5 Benefits of Long-Term Influencer Partnerships
When influencer marketing first started out, it’s was viewed as a type of gorilla marketing tactic. It came with a sort of anything goes “strategic’ mentality. Because it was a newer tactic in the overall marketing mix, brands that jumped on the influencer bandwagon early on had few benchmarks in place to determine success. All these early adapters knew was its unique and promising marketing medium worth testing out.
Now that influencer marketing tactics have become more of a staple in a brands marketing plan, we see much more methodical strategizes come into play such as long-term partnerships or ‘always-on’ ambassadorship. Why? In the article, we’ll outline the five main reasons long-term influencers partnerships are beneficial to both brands and content creators.
Stronger More Authentic Relationships
The vetting and selection process of finding the ‘right’ influencers for a brand to collaborate with is not quick or straightforward activity – especially for brands taking on influencer marketing in-house without agency support. Developing long-term relationships allows brands to build genuine relationships with their favourite content creators, which in turn allows the influencer(s) to craft more authentic content for their audiences.
More Robust Planning & Timelines
When working with a handful or a thousand influencers, you’re working with a handful or a thousand individual business owners – all of which have their own timelines and schedules. This means that it’s unlikely a brand’s ideal timeline will match everyone they’re looking to collaborate with. Long-term partnerships, a little more planning is needed in the upfront however you have the opportunity to have a clear understanding of when and what an influencer will be posting about for your brand.
For example, you partner with five influencers for a year-long collaboration; each influencer will create two posts per month that align with your brand’s sales and marketing calendars. You can send them all the products in advance and creating a posting schedule with each. Before the year is up, you know that you’ll have curated 120 pieces of unique content for your brand.
Clearly defined contracts
When working with some influencers on a one of basis, there’s a possibility of encountering many possible hiccups along the way. An influencer backs out last minute, a product ships, but you never hear from them again, a post is published but doesn’t mention the product or brand, these are just a few examples that brands encounter. Most long-term influencer partnerships come with contracts that outline the relationship and expectations from both parties. This could include but is not limited to available products, posting schedule, brand assets, key messages, expected payment timeline, metrics and reporting, etc.
Simplified budgeting and invoicing
Each influencer charges differently for the services they provide, and when working with a group of individuals on a one-off basis, many different invoices will come your way at different times. With long-term ambassadorship programs, there’s an opportunity to set up a more simple billing process that benefits both brand and influencer. For example, for a year-long collaboration, a brand and influencer agree on a set quarterly payment of x amount.
Creative freedom for all
Long-term collaborations allow the influencers to understand the brand that they are working with. They’ll have a better understanding of the voice, tone, and style that the brand is looking for. This is better for the brand, so they don’t feel the need to ‘babysit’ the content of their creators. More importantly, influencers will have more time in their court to develop creative ideas that the brand and their audience will love.