Planning Long Term Influencer Partnerships

The new year is the perfect time to start your influencer marketing strategy on the right note and partner with influencers for the year. Long term partnerships are mutually beneficial for brands and influencers. Brands are able to build long-lasting relationships with their influencer partners, and influencers are able to maintain trust with their audience because they promote the same brand over a long period of time.

Before you start a new long term partnership, however, you will want to take several key factors into account to ensure the program’s success.

Set Clear Goals & Requirements Ahead of Time

The more you plan ahead of launching the yearlong partnership, the smoother things will run. Take time to structure the program, from how many influencers you’ll be activating to how many posts they’ll be creating and what your key performance indicators are.

Be clear and upfront from the get go about how many social posts you are looking for, as well as the cadence of posts. No one likes to be blindsided with changing requirements, so the more clear you can be upfront about your expectations, the better.

Partner With Influencers Who Have Proven Track Records

If you are working with influencers for a whole year, you will want to work with creators who can help you meet your marketing and sales goals. Use analytical tools to measure engagement and reach metrics, and follow the influencers to see firsthand how engaged their community is.

Should sales be the primary objective of your campaign, you can request case studies or conversion metrics from potential influencer partners.

Need some more assistance deciding what type or types of influencer to work with? Check out our guide on influencer selection.

Know When To Switch Gears

As much as you should try to stick to your original game plan, goals may change over the course of the partnership. In that case—or in the case that an influencer’s content is not performing as well as you had hoped—it is okay to consider experimenting and changing tactics.

Perhaps it’s switching an Instagram post requirement to a set of Instagram Stories since an influencer’s audience engages more with stories, or changing the creative direction for a post. Within reason, it is completely acceptable to have a conversation with the influencer about changing the plan. If you are asking to add more deliverables, extend the timeline, or any other major changes, however, you may need to pay an additional fee to the influencer.

Work With an Agency Who Will Do the Heavy Lifting

Whether activating 1 influencer or 100, a long term campaign features many moving pieces. Partnering with an agency like Lytehouse can help take a lot of the work off your plate and allow you to focus on big picture initiatives. From casting influencers to coordinating posts to campaign reporting, agencies are there to help with large partnerships and can offer unparalleled expertise on best practices.