
The most important KPIs in influencer marketing are the reach of individual posts, the engagement rate (i.e. the ratio of interactions to reach) and, especially if one of the campaign goals was to increase sales, the conversion rate. Follower growth can also be a KPI if the aim of the campaign was to grow your community.
However, the most important goal in influencer marketing is usually to increase brand awareness and strengthen the brand. In this context, the following “soft” success criteria are more important than specific metrics: reach, relevance and resonance.
Collaborations with influencers can take many different forms
In the world of influencer marketing collaborations, there is a wide range of possibilities, from a single social media post to comprehensive cross-media collaborations. This involves sharing various joint content pieces on both parties’ channels over a longer period of time. Even out-of-home campaigns with particularly well-known influencers with a wide reach are no longer a rarity. The decision about which type of collaboration best suits your goals should always be well thought out.
Micro-influencers: Effective collaborations despite limited budgets
Cost-effective opportunities are opening up, particularly in the area of micro-influencers. Individual posts can be realised even with a comparatively small budget of a few hundred pounds. This makes a lot of sense, especially in specific niche areas. The costs for elaborate collaborations with mega-influencers, on the other hand, can quickly run into five figures. It has been shown time and again that it is virtually impossible to make general statements about the costs of influencer collaborations. Instead, it is advisable to plan a generous budget and distribute it among various influencers of different sizes. Ultimately, individual negotiations with each influencer are essential in order to achieve the best possible terms.
Well-known brands that rely on influencer collaborations
There are now numerous companies that understand how influencer marketing works and regularly engage in successful collaborations with suitable brand ambassadors. Oceans Apart, for example, is a casual wear brand that is regularly promoted by influencers with varying degrees of reach.
Sustainability-oriented brands such as the German fair fashion label Armed Angels have also been increasingly focusing on influencer marketing for several years. Armed Angels regularly works with various influencers with a wide range of reach and is increasingly focusing on long-term collaborations.
However, the absolute industry leader is and remains the Swedish fashion brand NA-KD, which first became known through influencer marketing! And even big names such as Nike, H&M, Zalando and Zara now regularly have their new collections promoted by influencers.
As you can see, influencer marketing has become an indispensable part of any marketing strategy! Do you have any questions about influencer collaborations? Write to us directly, we’ll be happy to help!
FAQ
1. How do I integrate influencer marketing into my company?
Influencer marketing should be an integral part of any online marketing strategy. The best approach is to establish long-term collaborations with influencers who are particularly well suited to the brand. Ideally, you should allocate sufficient budget for several influencer campaigns in your annual planning and consider potential influencer collaborations in every theme and product strategy.
2. What makes collaborating with influencers so valuable?
The greatest strength of influencer collaborations is the trusting relationship they have with their community, which makes their recommendations to their followers particularly valuable. Ideally, you will find influencers who have a high brand match and a wide reach, and who contribute creatively to the campaign design – every influencer is keen to design collaborations on their channels in such a way that they fit their personal brand. Accordingly, when collaborating with influencers, you can assume that the content created will be well received by their followers.
3. How do you choose the right influencer for your collaboration?
To find suitable influencers, you should first be clear about what (which goals) and whom (which target group) you want to reach with the collaboration. Then you need to research which influencers this target group usually follows. Decision criteria for the right influencers are reach, interaction rates and a good brand fit: Do the influencer’s messages and content match the brand? Can they be reconciled with the brand messages? If so, there is a lot to be said for a collaboration!
4. What are the 3 Rs?
The 3 Rs in influencer marketing are reach, relevance and resonance: How many people can you reach with a collaboration? Is the content relevant to the influencer’s followers? Does the collaboration generate resonance, i.e. interaction with the community?