What are the most effective ways to train and support influencers for better performance?

Remember that influencer marketing is a dynamic field, so staying adaptable and open to new strategies and ideas is key to achieving better performance. Training and supporting influencers for better performance can be achieved through several effective strategies: 1. Clear Guideline 2. Provide Educational Resources 3. Regular communication 4. Encourage to be Authentic 5. Share audience insights and data

Yes, measuring performance of an influencer campaign with KPI's like reach and conversion rate is important. However, to increase performance of your influencer marketing, have a closer look at the Influencer's audience and engagement. Does their audience match yours? Where are they located? Any red flags for fake followers, such as low engagement? Even if they are a reputable influencer with a highly engaging audience, you might not reach your goals if their type of content is not a match with your brand vision. In my experience, the initial screening of influencers is often overlooked. Micro influencers that match your exact audience can be more powerful and bring greater results, then influencers with a high reach in your industry.

Understand that influencers have their unique styles and schedules. Be flexible and accommodating when possible, as this can lead to a more productive and harmonious relationship.

To be effective, engage with your audience. You need to build a loyal and active community around your niche and brand. You should respond to comments, messages, and mentions from your followers. You should also participate in relevant conversations, groups, hashtags, and trends on social media. Know your mission and vision before approaching.

Treating all influencers as a homogenous group can potentially diminish the overall impact of a marketing campaign. To optimize outcomes, it is vital to first identify the target audience and determine the specific type of influencer that is most likely to resonate with them. This strategic decision-making approach is essential for maximizing the impact of the content creator.

To support influencers for better performance; you can; - Engage them regularly to provide feedback, answer questions, and address any concerns they may have. - Equip influencers with the necessary resources to create high-quality content. This may include providing access to product samples, images, videos, or exclusive information. - Recognize and reward influencers for their efforts and achievements. This can be in the form of financial compensation, exclusive perks, discounts, or even public recognition. - Foster long-term partnerships with influencers who consistently perform well and align closely with your brand values.

Providing consistent communication is incredibly important to nurture relationships with influencers. The most successful influencer campaigns are longer-term campaigns in which the influencer is truly committed to the brand. With influencer marketing becoming so popular brands may find themselves struggling to make a connection with an influencer while being one of many brands they are working with. In order for brands to truly stand out from their competitors, they should not only well-compensate their influencers but also treat them as colleagues rather than one-off contractors.

Transactional, flat engagement between brands and influencers is often the result of completed work with no follow up outside of fulfilling payment or retrospective obligations. True ambassadors are built when a relationship is formed, which means conversations around *both* parties' thoughts on the campaign. Again, creators are creatives! Their experiences, creative visions, and experiences are valuable. We celebrate our friends when they do well, we check in when we've not heard from them in a while, and we bring them in to cool new things we're doing - which is exactly how you can build solid relationships with your influencers.

Influencers have to know the importance of self-branding and having a niche. This makes them stand out from the clutter and enhances their credibility. It is also important to sit some gigs out, you don’t have to be everywhere or work on any campaign- curate your brand experience for your clients and audiences.

It's important to remember that influencers live and die by their engagement. Compensation is obviously critical, whether that is in the form of payment, product, or elevated reach to new audiences. A good offer will need all three - but too many brands stop there. When you actually show them appreciation and communicate positively about the content that they created for you, it will set you apart from the other brands they collaborate with. Too many brands make an offer, set the rules, and they're done. If you treat an influencer like a commodity, they'll do the same with the promotion of your product or service. If you create a relationship, they'll be inspired to go the extra mile for you and create more engaging content.

Something to add here is that brands can also provide product training to influencers. This becomes especially important if they are long-term partners. Treating influencers like key stakeholders who are kept in the loop with key product developments, new features or even inspiration sessions when developing a product, will notably improve branded content and also strengthen the partnership overall.

A great example of how to support influencers is Amazon. They have a sophisticated program that enables their influencers in remarkable ways. Obviously most companies don't have the resources to create a support and training program like that, but if you can create a community among your influencer set, it encourages them to learn success paths from each other, form new relationships, and instills a higher value to your brand partnership than simply including them in a product launch presentation, enablement tools, or "how to" session. Those are important for sure, but take it a step further to set your brand apart.

Twitch's Creator Camp is a wonderful example of how platforms can provide education to make creators successful. It doesn't need to be specific to platforms, though. Products can also support creators through product education by bringing influencers in (under NDA and embargo) and sharing product roadmaps, giving early access to content to create UGC for Day 1 launch, and offering 1:1 feedback or roundtables with product teams. A word of caution: unless you're a platform, influencers should be treated as SME consultants. They're typically highly experienced in the areas of social media and, unless they're asking for support, it's likely they're going to often be more informed about content performance than traditional marketing teams.

Also, influencers love opportunities to grow their own audience. Integrating this as part of your influencer deal is a win-win. Take the shared resources approach. Part of the influencer deal can for example be link exchange (if you have decent Domain Authority), a mention in your newsletter, an elaborate customer testimonial on your page or an invitation to join your podcast as a guest. This can also help you when you are short on budget, but want to get an idea of ROI before committing to larger budgets. And mostly, it will nurture your relationship with the influencer.

Influencer programs are a wonderful way to encourage collaboration not only between creators in your ecosystem, but also between the brand and creators. I highly recommend brands allow influencers to pitch ideas they want to work on. Not only might you be pleasantly surprised at the innovation that comes up, but it may inspire new campaign opportunities or community engagement not already unlocked.

Community and network is the heart of influencer marketing. One thing we found very helpful is actually grouping influencers together through a physical meeting, messaging board, or group forum who are working together on the same project. People feel more open to discuss ideas and ask questions and brainstorm new initiatives when they're grouped together.

Find ways to allow everyone's ideas to be heard and developed. Sometimes people with less experience may have an idea but not know the full ramifications of implementation. Rather than shoot down the idea, walk through the idea - which encourages their further participation and continued participation.

Encourage diversity and inclusion in influencer partnerships. Working with a variety of voices and backgrounds can broaden your brand's appeal and reach.

When evaluating influencer performance, remember to look at relevancy. If you have large audience influencers and niche micro-influencers in your campaign, straight-line metrics may not be comparable. For example, someone with 300k followers on IG who gets 50 comments has a lower engagement than someone with 25k followers with 30 comments. And if the 25k influencer's niche more closely matches your audience, that may be the more valuable result. Then look beyond the numbers by taking it a step deeper and evaluate the quality and insights within the comments for each. You'll really learn how the campaign resonates with those audience groups.

Truly, this can often be a problem when campaigns reach large-scale numbers of participants. Individual performance isn't always exactly easy with platforms now (particularly when you're looking for social media performance that's often hidden or accessible only to creators). Depending on how you track campaigns, it may be best to choose only one or two metrics and rely on things like tracking links, sentiment, or first-party engagement, or invest in third-party API tools that can bring this info in-house with creator consent.

Boost top performing Influencer content with Ads, ensure that these Ads are appropriately tagged and measure performance to understand who to collaborate with again.

Evaluation isn't just about numbers; it's about measuring the true impact of your influencers. Are they effectively resonating with your target audience, boosting brand awareness, and influencing purchasing decisions? Keeping a watchful eye on campaign performance allows you to adapt to emerging trends, shifts in consumer behavior, and changes in platform algorithms.

Building trust and conveying your brand values to the influencer is crucial. Ensure the influencer’s alignment with your values and motivation to deliver. Ideally, the product or service should resonate with the influencer’s personal use, allowing them to be authentic. Post-campaign feedback and improvement insights are vital. Everyone should respect deadlines and KPIs, but try to trust the creator’s vision for innovation. The better the creator understands your goal and message, the higher is the chance of a successful campaign. The type of influencer matters – if you seek quality conversions and not just reach, consider a niched influencer. Take usage of influencer marketing beyond just reach. Reach can be achieved with traditional ads.

I think teaching influencers to track and analyze their efforts using data, is really important. Tools like Analytics, and social media analytics provide information that is so important to developing content and campaigns.

To improve influencer performance, it’s important to strengthen their emotional intelligence, helping them connect more effectively with their audience and handle stress. Diverse content workshops and teaming up with others can boost their creativity. Understanding personal branding and sticking to ethical advertising standards ensures they remain consistent and trustworthy. Analyzing audience data helps influencers adjust their strategies for better engagement. Using AI-powered tools can help them share content at the right time and make it more personalized for their viewers.

Recognize that influencer marketing is not one-size-fits-all. Be flexible in adapting your support strategies to the unique needs and preferences of each influencer. Tailoring your approach enhances the influencer's comfort and creativity. Consider building long-term relationships with influencers who consistently perform well. These partnerships can yield deeper brand alignment and loyalty, resulting in more authentic and impactful content.

At the end of the day, influencer marketing is not a one off event. It's about building a commitment to growing your brand awareness and long-term relationships with influencers for sustainable ROAS and performance. In addition, it's about constantly trying new things and adapting to new trends. TikTok has changed influencer marketing overnight and what might work today might not work tomorrow. We tell our clients that 20% of their budget should be spent on experimentation with 80% of the majority on meeting strict performance KPIS.