Influencer Partnership: How Collaborations Increase Your Reach and Promote Audience Growth

Social Media Marketing
Influencer Partnership: How Collaborations Increase Your Reach and Promote Audience Growth
Article by Bisera Stankovska
Last Updated: September 27, 2022

In 2021, more than 4.26 billion people were recorded using social media worldwide, and this number is on trend to increase to six billion in 2027.

Once you’ve gained a steady footing with your business, you may be looking to boost your audience growth. With today’s social media reach, it’s easier than ever to reach a new audience. The question now is:

How do you approach them?

Influencer partnership is an excellent way to expand your reach, leveraging the successful relationship between content creators and the communities they’ve built. This is especially helpful to brands that want to break into a new industry or niche. Another way to approach these influencers is by hiring social media professionals.

Learn how to initiate influencer collaboration, the steps to fostering these partnerships, and how your brand benefits from it.

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Influencer Partnership Guide: How To Collaborate With Influencers

There’s a significant connection between a creator and their audience. Living in the golden age of content, we have access to so much information all at once. One way to filter through all this is to find a content creator to be the tastemaker and trendsetter.

These are the influencers that have the skills and charisma to attract, grow, and keep an audience watching.

As successful as it is, most content creation is a game of trial and error. The advantage that influencers bring to the table is their willingness to try new things, which has proven to be very successful so far.

How can collaborating with influencers boost your audience reach?

What is Influencer Partnership?

Influencer partnership is a marketing method to expand your audience reach and discoverability. It’s one of many advertising strategies you can integrate into your campaign plans.

It involves establishing an agreement with a content creator who will promote your brand on their social media channels. This aims to grow audience reach while also connecting with them from a peer’s perspective.

88% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand after a positive experience. And as of July 2022, 59% of the global population has been present on social media. It's become part of their routine to browse the Internet, where they would find creators to follow.

Currently, the leading social medium shows the rise in video marketing trends, with 92% of businesses considering it as a vital part of their marketing strategy. Prepare to brainstorm and integrate as many video production content ideas as you can benefit from this trend.

How You Can Collaborate With Influencers

Partnering with content creators has been a tried-and-tested strategy applied to different platforms.

Think of traditional advertising and working with celebrity endorsers for commercials and billboards. Nowadays, you can also find celebrities on social media who are open to the same collaborations as smaller influencers are.

Below are some of the ways you can collaborate with social media creators:

  • Advertiser Access – On Facebook, multiple accounts can have different roles on a page, which includes an advertiser role for your brand. This gives you temporary access to post on their page and boost your ads.
  • Affiliate Partnership – One way you can establish a long-term partnership is by creating a network of affiliates that can mutually benefit your business and the influencers. Depending on your agreement, you can offer an influencer a discount on your business along with a referral link they can invite their audience to use.
  • Branded Content – This comprises posts that content creators upload on their page tagged as a sponsored ad for your business.
  • Giveaways – Mechanics for giveaway posts typically encourage new viewers to follow your business’ social media channels, which can boost your growth.
  • Guest Blog Posts – Influencers with a successful website can promote your brand to their audience. This can be done through product reviews, service testimonials, or process and experience walkthroughs.
  • Paid Posts – You can work with content creators for as short a term as a single paid post to advertise your product or service.
  • Social Media Takeover – Invite a content creator to create a batch of posts for your social media channels. This is optimal for campaign launches, event activations, or milestone celebrations.

Different Kinds of Influencer Partnerships

Consider the following agreement options for your influencer collaborations:

  • Long-Term Partnership – The ideal long-term partnership is with an established content creator and influencer who has a robust audience.
  • Multi-Channel Partnership – An agreement with an influencer with multiple successful social media platforms whose audiences match your target growth.
  • One-Off Partnership – Typically an agreement that covers one-time posts or short-term sponsorship, ideal for smaller businesses who want to work with multiple influencers to make the most of their budget.
  • Pay-per-Click Partnership – Partnering with influencers through affiliate links works best with this model, which can encourage multiple postings from the content creator.
  • Single-Channel Partnership – Working with an influencer who mainly focuses or has a larger following on one platform.

The Steps to a Perfect Influencer Partnership

Each partnership will vary depending on your agreement with every influencer. You can also consider working with an influencer management agency with an established process that can set a standard for your collaborations.

Below are the steps and best practices in partnering with an influencer:

Step #1: Determine the Right Audience for Your Brand

When you plan your brand strategy, you typically already have a set audience for your business. Nevertheless, with each campaign, you have a chance to focus on a specific niche.

This is an excellent option for launching new products with a new direction or targeted at a different crowd than usual.

Step #2: Build a Content Strategy and Campaign With the Proper Benefits

Set your intentions for the project, determine measurable targets, and integrate your collaborative content with the influencer in your campaign.

Step #3: Establish a List of Potential Influencers for Your Network

This is where working with an agency will be convenient since they can do the searching on your behalf. That said, you can browse the industry, find your ideal content creators, and define the requirements you need from them and targets they need to meet.

Find the content creator that matches these criteria.

Step #4: Prepare a Detailed Campaign Brief

Take this time to prepare content guidelines that can guide your partner influencer as they prepare the post for your collaboration. This can include your agreement, ad mechanics, sponsorship period, monetary compensation if applicable, and other terms for your partnership.

Step #5: Launch the Influencer Collaboration Project

The advantage of working with an influencer is your team can take a backseat as they prepare the content to post.

That said, your team can provide support the influencer may need and stand by for any incoming queries from the new audience.

Step #6: Conduct a Retrospective to Establish Achievements and Improvements

This can occur internally among your team, but you can also conduct a post-launch with your partner influencer – especially if you’re fostering a long-term relationship with them.

Set up a meeting after launching your project to discuss what went well and what could be improved for the next iterations. You can also review if your metrics have been accurate to the results you were aiming for.

Benefits of Influencer Collaboration

While your team is delegating the creative and executive process to a content creator, there’s plenty of preparation and admin tasks to manage. What makes collaborating with influencers worth the time and effort?

  • A More Grounded Connection With the Audience – Influencers have worked hard to foster an audience they can be authentic with. Their viewers appreciate their candor and expect a similar honesty when they partner with brands, knowing the content creator will be upfront about their review.
  • Building Strong, Authentic Partnerships – You have the benefit of gaining a meaningful partnership with an influencer. Chances are they will genuinely enjoy using your product or service. They have the advantage of having an audience who are eager to try their recommendations.
  • Extensive Planning Resulting in Commitment to Quality – Your team can focus on planning and conceptualizing your project, while content creators concentrate on executing your vision. This collaboration and delegation take some of the weight from each party, enabling you to do what you do best.
  • Fostering Creativity and Character – Influencers and content creators have the skill and determination mixed with talent and creativity to promote your project. This combination of attributes has established their platform and keeps people watching.
  • Streamlined Collaboration Process – Working with brands comes with the territory, especially for experienced influencers. With enough partnerships under your belt, you’re sure to set up an internal process of your own to polish your collaboration process.

Influencer Collaboration: Key Takeaways for Brand Awareness Growth

Partnering with influencers can give a significant boost to your audience reach and brand awareness. Work with a content creator that matches your vision and your values, has a proven track record for crafting successful content, and has an audience that will appreciate your products.

Keep the following takeaways in mind for your collaboration:

  • Set clear goals and metrics for your influencer partnership
  • Find an influencer that can boost your brand and promote your product benefits
  • Build a product that delivers on its promises to your current and potential audience
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