Remember three years ago, when influencer marketing was brand new? There were many unknowns about payment rates, ROI, and longevity. In 2024, it’s clear that influencer marketing is here to stay. Sending free products to a dozen popular influencers to promote your products no longer cuts it. You must stand out from the swaths of other brands, seek genuine partnerships, and nurture your relationships with influencers, or risk getting publicly blasted.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a strategic approach wherein brands collaborate with individuals with a significant online presence. These individuals leverage their following to promote the brand’s products or services by creating organic-feeling, authentic, original content. This PR tactic relies on the influencers’ credibility, authority, and reach within specific niches or communities to engage with potential consumers.
According to HubSpot, “Today, 88% of marketers have a dedicated influencer marketing budget, and one in four social media users report buying a product based on an influencer’s recommendation in 2023.” This unique form of marketing capitalizes on the trust and rapport influencers have established with their followers, aiming to cultivate brand awareness, foster consumer trust, and ultimately drive sales or desired actions in a way other PR and marketing tactics cannot.
Advanced Influencer Engagement Tactics for PR Campaigns
Since the industry is still so new, there isn’t just one acceptable way to manage influencer partnerships. Every company and agency has its own methods. Still, here are a few advanced techniques to integrate successful, fruitful, and engaged influencer partnerships into your PR campaigns.
1. Cultivate Long-Term Relationships
Instead of one-off collaborations, focus on nurturing long-term relationships with influencers. This allows for deeper integration of your brand into their content and establishes a more genuine connection with their audience over time.
“The first time an influencer posts about your brand, you might see moderate to low engagement. But the more your brand’s products or services are included in the influencer’s content — whether in sponsored posts or everyday, organic content they publish — the more the influencer’s audience will trust your brand. You can expect engagement to rise in tandem with this trust,” said Emily Reynolds Bergh, Founder of R Public Relations (RPR). RPR frequently works with influencers on behalf of their lifestyle and food & beverage clients.
Outline the details of your long-term relationship in a contract with the influencer so they know they can trust your brand and rely on the income. This will allow them to do more interesting, creative work throughout the partnership.
2. Co-Creation of Content
Allow influencers creative freedom and input in the content creation process. Collaboratively developing content ensures it aligns with the influencer’s style and your brand’s messaging, resulting in more authentic and engaging campaigns. This type of partnership should also be outlined in your contract.
In the same vein, consider co-posting content on social media channels like Instagram to get the most mileage out of your content. This way, the content lives on both your brand’s and the influencer’s channels, reaching both of your audiences for maximum engagement.
3. Interactive Campaign Elements
When it comes to influencer engagement, nothing works better than layering interactive elements into the content. Encourage influencer partners to create interactive content such as polls, quizzes, or Q&A sessions to engage their audience actively in various ways. Interactive elements prompt audience participation, increasing engagement and fostering community around your brand.
Other examples of interactive content include live videos, conversing with followers in the comments section, sending surprise-and-delight packages to engaged followers, and sourcing audience feedback about new launches. Any content encouraging likes, comments, clicks, and shares can be considered interactive.
4. Leverage Multiple Platforms
Explore partnerships with influencers across various platforms, including social media, blogs, podcasts, and YouTube. Diversifying your influencer strategy helps reach different audience segments and maximizes your brand’s visibility. It also confirms to audiences that your influencer partner uses your product or service in real life since it appears on camera in various aspects of their day-to-day life.
“YouTube is an underutilized platform for influencer marketing,” says Reynolds Bergh. “It’s one of the largest social media platforms, and its popularity is only growing with younger audience segments. Find up-and-coming YouTubers to partner with, and you will thank yourself in a few years.”
5. Track Metrics in Real Time
Utilize innovative analytics tools to track the effectiveness of influencer campaigns in real-time. Monitor metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversions to measure ROI accurately and optimize future partnerships accordingly. This advanced tactic allows you to track influencer engagement and iterate mid-campaign to improve results if needed.
Reynolds Bergh recommends exploring some of the new AI tools available to marketing and PR professionals, like Audiense. Many of these platforms host dashboards that can give you a snapshot of results at a glance.
Improving Influencer Engagement in Your PR Campaigns
High-level influencer engagement requires real thought and strategy behind your campaigns. Consider these five advanced tactics the next time you cultivate an influencer partnership, and don’t be surprised if your results far exceed expectations.
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