How to Get the Most Out of Your Influencer Marketing Strategy

In marketing there are thinkers and there are doers. I started off my career thinking that I was just a thinker (a strategist), but quickly discovered that I'd be very bored following that trajectory; so I became a doer. And then, I became drawn to the path of a creative. And then, I became an influencer marketer. In other words, all of the above...

So, I'm going to share some tips that I've picked up along this awesome journey, on how to make the absolute best out of your influencer marketing strategy, whether you are the strategist or the implementer. The thinker, or the doer.

First things first, respect people's time by preparing a solid brief. Turning a sparkly, creative strategy whose audience was the client into a clear, creative and concise influencer brief whose audience is the creator is an underrated skill in this industry.

Tips

- Contextualise the campaign, briefly. i.e. Why are we here?

- Take out the key action messages.

- Be clear on the brand guidelines and Do's & Don'ts so as to ensure brand safety and compliance.

- Do not make the brief any longer than a one-page, well-sectioned doc or a 7-10 visually appealing, bullet-pointed slide deck.

The purpose of a good influencer brief is to cut down on the amount of time spent going back and forth with the creator wasting valuable campaign execution time. Be detailed, but don't be long-winded. Be creative and use visuals but this is not an award entry, calm down, and make sure it's a reasonably sized document that a creator can open up on their phone.

Sourcing the Right Influencer

Brand alignment is not overrated and I fear that some markets still tend to treat it as such. Finding the influencer who is the right fit for the campaign and aligned with the brand's values and campaign strategy is a long and sometimes tedious process but it is ultimately worth it. It lessens the partnership risks, heightens the potential for a long-term financially lucrative relationship and ensures that both the brand and the creator continue to reap mutual emotive benefits. Think of it as "convincing" someone to date you; once you manage to do that, you'll be fighting to convince that person at every stage of the relationship because they were never really that into it in the first place. This is tiring and causes resentment on both sides. Don't do it. Date someone who is right for you!

Tips

- Be clear on the brand values and match up your influencers accordingly.

- Do research into the influencer's most recent brand partnerships (6months to a year) and their level of consistency.

- Their Reach is great? Great! How is their Engagement Quality? Check their metrics against your KPIs because performance matters.

Maintain Good Relationships

Maintaining a good relationship with an influencer does not mean that you become their best friend and +1 but it does mean that you need to be personable and accessible. I'm the kind of person who likes to do their job and go home. You'll rarely find me at parties or networking events but I've maintained good relationships with influencers by being a personable influencer partner during campaigns and someone who influencers can always reach out to post-campaign for new opportunities and advice:

Tips

- Be accessible through email, phone calls, virtual calls and WhatsApp. Get a separate WhatsApp for Business or second phone if you have to, but be reachable.

- Be responsive and respond timeously, your time is precious and so is theirs.

- Be human, have empathy and add an emoji once in a while.

Automation tools and AI are crucial in the endeavour to be responsive, quick and efficient in this business, but the tools are driven by human effort. Don't underestimate the importance of being available for unforeseen campaign issues, late-night WhatsApp messages and creators who go A.W.O.L.

Become a Project Management NERD

Yup, get comfortable with long lists, data, Excel and organisation. Getting an influencer campaign live often takes cracking a lot of off-eggs before finding the Nomzamo Mbatha-Holy-Grail of partnerships. What often looks like a no-brainer collaboration to the public eye often came as a result of a laboured list as long as my body (I'm 5'10") of influencers who just didn't work and endless negotiations with the ones who did.

Tips

- If you have the luxury of access to an automation or campaign management tool, optimize optimize optimize and make the platform work for YOU!

- If you don't, take an Excel and Google Workspace course. Work on your project management and data-entry skills. It will save you SO much time.

- Become an organisational guru. Organise your calendar, email inbox, content schedules, posting schedules and manage your time between each thing.

Client Relationships

Remember how in the beginning I mentioned going from thinking I needed to be either a thinker, a doer, or a creative and now I'm all three and then some? Well, as a result of that self-realisation, I've also come to the conclusion that the client relationship with the campaign implementation team needs to change. Successful influencer campaigns are led by CMs who are all three, and you cannot tell me differently. There's no "staying in your lane", no being quiet in client calls while the Sales or Account manager dances in the spotlight. Be strategic, be hands-on, be creative.

Tips

- Clients should value the person who understands the journey from strategy to implementation to reporting.

- Clients should know that their influencer campaign team are vastly capable of managing every stage of the campaign and that this deserves way more investment.

- Be attentive, curious and pro-active at every campaign stage.

- Ask and answer questions.

- Bring solutions.

Last but not least, and arguably most importantly - bask in the creativity that this space has to offer and have fun!