How to Partner with Social Influencers

There’s an old adage that it takes a village to raise a child.

For many entrepreneurs, their business is their baby and some situations call for more hands on deck. Social media and marketing doesn’t happen in a vacuum so get out there and develop relationships with social influencers for maximum impact on your brand’s marketing strategies.

Main image via Shutterstock

Who are social influencers?

Well, that varies from industry to industry but, broadly speaking, social influencers are thought leaders who can reach your target demographic in ways that perhaps you aren’t able.

“Engaging with social media influencers allows you to increase awareness of your brand, create brand advocates, increase online reputation, and increase pagerank. Whether your business objective is to increase awareness or improve SEO traffic, social media influencers can help with that” - Kristina Cisnero, Hootsuite

Define who the social influencers are in your market though sources like Klout, popular blogs, and reviews of your own social connections. And of course, there are a few things to keep in mind when you start to form partnerships between influencers and your brand:

More isn’t always merrier

No one likes feeling like they’re just a cog in a wheel, so choose your influencers carefully and begin with a limited number. Reach out with personalized messages that show you’ve done your homework and have selected them for their obvious relevance to your brand. This is the time for carefully worded emails with a personal touch, not spammy DMs that could apply to just anyone.

Share the love

Make sure to take care of the social influencers who take care of you - share, love, like, retweet, and comment on their content just as they do for you. After all, visible engagement is what social media is all about, and being good at it is what gets influencers where they are today.

Review and reflect

Set aside some time periodically to review the social influencers you’ve partnered with to make sure you’re both on the same page. Perhaps your brand has gone in a different direction or maybe their sphere of influence has changed and your partnership adjusted accordingly. Remember, you’re both investing time and energy in the process so make it count.

What are some of your strategies for reaching out to social influencers?

Share your thoughts in the comments.