It’s no longer a matter of proof, influencers generate a higher rate of engagement than brands that are won over by their content. As a result, brands are no longer hesitating to launch influencer campaigns in 2021, going from 1,575 to 2,901 campaigns in 6 months (source: HubSpot). From simple product placement, to brand ambassadors,...
It’s no longer a matter of proof, influencers generate a higher rate of engagement than brands that are won over by their content. As a result, brands are no longer hesitating to launch influencer campaigns in 2021, going from 1,575 to 2,901 campaigns in 6 months (source: HubSpot). From simple product placement, to brand ambassadors, content creators can become your best allies to make your brand shine. However, collaborating with influencers takes maintenance. Hivency, an influencer marketing platform, explains how to maintain your relationship with influencers.
The benefits of a long-term relationship
A short-term relationship with influencers is far from ideal. Of course, a one-time collaboration will improve your visibility in the influencers’ niche communities, but you won’t stay in people’s minds. Moreover, because of a lack of connection between the brand and the influencer, the message transmitted will not be as relevant as in a long term collaboration. Indeed, collaborating with influencers on the long-term has several advantages:
- As a brand, you know by heart the expectations and preferences of your influencers, therefore, you offer them products and services that will appeal to them. The result? The storytelling about your brand will be more relevant and positive;
- This results in a more consistent user engagement with your brand;
- In the long run, it is possible to become a top of mind brand within the influencer community, which means that your brand awareness can increase significantly. More precisely, top of mind brand is a psychological concept in marketing that refers to the place your brand has in the minds of consumers.
Long-term collaborations with influencers
A pool of brand ambassadors
A brand ambassador is an individual (consumer, influencer, customer…) who knows the brand and appreciates it to the point of praising it on a recurring basis. The ideal brand advocate is however the nano- or micro-influencer.
On the one hand, the micro-influencer knows his community inside out and knows what content his followers like. On the other hand, they communicate on their social networks with authenticity because they are consumers who want to share their experience with their community. Brands are seduced by the authentic content of nano- and micro-influencers, as are consumers, 82% of whom follow the advice of at least one micro-influencer (source: HubSpot).
For example, Asos, a famous British retailer, has set up its ambassador program, “Asos Insiders”, calling on nano- and micro-influencers to promote the brands present on the site, letting originality and authenticity be at the heart of their publications. This program, launched in 2013, has increased the number of spontaneous mentions on social networks by 45% (source: Les Echos).
It’s not only the fashion industry that can have brand ambassadors. In fact, home decor is a lifestyle topic that is popular with influencers. Brands like french Hivency’s client Pylones are not afraid to collaborate with micro-influencers and turn them into brand ambassadors.
The recurrence of the collaboration between a brand and a micro-influencer is the basis of the brand ambassador strategy. By choosing this strategy you get several touchpoints, with consumers and influencers will allow:
- Build consumer loyalty by talking about the brand regularly;
- Engage users on social networks by publishing attractive content;
- Support consumers in their purchasing decision by providing answers in comments about the recommended size, for example, or by providing live FAQs to answer consumers’ questions, etc.
Co-creation between brands and influencers
First, co-creation is the collaboration between a brand and an influencer to create a new product or a capsule collection. The objective of co-creation is to add value to the market by creating a unique product or collection with the influencer’s creative touch. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the benefits of influencers:
- Influencers are aware of the latest trends, added to their originality, including them in the work of a co-creation is a great way to stand out from competition;
- By knowing their community inside and out, influencers know what content will interest their followers. Therefore, co-creating with an influencer is a great way to boost your sales;
- Influencers have a special bond with their community, therefore, they will want to tell the story of this collaboration in stories or live to engage a maximum of followers, boosting your visibility.
For example, the French fashion brand Jennyfer has once again decided to call on the famous influencer Léna Situations to create a collection of handbags #Sitbag.
Macro-influence will allow you to reach a very large audience. Nevertheless, nano and micro-influence have the advantage of generating a much higher engagement rate, especially on Instagram where micro-influencers generate an engagement rate of about 3.86% compared to 1.36% for macro-influencers (source: Influencer Marketing Hub). Indeed, a smaller community allows nano and micro-influencers to be closer to their community.
As you can see, it’s more beneficial for a brand to opt for a long-term relationship with influencers. If you’re looking to get started in influencer marketing, the Hivency influencer platform can help you launch your first campaign!
Photo credits: Wocinthechat via Unsplash