Maslow's Hierarchy of Influencer Marketing Needs

Brands must satisfy lower foundational needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs.

How do you adopt this into your influencer marketing plan?

I. Survival

Air, water, food, shelter, clothing - these essentials must be met by a person in order to survive. In influencer marketing, it's a no-brainer. The first level is through influencer seeding. A proper influencer marketing program cannot function optimally without it.?

Everyone says they believe in an authentic influencer community. But their behavior disproves this by doing a bunch of transactional one-off posts. Money is creating the "advocacy" instead of the creator's own love for the brand. Instead, you need get as many people as possible your product, and let the advocates reveal themselves. This is when everyone nods their head in agreement, "You're right, we only want to work with people who truly love us." There's only 1 way to find out! Start seeding micro's.

Build relationships on giving, not asking. Learn more about seeding here:

II. Safety & Security

Next, people want to experience order and predictability.?What's a predictable outcome of genuine advocates? Content. Creators posting, sharing, and talking about you - the new brand they love. Not all who receive your product (much like your customers), will spread the word. But more people are posting about you than they did yesterday (for free I might add). Expect 30% of everyone you send product to, to produce content.?

III. Social Belonging

The need for connectedness and being part of a group. You have built relationships the right way. You have content being shared about you. It's time to showcase the trust you've built to other audiences, making potential customers want to join in.

Get usage rights and run paid ad campaigns with the influencer UGC thats being posted.?

More on this here:

IV. Esteem

The need for accomplishment and respect. Provide this to certain creators and give them a long-term seat at your table. This is what an Ambassador Program is. Which ones do I invite??Out of the pool of people that I've seeded...

Do they check these 3 boxes:

?? feedback of wanting to work together?

?? produced great content

?? granted usage rights and performed well

Seal the deal!

Deliverables to include in the contract:

1. Monthly UGC creation

2. Monthly Organic Post(s) w/ Affiliate Link

3. Usage Rights for Paid Social + Website?

4. Included on Seeding Roster

I'll break each of these down.

1. Monthly UGC Creation. They've proven their creativity & skill. Provide creative briefs that emulate what's working in the ad account (w/o taking away iteration). I'd ask for 3 videos, 1 image with rounds of approval.?

2. Monthly Organic Posts. Give them a custom discount code each month with % commission that's motivating. Here's an example:?

3. Usage Rights for Paid Social + Website. You need the rights to use that UGC creation each month in your ad account. For the website, think "Influencer Favorites" LP to drive traffic to or an ambassador page showcasing all of your advocates.?

4. Seeding Go-To. This influencer will be on your seeding roster. New product launch coming up? You've got the roster to rely on to help you promote it. At QALO, I had a top 50 that got the new product before anyone else that teased it to their audiences around launch.

V. Self-actualization?

Maslow's highest level. This level is the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. In Influencer Marketing, this would be working with what I call, a Flag Bearer.?

Standing on your brand's mountain peak, a Flag Bearer is someone recognizable, who sticks their flag in the ground and states, "I'm representing you." This is a macro/celebrity tier type partnership. Not a one-off post but long-term contract.?

Most brands think this is a foundational need. I'm here to tell you it's the tip of the pyramid, getting to it only as you fulfill the others first. How do you choose what macro to work with? Well, what does your community tell you? Which micro's have rallied around your brand?What influencer content or landing page is performing best? What audiences are converting the most? Let this data guide you.?When you get to the point of wanting to work with a macro, here's some helpful tips:

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