Here's how you can navigate incongruent influencer content with your brand's values.

Assessing the fit between an influencer and your brand is crucial for successful partnerships. - Audience Alignment: Ensure the influencer's audience matches your target market. For example, a tech brand should partner with influencers who have tech-savvy followers. - Engagement Quality: Look beyond follower count. High engagement rates often indicate a more loyal and active audience. - Value Congruence: Align on core values. If your brand promotes sustainability, collaborate with influencers who advocate for eco-friendly practices. Identifying these factors early can save you from potential pitfalls.

Emphasis on this point! Don't start a partnership with an influencer when you're already thinking about content pointers for your collaboration with them. You should be coming into a partnership (after doing research) having respect for what the creator has built and that they know their audience best.

Manage expectations for rounds of amends during the negotiation and contract stages. This sets expectations and allocates time for amending content. Set yourself up for success, by agreeing to a concept before content is shot to avoid any surprises. Should content still come through that doesn't align with the brand values, I suggest coming off email and jumping on a call. It's amazing what a 15 minute call can do to get everyone on the same page. Often, the misalignment goes both ways.

Navigating incongruent influencer content with your brand values requires a strategic approach. Begin by thoroughly researching the influencer's previous work to ensure alignment with your brand's ethos. If discrepancies arise, initiate an open dialogue to address these concerns, providing clear examples of the values your brand upholds. Collaborate to create content that authentically integrates these values. If alignment is unattainable, it may be necessary to reconsider the partnership to maintain brand integrity.

It's totally okay to set general guidelines. Be simple and clear, and offer to hop on a call if you're worried about confusion or maybe ways to use the product.

Make your guidelines entertaining. Create a webpage with a slick design for them, or maybe a few minute video. Nobody wants to read a long and boring pdf, creators especially. So make sure that not only are your guidelines written well, but think about the importance of how you are presenting them.

Be sure to scan through comments once the content is posted as well, the influencer may need help answering technical questions about your products, ingredients, etc!

When content misalignments occur, addressing them promptly and professionally is crucial. At Tru, we handle these situations by providing clear, constructive feedback to influencers. For instance, if an influencer’s post doesn’t align with a client’s values, we arrange a call to discuss the specific discrepancies and the reasons behind our concerns. This approach fosters a collaborative environment where influencers feel supported rather than criticized. We then work together to adjust the content or develop a new strategy that better reflects the client’s vision. This method not only corrects the immediate issue but also strengthens future collaborations by ensuring everyone is on the same page.