Here's how to create successful collaborations with influencers

The marketing landscape has gone through a major shift

The modern marketing landscape has changed with the advancement of technology and the increasing influence of social media. Radio, newspaper and TV advertising play a smaller role in today's media climate. Influencer marketing has gone from a hobby to becoming a necessary channel for companies to reach their target audiences in a more authentic and engaging way. This shift has brought challenges for businesses but also opened up new opportunities for brands to partner with influencers who can influence purchasing decisions.

Then why are influencers so important? Well, because they have huge reach and their audience likes them and trusts what they have to say about a particular product or service. Therefore, as a marketing manager or CEO, you should definitely work with influencers. Our clear recommendation is that you cooperate with influencers completely based on performance - then you only need to pay an influencer when there are results!

Our top lessons for how to work successfully with influencers

Why should you listen to us? We don't claim to know everything in the world, but we at Addrevenue have worked with influencers for several years now in more than 30 countries. The influencers who are connected on our platform have everything from a thousand followers to several million followers and even though it is a large range, there are many common denominators to be found. On our journey, we've seen business owners make every possible mistake and then came up with the following five principles that characterize how to work successfully with influencers as a CEO or marketing department:

1. Pay only for performance, not exposure
2. Set clear goals and create incentives for the influencer to create more posts/stories in the long term
3. Let the influencer have creative space
4. Instruct the influencer clearly how to label their ads
5. Dare to work with more influencers than the ones with the biggest following

Want to get started and find performance-based collaborations with influencers? Create an advertiser account on Addrevenue and we'll get started right away and help exploit the enormous potential of influencer marketing. Our service is completely free to sign up for and we work with absolutely no commitment period. You only pay us when there are actually results.

Different ways to pay an influencer

When it comes to paying influencers for their work, there are a couple of different approaches to consider. The choice of payment model affects not only your budget but also how the influencer's performance is measured. Here we will present different ways to pay influencers and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each option. But we can reveal that we have two clear favorites among the options.

1. Pay an influencer for every click they generate

This is a method that is not discussed often enough in our opinion. An influencer usually wants to be paid a fixed fee for making a post and you, as marketing manager/CEO, only want to pay for results. We see paying for clicks generated to your website or app as a golden mean, as the influencer has good incentives to post more and be conversion-oriented in their communication. We at Addrevenue have seen good results for companies that work with this payment model through our platform.

Benefits of paying an influencer for each click:

• Clear connection to results when payment is based on clicks.
• Possibility to measure direct effect of the collaboration.
• Potentially lower cost in case of low activity, the downside is limited.
• A protection for the influencer to actually get paid for their work.

Disadvantages of paying an influencer for each click:

• Risk of click fraud and dishonest practices. However, we at Addrevenue have taken this into account because a unique user can only get paid for one click per day via our platform.
• Difficult to control the quality of the traffic.
• Potentially short-term impact if you as a company do not follow up the newly added traffic with retargeting ads via, for example, Meta, Instagram, YouTube or Google.

2. Pay an influencer a fixed amount per post

This is a classic method that has been used since the "beginning of time" in influencer marketing. You do an order job where you pay an influencer, for example, 5,000 to produce a post and three specific stories. You ensure that the exposure happens, but the question is whether an influencer really gets the right incentives that align with your goals - which are probably increased sales? So we don't recommend this primarily as a payment method to work effectively with influencers.

Advantages of paying an influencer a fixed amount for posts:

• Predictable cost of the collaboration.
• Opportunity to control the content of the post because the layout usually becomes a commissioned job.
• Clear arrangement of agreements and expectations.

Disadvantages of to pay an influencer a fixed amount for posts:

• Limited connection to results if the post does not reach the desired number of people.
• Risk that the content may be perceived as impersonal and unreliable.
• No guarantee of engagement or interaction from the influencer's followers, you only pay for quantity here - not quality.

3. Only pay an influencer in connection with sales

The option that at first glance looks the most appetizing to you as an entrepreneur is of course to only pay if there is actually a sale/conversion of your product - and we agree that it is a good alternative that creates good incentives. However, a bit more setup is required to ensure that all parties are fully compensated and it risks sometimes being unfair to an influencer with this setup. Therefore, we have other methods we strongly recommend for cooperation with influencers.

Advantages of only paying an influencer in connection with sales:

• Clear connection between the influencer's work and sales results.
• Risk-free marketing for you as an entrepreneur as payment is only made for concrete results.
• Increased incentive for the influencer to actively market the product - just make sure they also get a discount code as part of the collaboration, otherwise the follow-up may be more difficult.

Disadvantages of only paying an influencer in connection with sales:

• Limited control over how the influencer markets the product.
• Difficult to measure the direct effect of the influencer's work in long-term purchase processes.
• If you do not set up the collaboration correctly, there are certain problems in tracking the influencer in the so-called cross-device trading (i.e. that users first click on to the website via their mobile phone but later make the actual purchase via their laptop or tablet). This means that their compensation risks not being received by the influencer, even though they are responsible for the purchase taking place. This is good in the short term for you as an entrepreneur, but less positive for being able to create a long-term collaboration with the influencer in question. Our recommendation is therefore that you should also use a discount code for the collaboration!
• Possibly the influencer focuses on short-term sales instead of credible branding.

4. Pay an influencer for both clicks and sales

Combination of both paying for actual traffic generated, while rewarding the influencer on actual conversion, we've seen deliver great results for businesses through our platform. It may seem overly generous from your perspective as a marketing manager/CEO, but the incentives created for an influencer are healthy and generate more long-term collaborations than any other method. Therefore, it is one of the two payment methods that we recommend the advertisers on Addrevenue to use. You don't want to have to hunt for new influencers constantly, but the method for scaling up your influencer marketing is long-term and recurring collaborations. We cannot emphasize that enough.

Advantages of paying an influencer for both clicks and sales:

• Combination of two payment methods provides a complete coverage of results.
• Opportunity to reward both traffic generation and concrete sales, which we have seen create long-term collaborations on a completely different level than other payment methods.
• Flexibility and adaptability for different marketing goals.

Disadvantages of paying an influencer for both clicks and sales:

• Increased complexity in agreements and follow-up with two different measurement methods at the same time.
• Mostly requires a discount code to tracking of sales must be 100% linked to a specific influencer.

What exactly is an influencer?

Now we have talked warmly about different payment methods for collaborations with influencers, but we have not actually explained what an influencer is yet. You're probably thinking "Someone doing Instagram", but it's actually not quite that simple. An influencer is a person who has a significant following and has the ability to influence their followers' opinions, purchasing decisions and behaviors. Influencers can operate on various social media platforms and blogs and have often built their trust through authentic content from their own lives and have therefore built a strong engagement with their followers. They act as key people in specific niches (the more niche, the better) and can be an invaluable resource for you as a marketing manager/CEO who wants to reach out to a specific target group in a credible way. Identify the right influencer for your target group, and you will see the incredible effect it has on your brand.

There are many different platforms that an influencer can work on

Influencers is thus a broad term today, given that there are so many social media platforms that you can work on. And it's not even limited to social media platforms if we're being picky, but we'll still limit ourselves to that term for this article to simplify the landscape somewhat. Here are some of the most popular platforms where influencers operate:

Influencers on YouTube

YouTube is owned by Google and has a huge audience. The platform is characterized by long and engaging videos. It is the type of social media platform that usually creates very deep relationships between the influencer and their audience as it is so-called. "long form content". A longer format simply creates an increased contact surface between creator and audience. YouTube is perfect for detailed product reviews and demonstration videos. The influencer has a great chance of reaching an international and a more varied audience segment than via other platforms.

Influencers on Instagram

Instagram is owned by Meta (formerly Facebook) and is a visual platform with high interaction and sharing possibilities. Special hashtags are often used for target audience identification. The focus on the platform is on aesthetically pleasing images and shorter videos.

Influencers on TikTok

TikTok is a rapidly growing platform with a predominantly younger target group. It is well suited for fun, creative and short videos. Influencers here have great potential to reach out on a broad front if they take on viral challenges and trends. High opportunity for exposure but slightly worse opportunity for conversion is our experience here at Addrevenue.

Influencers on X (formerly Twitter)

X (formerly Twitter) offers direct and fast communication with the possibility of reaching out to opinion leaders. The platform has become known for having politicians, journalists and professional thinkers on the platform and is thus very well suited for a well-educated target group. Short and to the point messages tend to work best to attract the target audience. There is also the possibility of creating "buzz" and engagement around specific topics or events.

Influencers on Twitch

Twitch is owned by Amazon and is a specialized platform for live streaming and real-time interaction. Niche target groups with a focus on, among other things, gaming, music and art. There is opportunity to reach highly engaged followings here in very niche topics that tend to be digital experiences of some kind.

Influencers who blog

The blog format is in-depth content with the potential to build strong relationships of trust via text. There is an enormously wide variety of topics and niches for different target groups here, but what characterizes the blog format is that it is highly personal from the influencer's side - not infrequently it is lifestyle-related.

Important questions to answer before starting influencer marketing

Before you start your influencer collaboration, it is important that you have answers to some basic questions. Clearly defining your goals and expectations will help you get the best results and avoid unnecessary expenses. Here are some important questions to answer before starting influencer marketing for your business:

• Traffic or sales, what is more important to our business?
• On which platform is our target group?
• What type of profile and values should an influencer represent in order for it to rhyme with our brand?
• What is success for us?
• When it works, how do I ensure that the collaboration is long-term and not a one-off?

We at Addrevenue are happy to help answer the questions above in connection with our onboarding process, but we think it is a useful exercise to take this for a spin yourself first before you get started.

How to follow influencer marketing marketing rules

Influencer marketing has grown into an established marketing method and therefore there are clear rules that must be followed to ensure fair and honest marketing. It is important to be aware of, and follow, marketing rules that govern collaborations between companies and influencers to avoid legal problems and preserve the credibility of the influencer. We always refer our advertisers to the Consumer Agency for more practical guidance about which marketing rules apply right now.

Choose influencer collaborations with care

Choosing the right influencer for your brand and campaign is critical to success. It's not just about finding someone with a lot of followers, it's about finding someone who is relevant to your target audience and can convey your message in an authentic way. Doing thorough research and considering the influencer's previous collaborations and values will help you make the right decision.

Common Mistakes We See Businesses Make in Influencer Marketing

Despite the potential benefits of influencers marketing, there are a number of common mistakes that companies make. Being aware of these mistakes can help you avoid them and build successful collaborations with influencers. The most common mistakes we at Addrevenue see on our platform is that the advertiser does not know which method works best to create long-term collaborations.

We know that long-termism pays off in influencer marketing because it usually takes up to seven exposures with a brand for a consumer to start trusting it. If an influencer only gets one chance to showcase your company to their target group, aren't the odds too good that the desired result (sales) will be achieved? We therefore recommend that you pay the influencer based on performance and decide from the start that the collaboration will last for at least three months in order to later evaluate whether it has been successful or not.

Summary: this is how you create successful collaborations in influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a powerful strategy that helps your company reach a wider and more engaged audience. By learning from our experiences and following the principles and tips we shared above, you can successfully use influencer marketing to get results and not just increase a few short-term traffic increases. What we want to help you do is increase your sales and build long-term relationships with your target group - and that is exactly what the right influencer offers you.

If you only bring three things from this article on how to successfully work with influencer marketing as a CEO/Marketing Manager, it would be the following:

1. Work performance-based with an influencer, pay only for results.
2. Create incentives that make the influencer want to continue promoting your brand over a longer period of time. Long-term exposure creates lasting results and scales up your work. It steals a lot of time to constantly initiate new collaborations.
3. Pay the influencer for each click they generate, alternatively for each click they generate + actual sales. We have seen this work best for the advertisers at Addrevenue.

Good luck with getting started in the very best way with influencer marketing. As you probably already know, at Addrevenue we have a large number of influencers connected to our platform. We also ensure accurate tracking, reporting, invoicing and payout. It's free to join our platform, we have no bid period and you only pay if you actually get results. So if you want to get the best possible start in working with influencers, create an account on our platform today!