The typical brand manager is eager to promote their brand by marketing through influencers. However, it’s usually a little unclear influencers do, and what their true value is. This article will help to pull back the curtain on influencers and all that they do.

A Day in the Life of an Influencer

• Posting amazing content. Influencers are constantly posting new, exciting content to their social platforms. While it may seem like an easy task to snap a selfie, the quality of such content has risen in recent years. The more technology available, the better the content has become. You can no longer snap a bathroom selfie and expect the likes to flood in (unless you’re Kim Kardashian). Now, influencers have content calendars and plan photo shoots. They use their skills at photo-editing, video production, and graphic design to offer the best possible content to their followers.
• Engaging with their community. If an influencer is successfully engaging their audience, they will have comments, and direct messages, and shout outs, and regrams, and tags, and all sorts of other interactions to respond to. Influencers are no longer posting from their pedestals; influencers, now more than ever, are creating authentic relationships with their followers and that takes time, effort, and a friendly/authentic demeanor.
• Practicing their growth hacks. Influencers are constantly discovering new ways to gain followers, promote engagement, and get better results. Whether they’re using Gary Vaynerchuk’s $1.80 strategy or working with other influencers for giveaways, these influencers are putting in the effort everyday to build their following.
• Researching and learning. Odds are, your influencer is subscribed to the latest podcasts, emails, blogs, and Instagram accounts that can help them build their empire. They are learning new growth hacks everyday, studying the successes of other influencers, and hustling to find the next big opportunity.
• Creating more amazing content

Brands Should Know…

Influencers are hard-working. Content creation is a struggle for even well-established brands, so what influencers have accomplished is staggering. Content on Instagram and other platforms is higher quality than ever before. Influencers typically have a full-time job on top of all the work they are putting in to their social platforms. Juggling this is a skill and brands need to remember that influencers are hustling just like the rest of us.

Creating community is a never-ending effort. Influencers weren’t built overnight. Influencers can’t just buy a community (despite some who try) and are constantly working to maintain these standards. Marketing through influencers should acknowledge the hard work of building an audience when brands formulate their partnerships.

True influencers won’t sell their soul. An influencer has spent years building their audience, and they won’t jeopardize that for a few free products. According to Forbes, every influencer they surveyed had turned down a brand request at least once. They cited their values, personal brand, and the need to maintain their creative freedom.

Influencers are not billboards. If your brand wants to blast customers with their message, then they need to rent a blimp or a billboard. Influencers are sharing their real, authentic opinions about a product and won’t simply be a mouthpiece for your message. Skip the script and instead equip the influencer with everything they need to create quality content with your products.

Let Influencers Be Influencers

The worst thing a brand can do is to make an influencer follow what your brand is doing to the letter. Marketing through influencers should allow influencers to do what they do best. Influencers are not another space for your to post brand content. Influencers are content creators who know what resonates with their audience and can be given the freedom to promote your product.

Unfortunately, influencers will never be without some oversight from brands. That just means that brands and influencers need to trust each other in order to create even better content. Understanding that an influencer has a separate set of skills from your other marketing personnel will help you better use all of their creative, finely-tuned abilities.

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