Incorporating “Influencers” 101

Our current thinking: Incorporating “Influencers” 101

Today’s Dispatch comes to us from Milly Sauber, Director of Media at SRH.

When people hear influencer marketing, they often think of the Kardashians, the Beauty YouTuber’s of the world, Instagram Models and TikTok stars only our teenage family and friends follow.

And that ain’t wrong.

But it’s also not the whole picture.

Yes, it can be perceived as tacky. Yes, sometimes influencers are obviously promoting a product that they would never use. Yes, it was expensive. But when it’s done right, it really works.

In this dispatch, I’m going to give you a few of my tips on establishing a successful influencer campaign.

• Influencer selection & kickoff is a process that takes TIME.

If I had to offer a single piece of advice, it would be to plan an influencer campaign at very least 3-4 months in advance.

For starters, there are a lot of influencers out there to comb through, and there are a lot of people on the influencer teams that are involved in the contracting process. Just going back and forth on the contract can take a couple of weeks.

Plus, some of the top converting influencers typically have very busy schedules and have limited ad spots they allow in their content each month. So time flies by.

Also, an influencer shoot is a full production. That takes time to plan, shoot, edit and revise. More on that in the next point!

• Have a creative brief, and make sure it is thorough!

Even if you think you’ve selected an influencer that is identical to the look and feel of your brand, there are going to be differences.

There are going to be little things you need, that an influencer won’t be able to anticipate. For example, if you have a regulatory environment that requires disclaimers of some kind, that should be communicated to the influencer right away.

If you can’t have other brands visible in the post, that should be communicated early. If you need certain products grouped together, or a certain setting to set the scene, all of that needs to be communicated upfront.

Having a solid brief not only helps speed up the process, but it ensures you get what you want the first go around and enables the influencer to craft content that sells. Plus, some influencers may not agree to posts that require a slew of disclaimers. Which means you have to find someone else.

• Know what you are paying for!

This is key! Influencer campaigns are very expensive, but that’s because this content takes a lot of work to produce.

These pieces are high fidelity and have top-tier art direction, photography, videography and loads of editing to get the images/video perfect. It’s not a gal with an iPhone.

It’s also important to know what content is yours to keep, and what content belongs to the influencer.

Do you own the content outright and can share, use and advertise with it as you please? Is there a period of time you need to wait before re-sharing? All of these little details are important to iron out at the start. If you’re going to pay for content, be sure you’re aligned with how it can be used.

By really focusing on these 3 big things, you’re well on your way to having a successful, high-converting influencer campaign.

If you have any questions about influencer campaigns, feel free to drop us a note! We’ve done a ton, and even have our own special brief we use to get the most out of our engagements. It’s gorgeous, and 102 excel cells long.