Have you ever run into challenges when working with influencers? Dealing with influencers can be tricky, especially when you're still learning the ropes.
Depending on their follower count and reach, some influencers are more straightforward to collaborate with, while others might present a few more hurdles. These challenges might be in various ways, such as campaign briefs, project deliveries, and work processes.
In a previous article, we busted some common assumptions in today's influencer marketing landscape. So, now that we've cleared those up, how can you really up your game when it comes to working with influencers? The idea is to help you work with the right influencers, making your campaigns as successful, streamlined, and effective as possible.
Whether you're an experienced brand or just starting to work with influencers, this article will share our top two do's and don'ts when working with influencers today.
Do’s: Make your campaign brief as specific as possible
The campaign brief and how you deliver them is essential when working with influencers.
You want your message to be crystal clear, but at the same time, you don't want to micromanage how they create and share their content. Remember, influencers are just regular folks with distinct and unique personalities and working styles.
Campaign briefs can sometimes get a bit too technical or confusing for influencers. To prevent it, ensure your tasks and deliverables in the campaign brief are clear and concise.
Here are ways to make your campaign brief as specific as possible:
- List down the task requirements as simple as possible, such as 1x IG Post or 2x TikTok videos
- State the campaign period for each of the tasks
- If you require the influencers to purchase the item first and submit a review on Shopee or Lazada, mention it in the campaign brief
- Provide options for your influencers to choose how they want to describe your product/service's USP in the caption, for example: to include “Product A contains Benefit 1, 2 and 3.”
Being too stringent with the way they speak or write can also make your campaign seem forced and overly promotional, which is something you'd want to avoid.
Here's a pro tip: While it's crucial to maintain your brand's overall style, including language, it's sometimes better to give influencers a bit of freedom when crafting their captions. It's especially true for nano-influencers who often share content with their close circles of friends and family.
Do’s: Provide examples rather than just instructions
At Partipost, we collaborate with various brands and influencers across different tiers. When it comes to nano-influencers, one essential tip is to provide them with working examples rather than just giving plain instructions. For most, this is a side hustle, not a full-time gig like some micro or macro-influencers.
Some examples of tasks for nano-influencers are:
- Re-sharing a TikTok video or IG Reel from a micro-influencer
- Reenact or recreate a scene or photo moment from a suggested TV show
- Include the product during mealtime or when cooking to showcase the product
Nano-influencers often have a more casual and relatable vibe, which can be a great asset. Most micro and macro influencers may have a curated style, but nano-influencers are everyday people, and their authenticity can resonate strongly with their followers. Although they might not have the massive reach of their counterpart influencers, working with nano-influencers at scale can help you achieve significant and targeted exposure.
Our advice is to showcase a list of campaign content they can reference with so that they have a clear understanding on what to develop which aligns with your brief.
Don’ts: Change your campaign brief at the last minute
You know how it goes; there may be hiccups when running your campaigns, and sometimes they are unavoidable. Take, for instance, when you've already listed down the kind of influencers you want in terms of demographics, and then, at the eleventh hour, you realise they need to be of a certain age or background.
If the influencers haven't whipped up the content yet, and yes, you still have some wiggle room to tweak the brief. However, it's generally a smart move to have the campaign brief locked and loaded before you start looking for influencers.
We suggest you begin by identifying and matching ideal influencer profiles that fit your brand and campaign brief. After that, lay out your requirements and what you're expecting from them. This way, influencers can quickly figure out if they're a good fit for your campaign. If you need assistance, we will be able to advise you on what questions you can ask influencers when they are registering interest so that you can find the right profiles.
During the campaign period, all processes should be crystal clear. Any last-minute changes or confusion can mess with the timeline and even compromise the quality of the content. And if you're running a campaign where influencers purchase the product or service, especially with nano-influencers, any changes to the campaign brief during or after the purchase can get quite complicated.
A finalised campaign brief will help you match your campaign more efficiently with your targeted demographic of influencers, like students or pregnant mothers. It will save both your and the influencer’s time in the long run.
Don’ts: Procrastinate with time-sensitive campaigns
When dealing with time-sensitive campaigns, the name of the game is planning.
Here's how you can tackle your next time-sensitive campaign:
- In your campaign brief to your influencers, highlight the campaign period
- Then, give your influencers a dedicated timeline to send in their content for approval and any needed edits (refer to our Do's above on being specific) based on the task(s) assigned to the brief
- You can finalise the content weeks in advance and schedule them in your calendar to match your campaign timeline
Here's another pro tip: If your campaign only lasts a week, why not ask your influencers to submit their content a whole month in advance? That way, you can make sure everything goes off without a hitch during that crucial week, and you won't have to sweat the small stuff.
The takeaway
When working with influencers, a winning strategy boils down to a few essential do's and don'ts. While this isn't a complete list, it's what influencers often consider when brands seek collaborations.
Here at Partipost, our extensive experience working with brands and influencers has shaped our platform in various ways. Whether it's handling time-sensitive campaigns, matching niche campaigns with the right influencers, or reaching specific target demographics, we've got you covered.