Influencer marketing is a great way to get your brand in front of audiences.
You've probably noticed that a lot of your favorite Youtubers and Instagram personalities promote products from time to time.
As you can imagine, they've been paid to do so.
If you're considering influencer marketing yourself, there's one really, really important thing you need to know about it.
Influencers have a brand of their own.
And they need to protect the integrity of that brand.
They won't accept just any sponsorship.
It has to be something that makes sense for them.
Your brand needs to be something their audience is interested in, and that gels with the influencer's own personal brand.
Successful Influencers Protect Their Brand
As previously mentioned, the most successful influencers operate as their own brands.
Because of this and the fact that companies are reaching out to them in greater numbers, influencers have become more selective about whom they work with.
That wasn’t always the case, though.
A few years ago, a popular canine Instagram account started incorporating an expensive luxury vehicle in many of its posts.
The dog’s owner (a photographer) positioned this “storyline” (if you will) as though dog and owners were taking a cross-country trip.
Just about all of this account’s posts featured shots of the dog interacting in different ways with the vehicle.
It started to look very unnatural.
The account followers started questioning this blatant commercial partnership not because they had a problem with the creator trying to monetize the content, but because a luxury vehicle brand and a photogenic canine really didn’t fit together, regardless of the story they were trying to tell.
As a result, the account owner became extremely defensive toward the commenters and any social media marketer knows what that leads to.
Social influencers have come a long way and have learned a lot in the last couple of years.
Nowadays, you would likely be hard-pressed to find a successful influencer who has partnered with a brand that is far from what they themselves have become known for.
That’s because sincerity is their vehicle. (No pun intended.)
Consumers respond so well to influencers because they feel they’re sincere when they’re showcasing products.
And, according to studies, they appear sincere because they are.
They’re authentic. They appear approachable.
And as Sprout Social’s report shows, those traits are what consumers are looking for from brands.
[image source: Social Media Examiner]
Takeaway
When working with brands, video content creators who want to become social media influencers should start by not only partnering with brands that are related to their own, but also sticking to brands that have positive reputations with consumers.
It’s also important to keep in mind that having creative freedom over the content they post is imperative to ensure influencers remain true to their own brand.
Some larger brands are uncomfortable with giving away that control, so it’s up to the influencers to stay true to themselves and their own brands by continuing to create honest, authentic content that aligns with their business goals.
You can check out more of the latest research findings on video marketing and influencer marketing in the full article from Social Media Examiner.
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