3 Tried & True Types of Influencer Collaborations
The ACTIVATE platform supports an array of influencer partnerships, from product reviews and live events to long term ambassadorships. We consider campaigns on the ACTIVATE platform to be open-ended!
Not sure where to start, or just need some inspiration for your next influencer program? We’ve broken down the three most popular and successful Collaborations below:
Product Review
How to know if your brand can benefit from product reviews?
Product reviews are the most popular type of influencer-brand partnership. In fact, it is a consistent type of collaboration we see on ACTIVATE year after year. One thing to note is that product reviews have now progressed beyond just blogging. Brands often use product review posts for the launch of a new product to spread brand awareness and engagement. With that, companies are typically looking for an established vertical of influencers to promote this recognition for their product.
Here is how to choose your influencers on your next product review collaboration. Does your product require a blogger, instagrammer, or YouTube star?
ENGAGEMENT: Typically when ACTIVATE sees high engagement rates, this implies that followers of the content creators are enjoying the message and are interested in the insight they provide. ACTIVATE recommends an engagement rate from 2–5% on Instagram as an ideal metric.
AUTHENTICITY: When promoting a product or brand, an influencer’s audience looks to them to be their true self. Followers gain trust from influencers when they are passionate, genuine and most of all authentic with their content.
Ambassador Program
Who represents your brand?
Brands are utilizing ACTIVATE to search for content creators in the influencer marketing space to carry out longer partnerships over time. According to our 2018 State of Influencer Marketing report, 37.42% of influencers shared they are now focused on year-long activations instead of one-off collaborations. Year-long collaborations allow the influencer to embody the brand that he or she is endorsing by incorporating it into their lives for a longer period of time. These influencers are what ACTIVATE likes to call “true fans.” Ambassadorships are significant in this space because of the commitment they require. Creators are thrilled when a program lasts longer than the traditional month. We also recommend giving ambassadors direct access to the brand. We find that their dedication goes beyond the title- it is the feeling of exclusivity.
Two things to keep in mind when starting your next ambassador programs on ACTIVATE:
TIMELINE (and how pricing is affected): With longer programs, various requirements might change over time. Please be mindful to keep all influencers in this loop. While influencers enjoy being long term partners of the brand, there are certain timelines to consider. Normally ambassador collaborations can last anywhere from several months to a full year. With this sensitive timeline, there is additional pricing that has to be considered. For example, a typical restriction for ambassadors is not being able to work with other competitors — this may result in an additional 20% pay increase. Another requirement for ambassadors is to include in their bio on IG, FB, blog, that they are an ambassador for the brand for the duration of the campaign. This may result in a 10% pay increase.
AMBASSADOR SELECTION: If your program requires influencers for longer terms, it’s important to consider the selection process. ACTIVATE recommends in building partnerships while looking for influencers to represent your brand in a positive light. We often see brands basing selections off of influencers excitement and how they can get their followers excited. With the right selection, brand ambassadors can increase brand awareness and sales. If your brand ambassador is the voice and face of your company, they should be relatable to the brand and also customers. Keep in mind that ambassadors also represent your customers.
In-Store/ Event Attendance
What’s a successful product launch without an event or party?
To our pleasant surprise, event collaborations are being activated more frequently on our platform than ever before.
But how do you know if your next product launch warrants or needs an influencer component? It depends on the marketing goal and timing around the product launch — for example, a jewelry brand may be releasing their summer collection in-stores. They want to drive in-store traffic and in-store sales during a specific weekend. In this case, we would say influencer marketing is a great idea because there is a specific product to promote on a set date.
Here are two reasons an in-store/event attendance influencer activation is the right fit for your brand:
Influencers can bring attention to the brick and mortar store and highlight any in-store benefits such as the ability to customize items, try products on, customer service, or unique shopping experience. This is far more engaging and experiential than the influencer creating content about this collection at home. There are certain requirements that must be met when in attendance- such as creating compelling content while working the room. Some influencers that are more active on IG Stories or YouTube may be a good fit to attend your event because they most likely will have the marketing skills and personality to showcase the event and your products in an exciting way.
The content influencers can be posted in live-time during the event and their audiences can follow along as they interact with the product, store aesthetic, and any store team members. They can shop and share their commentary about the products in live-time and show the environment of the store or event space. The art of creating content that drives sales and foot traffic to store is certainly influential.
On the other hand, a brand whose product is mostly available online would not benefit from spending marketing budget on an influencer in-store/event attendance because the product can be reviewed and purchased from home.
Once you decide what influencers can help promote your in-store product launch, here are three things to keep in mind when partnering or contracting with influencers:
Payment: We see that influencers are more responsive to castings for in-store/event attendance when there is a monetary flat fee. This is because the commitment to the event can be time-consuming and of course, we would all agree that time is valuable. We typically see a combination of flat fee and product for the influencer to attend the event. Influencers with bigger followers cost more — however, if there is a true connection or passion for the brand, pricing can be negotiated.
Contract: Be sure to include brand exclusivity and content repurposing rights in your influencer agreement, if this is something your brand is looking for. For example, 2–3 weeks before and after the event date, the influencer cannot post about a competitor. Additionally, you can work with the influencer to get permission and rights to re-post the content created before, during, or after the event and use it for the next 3 months. The contract should also state the event SOW, including how long the influencer should be at the event, what he/she should post, adherence to any additional guidelines.
Scope of Work: What are you asking the influencer to create for you? We typically see in-store/event influencer activations include content posted before, during, and after the event. For example, you can ask the influencer to publish 3 IG Stories the week before the event, letting his/her followers know they will be in attendance. During the event, the influencer can try out different products, conduct polls on his/her IG Stories, and give mini reviews. Lastly, after the event, the influencer can share the products he/she purchased at the event and encourage his/her followers to go in-store.
So the next time you’re thinking about launching a brand new product, new store openings, or watch party for the upcoming season, don’t hesitate to launch a campaign to help drive your event collaboration forward and find the right influencers to invite to your event.
Please keep in mind to two key components to highlight when launching any collaboration are FTC disclosures and Usage Rights. It is important to note specific content guidelines when campaigns as such are being executed. All content is required to have a disclosure including social media that work is monetized. When carrying out a sponsored content program, please be mindful for all content creators to include their handy and trustworthy disclosures, #Sponsored and #Ad.
ACTIVATE included Usage Rights filters onto our platform earlier this year. More than ever, users are understanding their rights as content creators. It is important for creators to understand and agree to how their content may be re-purposed by brands. Whether the specifics for the Usage Rights being used are for organic + paid social rights or full digital usage, it is imperative to make this clear when launching your next sponsored post collaboration.
Take a look at our article for Surfacing Influencers’ #ad and #sponsored Saturation on Instagram!
Whether your next program is sampling, or a long term activation to find your core fans, ACTIVATE is always excited to see how these collaborations will be executed!
ACTIVATE is a fully end-to-end influencer marketing platform, covering influencer discovery, program workflow, measurement, and analytics. The platform consists of an opt-in network of 150,000+ vetted and authenticated influencers. Pinpoint niche groups by leveraging our geo-targeting and micro-survey capabilities or dive in deep with our curated networks of creators. Notably, the networks span a diverse variety of influencers including ‘vegan foodies’, ‘outdoor enthusiasts’ , ‘bohemian stylistas’ (and more!). Need a hand? Leverage ACTIVATE Studio, our in-house team of influencer strategists to build out and execute custom influencer initiatives.
Want to learn more about Bloglovin’ or ACTIVATE? Just drop us a note at research@activate.social.
