Last Updated on June 8, 2020

Influencer marketing is a great way to grow your business and boost your exposure. However, it also benefits the social media professionals you work with. Many influencers rely on brands needing their clout to help pay the bills and increase their credibility. The best companies will collaborate with their influencers in a way that allows both parties to benefit. Here’s how collaboration marketing can grow your business while helping people across the web.

Share Free Trials and Products

One of the easiest ways to work with influencers to boost your brand is to share free products, services, and trials with them. Many are willing to accept these gifts in lieu of money — though many are also eager to accept both.

Sharing free products and services allows influencers to promote products from the heart. They can talk about your brand because they have actually engaged with it. This adds a level of credibility to their promotion. For example, very few people want a size-two model to promote weight loss supplements because no one will think the model has even tried the product. When personalities promote brands they have use and love, audiences listen and buy.

Create an Ongoing Series

Influencers crave stability. They are constantly hustling, trying to find new brands to work with, and hoping those partnerships will last several months. If you want to form a strong collaboration with your influencers, consider developing a series of promotions that they can count on to fill their calendars.

Your series might last several months with posts once or twice per month or feature more frequent posts for a couple of weeks. Either way, those you partner with can count on your support and will guarantee space on their editorial calendars for your brand.

These series can also benefit your business. Repetition leads to retention, with experts believing customers need to be exposed to a message between six and 20 times before they will fully remember it. By creating a series where your influencers post about your brand regularly, you can increase the number of people who recall your brand and its products. Then you can move past the awareness part of the sales funnel and work on turning leads into customers.

Collaborate With Businesses Outside of Your Niche

Influencer marketing isn’t limited to businesses working with individuals or private accounts. You can also collaborate with other companies outside of your niche who use your services. This approach could actually be more effective if you offer B2B products or services.

The next time your team attends a conference or you talk with someone related to your industry, consider forming a collaborative marketing partnership where you build each other up. For example, a digital marketing company might suggest a specific web design firm or A/B testing tool to their clients. Conversely, the web design team would send their clients to the digital marketing firm once their sites are launched.

This allows you to form a natural partnership within your industry. Your clients get advice from trusted sources, and you can build lasting lead funnels with other businesses.

Partner With Micro-Influencers to Help Them Grow

One of the main ways you can help influencers is by growing their brands. In addition to working with major brands who are already well-known, consider partnering with micro influencers who only have a thousand or so fans. Micro-influencers tend to be more effective than macro-influencers. While they have a smaller following, their followers tend to be more engaged and more likely to take action based on the message.

Plus, working with smaller influencers tends to be more affordable. You can work with a few dozen micro-influencers for an impact similar to what you would achieve by working with one macro-influencer. It is also easier to find micro-influencers who are interested in working with you if you operate a small business.

This partnership also helps smaller personalities who are hoping to build their following. You are supporting their efforts and helping them grow to reach more people.

Promote Influencers Through Testimonials

If you do work with personalities who use your products or services, consider offering to promote them on your website as a customer testimonial. This marketing collaboration benefits both parties. You get a trusted testimonial about how valuable your services are, while they get increased exposure and brand validation when you post about their experience.

The whole point of collaboration marketing is for both sides to benefit, and including testimonials of the personalities who have loved your products can help you both build strong bonds while growing your respective brands.

Companies who look out for their influencers and want to work closely with them often have better results and more loyal teams looking to help them. Remember that collaboration marketing is a two-way street: you help influencers, and they help you. Use this knowledge to build strong partnerships and set goals for your influencer campaigns.