How can my brand partner with the right influencers to share our brand story?

It's the era of ever-changing marketing tactics, especially within the social media world. While there are some tried and true marketing paths that stand the test of time, it's important your brand stays current with the most effective and creative ways to share your brand story.

That's where influencer marketing comes in.

It's a sector of marketing that's growing rapidly, and for good reason; established bloggers, nutritionists and other educated influencers online can promote your products to their already established audiences in effective and creative ways.

Since this is new territory for many brands, where is the best place to start? We got answers straight from experts involved in influencer marketing and asked them this question: How can my brand partner with the right influencers to share our story?

Rachel Mansfield: cookbook author, podcast host and creator of rachLmansfield

You want to find someone that shares similar values to what your brand has. You want to align yourself with people in the space that can help share that message and share those values with you. You also want to find someone who has an engaging and quality community behind them so you can make sure that you're reaching enough people and a quality community that really values what that influencer is saying.

Especially today, it's a little overly saturated. I don't mean that in a cynical way, but there's a lot of people to choose from. Finding the right one can definitely be a little bit challenging. It's important to find people that are enjoyable to work with and establish relationships with them and really create partnerships. So it's not just like a business transaction, but you're actually becoming friends and family with the people that you work with.

Chris McGurrin: Manager of Influencer Programs, New Hope Network

So much of the beauty in authentic influencer marketing lies in doing the work to build strong influencer relationships. Influencers can be an extension and amplifier of your brand message, on the front line sharing your product information or mission directly with new, potential consumers. With the market potential in that partnership, it is so important to find influencers who are aligned and just as passionate about an issue or solving a problem as your company is.

When partnering with influencers, try to get to know the influencer as a person. What is their purpose? How do they communicate in a refreshing, fun and responsible way? What do they stand for? Next, think about mutually beneficial ways you can work together. How could you make the influencer feel like a truly valued member of your brand’s team, both including and outside of monetary and product compensation? When you sow the seeds for a thoughtful, symbiotic relationship, the created content is more fruitful and uplifting for your brand, the influencer and all audiences.

Kristina Drociak: Director of Public Relations, Stonyfield

It’s all about authenticity.

Because of our strong commitment to making the world a better place through business, it’s important for us to work with influencers who can help us amplify this message but do so authentically. Because of that, it can take a lot of research to find the right fit!

If you can, execute as much of your work with influencers internally as possible. Employees know the brand best and can more easily and quickly determine who may be a fit.

Do your diligence when researching an influencer. Spend the time reading through their content on social platforms. For us, it’s all about steps in the right direction. We’re not looking for perfection or eating organic food 100% of the time. We’re looking for someone who can help us reach new audiences that may be taking steps toward healthy lifestyles but are at different points along their journey. As long as their mission and story aligns with ours from a top level perspective, we think that’s a win.

Let the influencer tell you what content resonates most with their audience and let them be creative. Sharing thought starters for a content angle is great. Now let the influencer work their magic and create content that will work best with their readers! It’s important to check how their content performs through engagement numbers as well. Reach and impressions are great, but engagement rate is superior. We want to work with influencers who have committed, engaged audiences who will take their message to heart.

Finally, have fun! This work should be exciting and fulfilling. Get creative with how to best bring your brand to life!