Cahya Utami Septariayanthi

How to work with Online Influencers: 7 Things Not to Do In a world of content marketing, of course, you want to sell your brands to the customers. But it is not just about selling stuff, the main goal here is to attract and engage the right customers. Gathering the customers surely takes time and here come the saviour of content marketing, online influencer. Working with influencers, you have to be careful because it is like embarking down a crucial path. You can either work together and nailed it, or have them lead you into the wrong way of marketing. With that warning in mind, here are some things you have to pay attention at to get influencers walking the same path with you, and help you to market your brands. 1. Stop bugging them with follow-ups Of course, you should watch over their progress but doesn't mean you have to obnoxious and spam them every single time. Influencers usually not only working for one brand, they are packed with works and projects. Sending more than two follow-ups in a week is a big no, yes you try to be persistent but they see it as being pushy. They have a life too and put yourself in their shoes, no one like it when someone keeps pushing them while they're working. 2. One way relationship Business is a give and takes relationship, so remember not to approach them with only 'take' in your manner. If you act like a client, it will create a distance between you and the influencer. State your opinions, ideas, or maybe help them, with your skill and knowledge. Assist and value them upfront, be their working colleagues, not their client. Better than that, maybe you have to build relationship beforehand with them. 3. Not providing guidelines Influencer using social media as their platform, here you have to set the guidelines on how you want them to promote your brand. You need the maximum exposure here, you want them to mention your brands everywhere. Require them to mention and tag you in every social media, so you won't lose sales and followers. 4. Don't depend solely on the influencers Hiring them not means you have to depend on the influencers too much for the marketing of your brands. Besides that, you have to approach the customers with various ways. Because of buzzers that the influencers do, do not always work well. Using their services is only one way to reach the customers. A multifaceted approach is needed for the marketing here, as you assist them influencer you have to find another way to reach the goal. 5. Not set aside budget for the influencers Influencers that have unique skills and capabilities in their job won't accept the job if you only offering them standard rate. Gaining their trust and get them to work for you effectively you will have to dig your budget deeper. It'll be worth it because influencers that have high rate usually have a lot of impacts whenever they give a brand some exposure. You get what you pay because the price is never lying to you. 6. Giving them unreasonable requests Be careful on your demands, because it'll affect the result of the campaign. Demands like over mentioning the brands, brands placement to get maximum exposure at the content might resulting influencer's audience will alienating not only the unsuccessful campaign but also influencer's losing the audience that they have. Let them do it in their own way, they know the audience well. 7. Controlling the voice content too much The easiest way to create content, of course, the fastest way to get the work done, but it'll result in superficial content. Instead of telling them what to say, give them few points of guidelines and let them developed it into a content with their own words and style. Every influencer have their own styles and ways to do their job. It is proven that their job is to make them who they are and made you hiring them. Always remember to appreciate their works, that way you will get them to help you again in the future. Asking them to do analytical report might for the performance and engagement is needed so you could see just how much their tactics work for the marketing. Reflect on it and use it for your future content marketing.