What are the most effective ways to collaborate and co-create with influencers and advocates?

Influencer marketing and advocacy campaigns are powerful ways to boost your brand awareness, reach new audiences, and generate trust and loyalty. But how do you create and execute these campaigns effectively? In this article, we'll share some tips and best practices for collaborating and co-creating with influencers and advocates in the context of integrated marketing.

1 Define your goals and metrics

Before you start reaching out to potential influencers and advocates, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you'll measure your success. Do you want to increase your website traffic, social media engagement, conversions, or referrals? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you'll use to track your progress and ROI? Having specific and realistic goals and metrics will help you align your influencer marketing and advocacy campaigns with your overall marketing strategy and budget.

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Brandon Perlman

Founder + CEO at Social Studies, Inc. | Adweek Fastest Growing Agencies
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The way my company, Social Studies, Inc. always starts these conversations is to ask our clients to reflect on who they "think is doing it well" right now on social media. Looking at like-minded brands, competitors, and even one's own social feeds grounds any conversation in their perspective and memorializes "what good looks like." From there it is key to understand their goals around their specific needs. Is this a brand campaign? A subscription-driver? A new product launch? Each execution comes with very unique KPIs and requires different creators, aesthetics, and audience targets.

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2 Identify and segment your influencers and advocates

Not all influencers and advocates are created equal. You need to do some research and analysis to find the ones that are relevant, credible, and influential for your target audience and niche. You can use tools like BuzzSumo, Traackr, or Upfluence to discover and evaluate influencers based on their reach, resonance, and relevance. You can also segment your influencers and advocates into different categories, such as micro, macro, or mega influencers, or brand ambassadors, loyal customers, or industry experts. This will help you tailor your approach and offer to each group.

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3 Build genuine and long-term relationships

One of the most important aspects of influencer marketing and advocacy campaigns is to build genuine and long-term relationships with your collaborators. You don't want to treat them as mere tools or transactions, but as partners and co-creators. To do this, you need to communicate clearly and respectfully, show appreciation and recognition, provide value and support, and solicit feedback and input. You also need to respect their creative freedom and authenticity, and avoid being too controlling or demanding.

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4 Co-create engaging and relevant content

The core of any influencer marketing and advocacy campaign is the content that you co-create and distribute with your collaborators. You want to make sure that your content is engaging, relevant, and consistent with your brand voice and values, as well as your collaborators' style and tone. You can co-create different types of content, such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, social media posts, webinars, or ebooks, depending on your goals and platforms. You can also leverage user-generated content (UGC) from your advocates, such as testimonials, reviews, or photos, to amplify your social proof and credibility.

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Vicky Wu

Fractional CMO ✭ 7-Figure Growth for Entrepreneurs ✭ 20+ Years Marketing Expertise ✭ Geek ✭ Ballroom Dancer ✭ Artist
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One spot I see entrepreneurs miss the mark when coordinating with influencers or is leaving too much in the influencer's hands. What they say or post needs to be authentic for them (we are all audience, and we can all tell when it is not), yet you shouldn't leave them with zero direction. You also don't want to script them to the point that they sound fake. Only you know your goals and important brand points; at a minimum provide a short bullet list of some of those talking points, so that the influencer knows that they're touching upon things important to your goals. And ... always have a written agreement, like I recommend in my blog https://vickywu.us/using-a-microinfluencer-where-do-businesses-go-wrong/

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5 Amplify and optimize your campaigns

Once you have your content ready, you need to amplify and optimize your influencer marketing and advocacy campaigns to reach and convert your target audience. You can use various channels and tactics, such as email marketing, social media marketing, SEO, paid ads, or PR, to promote and distribute your content. You can also encourage your collaborators to share and repurpose your content on their own platforms and networks. You also need to monitor and analyze your campaigns' performance and impact, using tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite, or Sprout Social, and make adjustments and improvements as needed.

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What are the most effective ways to collaborate and co-create with influencers and advocates?

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1 Define your goals and metrics

2 Identify and segment your influencers and advocates

3 Build genuine and long-term relationships

4 Co-create engaging and relevant content

5 Amplify and optimize your campaigns

Integrated Marketing

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