Influencer marketing best practices
Now that we’ve covered key recommendations and considerations, let’s dive into specifics on how to get the best results from your creators at every stage of programme development and execution.
Discovery
Any successful influencer programme must work with a pool of creators that align with its target audience, brand, and values. As already mentioned, influencer marketing is about much more than reach. You’re relying on a creator’s credibility with their audience and genuine connection with each follower, so it’s key you have the best influencers on your roster. And while you can do this yourself on a one-to-one basis, using an affiliate platform like Awin provides an easy, scalable way to discover thousands of pre-vetted influencers in a single platform.
Awin gives marketers access to hundreds of thousands of influencers, including information about their content, audience demographics, follower counts, relevant product categories, and performance data. Creators can access Awin to grab unique links that help them incorporate performance measurement and compensation. Marketers can even offer tools and resources that further power custom content.
Whether you decide to go at your influencer recruitment alone or use a platform like Awin to maximise your efforts, here are some key questions worth asking yourself when evaluating creator fit.
- Does this influencer attract the right demographic and psychographic following for my brand?
- Do they appeal to the right lifestyles and/or life stages for my brand?
- Do they discuss products like mine or address needs where my product is relevant?
- Do they seem like they would have strong authority and credibility for my category?
- Are their aesthetics and tone aligned with my brand? Do they offer an environment where I would be proud to see my brand featured?
- If ROI/performance is a key part of my strategy, do they offer post styles that are conducive to immediate conversion?
- What are their compensation rates, and is it realistic to expect them to deliver sufficient value to my business to justify costs?
Some of the most effective influencer programmes map creator personas to match their desired customer segments. This tactic is particularly valuable when focusing on niche micro-influencers that speak to specific groups within a target, because while micro-influencer audiences will likely be smaller, they can still deliver greater engagement because of their specialisation. As an added bonus, micro-influencers are usually a more cost-effective partnership option compared to that of a celebrity or someone with a larger following.
Recruitment
Once you’ve chosen your ideal influencer partners, you must recruit them onto your programme. Remember, just because you want to work with a certain creator doesn’t mean they’ll want to work with you. It’s very valuable to develop a short pitch document. The best pitches have these elements:
Checklist for a compelling influencer pitch
Personalisation and genuine connection Research the influencer's content, values, and audience, and tailor your pitch to their own brand.
Brand introduction and fit Highlight specific aspects of their work that resonate with your business’ mission. The purpose here is to demonstrate that you understand what makes them unique and why they would be a great fit. This shows a sincere interest in each creator beyond just their follower count.
Benefits to both Clearly outline the value proposition for both sides. What will this influencer gain from association with your brand? How is what you’re trying to achieve aligned with their goals?
Unique value and perks Like everyone, influencers want special access and consideration. This could involve information on free product trials, exclusive product launches, unique offers for their followers, creative collaborations that enhance their content, and access to your brand's community. Additionally, if you have great creative assets for them, be sure to tell them, too! Share all of the key benefits that will make influencers’ lives better and easier, and therefore make your programme / partnership more appealing.
Compensation Explain your compensation model and what you expect for payment. Being clear here can foster more productive, frictionless relationships.
Your desire for a long-term relationship Influencers prefer to work with brands long term. It helps them ensure revenue certainty and gives them the freedom to plan content calendars.
Briefing and engagement
Once you’ve identified your influencer partners and onboarded them to your programme, you will need to brief them on your expectations for this partnership – whether it’s meant to be a one-off post, ongoing campaign or something in between. Here, the emphasis should be on thoroughness and brevity. People need to understand what you are looking for, but no one wants to read pages of unnecessary info. Focus on the must-knows. Here are our top tips for a great creator brief:
Anatomy of a great influencer campaign brief
Overview
Brand introduction Briefly introduce your company, mission and what makes you stand out.
Campaign goals Clear set goals (e.g., increase brand awareness, drive traffic, boost sales).
Target Audience Who are you trying to reach?
Content
Key message(s) What must the influencer convey?
Visual style Describe the aesthetic you’re aiming for (e.g., bright and playful, minimalist, etc.).
Brand guidelines In a few bullet points, outline any content restrictions, non-negotiable points, and potential pitfalls to avoid.
Content type If you have desired creative formats, specify them. But be open to their ideas on what will work best as well.
Number of posts State how many pieces of content you expect.
Other information
Deadlines Lay out desired posting dates and a development timeline.
Legal Emphasise the importance of transparency, with clear instructions on disclosing the sponsorship in compliance with your relevant regulatory guidelines.
Usage Rights Define how you intend to use the influencer's content, including whether you want to repurpose it for other marketing channels.
Compensation and perks Spell out the compensation model (e.g., flat fee, performance-based commission, hybrid flat fee-commission, gifted products, etc.) so it’s clear how the creator will be rewarded.
Additional benefits Highlight any extra perks the influencer might receive.
A final tip: Give your creators the freedom to deliver the best results for your effort. You are compensating them for their ability to engage and motivate their followers. If you get too prescriptive, you miss out on much of the value they bring.
Content development
We recommend providing campaign assets at the kickoff for the best results. Most creators love beautiful brand imagery, product shots, pictures of spokespeople, B-roll, and other content they can repurpose for their posts.
Outside of what you can provide, it is worth knowing many creators are incredibly skilled at creating attractive assets. You will be amazed at some of the beautiful and powerful things they make.
At the end of the day, whether it’s creative you provide or creative from the influencers themselves, remember these assets won’t - and shouldn’t - look like your tradition ad campaigns. Influencers make assets that are authentic to their own brand, so to get the best results, have open lines of communications and provide visual aids like mood boards to help them understand your business’ character / aesthetic, but don’t mandate anything.
Mood boards are powerful visual ways to introduce creators to your brand.
One additionally effective way brands can leverage influencers is by reusing the assets their creators make in other marketing contexts. Many brands now reuse videos and posts to deliver highly-credible product stories instead of brand-created advertising. As you review assets they create, consider how you might reuse them in:
- Website
- Display and video advertising
- Social posts
- Sponsored content with mainstream publishers
Some brands are even using creator assets like video for television campaigns. Creator content can be more cost-effective, authentic, and effective than what brands produce alone!
Direct influencer post Under Armour used for paid social and then repurposed on @underarmourwomen.
Measurement and reporting
We can’t emphasise enough that your success metrics must align with your objectives and goals. Too often, brands rely on only the most basic measurement approach in place, like impression counts, shares, and likes. And while these can be valuable indicators of awareness, they likely will not give your CFO the confidence to continue funding creator efforts.
Instead we recommend using holistic measurement tactics that track your progress toward the set campaign goals. Are you prioritsing…
- Sales?
- Clicks/visits?
- Likes?
- Shares?
- Follows?
Your success metrics should enable you to quickly track progress towards your goals. And adding in additional outcomes can help you further understand campaign characteristics and guide optimisation.
Be sure to use a measurement approach that helps you track both top- and bottom-of-funnel metrics.
Beyond tracking the performance of individual creators, it’s important to look at campaigns and creative on a more macro level to understand their effectiveness on a larger scale. Maybe one campaign performs better on Instagram versus TikTok, or a creative is ultimately best suited for Facebook. This granular insight can help guide your ongoing efforts and deliver a more effective message amplification strategy.
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