Pay-for-post is not really a strategy that’s very effective on its own and we’ve discussed this in the past on Optily Radio. Last week, Cody Wittick, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Kynship, chatted with Eppie McDonnell and me about some tactics that have worked well for him and his teams in the past to develop ongoing, quality relationships with influencers.
One of the key points that emerged from our conversation was not to be demanding of influencers when you first reach out to them. In order for the content they produce to be of value it should really be genuine. By seeding out products and just asking the influencers what they think, you’re much more likely to get a handful of quality user-generated content (UGC) videos from them.
If you have the time, definitely listen to the whole episode on influencer marketing with Cody below. We understand that you might be busy during this time of year, so we’ve recapped some of the most important points in this article.
The main themes that came up during this episode were:
- How brands should leverage product seeding
- Paid media and repurposing content
- Continuing a genuine relationship with an influencer
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Product seeding
Throughout our conversation, Cody reiterated the importance of getting your product out to as many people. Obviously, this will depend on your overhead costs and target market as to how widely you can give away your product, but the idea is the same for almost any brand.
At the core of this approach is the idea of giving and not asking. This way you will be able to form those strong and genuine relationships with influencers, rather than just paying for a post that may soon get deleted.
Repurposing influencer content in paid media
Cody pointed out that the content that influencers produce with your products is the real bread and butter of influencer marketing. By gathering this content and repurposing it both organically and through paid media you really get the most out of it.
Maintaining a genuine brand/influencer relationship
By seeding your product to influencers you’ll easily see who your true fans are. They’ll do some posts on their own because they’re so excited to have gotten your product for free. Once you identify these influencers, you can then approach them with paid partnership opportunities.
Cody suggests starting off with an affiliate program, but a pay-per-post model could also be appropriate here. Over time, this relationship will grow and be beneficial to both parties.
This is much more effective than bland cold outreach, like asking someone to post a certain number of reels in exchange for a sum of money. They might do it, but will it be genuine and will it stay up any longer than your contract requires?
