Negotiating with Influencers: How to Facilitate an Effective Partnership

Originally, before making a purchase, people would ask their friends, read reviews, and view previous users’ opinions before making a decision. However, this has shifted the past few years more and more through the power of social media and influencers. Over time, influencer marketing has become one of the most effective ways of boosting brand awareness, sales, leads, and revenue. Endorsements by the right influencer can elevate your business in unimaginable ways. However, with unmatched popularity, getting to work with these influencers can be challenging. Below are some tips to help in negotiating with influencers.

Tips for Negotiating With Influencers
1. Identify Your Target Audience

The power of social media influencers becomes useless if they market to the wrong target audience. For instance, if your brand deals with healthy eating and weight-loss diets, you should segment your target audience and identify potential effective influencers. Segmenting their profiles is important as it determines who they are targeting. You want their audience to line up with yours.

If you are looking for customers interested in weight loss products, choosing an automotive influencer will likely not be effective. You should choose profiles that associate with your brand philosophy and products. This not only generates a significant impact but also builds customer trust.

2. Determine Compensation According to Your Values

Social media influencers spend their time and effort creating quality marketing content. Most of them have their predetermined rate cards which indicate specific charges for their services. While negotiating compensation, it is important to present your brand’s values. These similar values can help you negotiate, as it shows that you have done your research into who they are.

You can bargain depending on the nature of the content they should deliver. As well as, the probability of long-term engagement. Influencers may also consider offering discounts if you are willing to cover content production costs. For instance, when creating promotional videos, you can provide the necessary equipment and a videographer.

Some factors that influence compensation include;

Influencers’ audience reach
Quality of content
Level of expertise
Duration of partnership
The number of posts expected

Furthermore, when negotiating with influencers, you can sweeten the deal by offering additional perks. These can include free merchandise, meals and drinks, free membership/subscription, ongoing discounts, and other perks.

3. Choose a Strategy

As mentioned, social media influencers are becoming reliable digital marketing options with more than 89.2% effectiveness. However, without a proper strategy, your influencer campaign may remain invisible. Influencers can use several marketing strategies to broaden your brand awareness. Among them include promoting a giveaway from your page. They can post pictures on their social media profiles with details of how to participate in the giveaway.

While choosing a strategy, you should also negotiate specific campaign deliverables. Your chosen influencer should understand the specific digital marketing goals and key performance indicators. Some of the key deliverables to include in your influencer campaign proposal include;

Use of your brand’s key message
The specific type of content
Sticking to timelines and deadlines
Generating mentions and links
Including calls to action
Promoting affiliate links and discount codes

Your deliverables can be as follows; “Post two Instagram stories weekly at 2 pm and 8 pm. Stories should conclude with calls to action and specific hashtags.”

With clear goals, you should also negotiate the specific KPIs that reflect the set goals. This includes;

Engagement reach
Referral traffic
Follower count
Hashtag performance
Negotiate Exclusivity

Without exclusivity, your influencer campaign will be compromised if the influencer also promotes your competitor’s products. While influencers might like to promote other products for income, you should strike a deal for various forms of exclusivity. When discussing exclusivity, consider the platforms used, duration of the campaign, territory, third-party, and warranties. This binds the influencer to your specific brand for a specific time-frame. You should also discuss an appropriate exit strategy.

Bottom Line

When working and negotiating with influencers, ensure that you are continuing to build the relationship. Also, stick to your end of the bargain by providing specific goals and metrics to measure performance. Finally, be sure to include clauses that protect your business’s interests without harming the influencers’ future aspirations.

Looking for help? Tired and believing there has got to be a better way?

Let’s talk about your business. With over a decade of experience leading companies and transforming lives, and a Master’s degree in Org. Development and Leadership, Mike can help you find the best way forward!

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