Brands Are In It for the Long Haul When Picking Influencers

When Billie Schaub started working at the CBD brand Ned in December, she pitched her reluctant CEOs an influencer marketing strategy. After a less-than-fruitful history of working with creators, that approach was, Schaub recalls being told, “the best way to flush money down the toilet.” “I wanted to completely revamp the program,” said Schaub, the brand’s marketing manager. “When we have our first call with influencers, we say, ‘We don’t want this to be a one-and-done and never talk to you again type of deal. We want to create a relationship with you over the next months and years.’” After starting with an empty roster at the beginning of the year, Schaub has built out a team of 88 influencers, who average a 109% ROI on their posts. In addition to creating sponsored posts, Ned also encourages its influencers to contribute to the brand's blog and co-sponsor events, which Schaub said facilitates a more holistic relationship. Before Schaub took over the program, the brand wasn’t thinking about long-term influencer partnerships. But like many companies, Ned is restructuring its relationship with creators. Brands are deepening their ties with influencers, and instead of looking for human billboards to feature in one-off posts where success is determined by measurable impressions, more marketers are seeking recurring brand advocates. “Brands have evolved their perceptions of working with creators,” said Neil Waller, co-founder of creator commerce company Whalar. “They now recognize that creators are business owners and the new publishers who can deliver measurable results in addition to brilliant creative ideas.” A win for all This fluid relationship has been fueled by a changing dynamic between brands and creators. At this stage of influencer marketing, brands are scouting out long-term influencers who can establish allegiance to a product in a way that followers trust. After revamping its influencer marketing program to bring on top Minecraft influencers, which are now acting as long-term brand partners, Misfits Gaming Group went from 220,000 to 330,000 followers “pretty much overnight,” according to CMO Steve Brauntuch. He summarized the media company’s old strategy as “lacking connective tissue.” “When we had something to say, we were borrowing someone else’s equity to say it, which didn’t do much for the brand,” he said, adding that engaging in one-off stunts with influencers limits a brand's legitimate stake in the influencer's image. This dynamic is gaining traction because it is beneficial to all three parties: creator, brand and consumer. Miranda Rae, who is part of Hollister’s Creator Collective, told Adweek she values the trust built through a long-term partnership with a brand, which leads to more control over the creative direction of content. Creators in the driver's seat Katy Wellhousen, senior account director for Hollister at agency 160over90, said the relationship between the brand and its long-term partners is genuine. For instance, Hollister's marketing team sends creators flowers when they’re sick, keeps in touch via text and takes them to lunch. According to Wellhousen, expressing care toward creators has “gone a long way in really humanizing the brand.” Wellhousen’s goal for clients Hollister and its influencer-driven brand, Social Tourist, is to build symbiotic relationships with creators. “They’re not billboards or media buys; they’re people—artists, really. We’re seeing a shift across the industry, at least for trend-forward brands, to rethink how brands should work with creators.” Deeper relationships foster trust between influencers and brands which, in turn, leads to creative liberty. According to Shanna Gebhard, who has maintained an influencer platform since 2010 and worked with brands like American Girl and Disney, today’s partnerships are often less mutually beneficial when a brand's production expectations are unrealistic. “Brands are expecting all creators to be at the level of a major movie production company,” she said. “Some want commercial-level quality, but that’s not what an influencer is here for.” While long-term relationships may result in greater expectations from brands, influencers rely on them to maintain an authentic image in the eyes of their followers. According to Ben Jeffries, CEO and co-founder of marketing platform Influencer, consumers would rather see creators closely champion a few brands than promote hundreds. “It’s not always about promoting the brand in product form,” Jeffries said. “You might get creators appearing in TV adverts, on billboards or on your website. They’re able to do that because they’re genuine ambassadors, so it opens up the influencer marketing world even further.”

Influencers & Creators

Why Brands Are In It for the Long Haul When Picking Influencers

Marketers are no longer chasing one-off stunts, which often read as inauthentic

Emmy Liederman

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Emmy Liederman