5 ways to set up an Instagram influencer for success

You’ve found your influencers. They’re onboard. Your campaign is ready to kick off. Next steps: Create the content.

This is where collaboration is key. The Instagram influencer serves as the content creator, but you are the expert on your brand. Let the influencers take the creative reins, but with clear direction and open communication from you.

Dawn Burns of @thenashvillemom, a guide to family-friendly events and activities in the Nashville area, helped us come up with five ways you can help an influencer promote your campaign without a problem.

1. Allow enough time.

Reach out about a campaign well in advance, not the week of your post date. Things come up, and “I’ve changed my content calendar around for brands I really want to work with,” Dawn says, but ideally, she has the information 1.5 to 2 months before deadline.

Influencers often juggle multiple campaigns, so contacting them ahead helps ensure they have the capacity to represent you and to do so well.

2. Set a clear schedule.

Spell out your process rather than simply providing a post date. Inform your influencers of any rounds of review you require so they are working in line with your “mini deadlines”.

3. Establish expectations early — and stick to them.

Do you want photos styled a certain way? Give specific guidelines and examples. Are there mandatory details for the caption? Provide all in writing. How many posts do you require? Do they need posts or Instagram stories? Specify all formats and frequencies.

Setting clear expectations upfront helps ensure your brand is represented appropriately within a post reflective of the influencer’s style. You will also help eliminate back-and-forth that could potentially delay the deadline.

It’s also important not to add more expectations and deliverables: “It makes me wary to work with a brand again if they keep asking for more work after my part is complete, and they don’t offer more compensation,” Dawn says.

4. Provide only products you want to be featured.

Help eliminate confusion for the influencer. Dawn once received a variety of products from a brand, thinking anything in the box was fair game. But when she submitted her photos, she learned she shot a product the brand didn’t want spotlighted, and the entire process had to start over.

Follow up.

Micromanaging not necessary — simply touch base with your influencers throughout the process to make sure they don’t have questions or concerns. “One brand manager I worked with continued to follow up with me and walked me through each step along the way,” Dawn says. “Because she painted a clear picture of what she was looking for, there were no edits needed.”

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The support you offer influencers not only benefits your current campaign, but also builds rapport for potential future partnerships. “I’m much more willing to work with brands I’ve built a good relationship with,” Dawn says. “Someone I know I can trust.”

Are you looking to build more brand-influencer relationships? Let us help.