Around 40% of consumers rely on user-generated content when making a purchase. The influencer advertising market is expected to reach over $35 billion in spend globally in 2024, and digital content creation is expected to increase to $27.3 billion by 2030. As overall brand trust wavers, consumers increasingly look to influencer and user-generated content to guide them on their purchasing journey. Content creators have become brand architects, building and shaping a company’s identity. Their ability to showcase products in an authentic and engaging way resonates with audiences to foster trust and encourage brand loyalty.
Knowing this, brands are honing in on working with content creators who are the most likely to be seen by their target audiences. Learn how to choose creators and influencers that align with your values and captivate audiences while building an authentic following to create and influence your brand’s culture.
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Creators building culture
As crafters of a wide variety of educational or entertaining material, content creators are a key element in shaping the cultural identity of a brand. They can help craft narratives, create visuals, and build experiences that resonate with your audience. This can be done through various channels, including blogs, videos, and podcasts, though social media is often considered the most popular form.
Content creators lay the groundwork of making brands more relatable by giving consumers a face to associate with a product or service. Content creators can humanize brands by personalizing the experience of using a brand or product. Brands can lay out ground rules regarding branding and product use, but content creators bring the experience to life for their followers. Authentic endorsement from creators can not only lend a brand their credibility but can reach new audiences by engaging with a creator’s preexisting audience.
Fostering partnerships for connection
At the heart of all content creator or influencer collaborations with a brand is the overall desire for a brand to build a culture and connection with its target audience. The goal of influencer and creator marketing is consistent: to create conversation and engagement that leads to a specific, brand-guided action. When creators align with a company, they become brand advocates and ambassadors, introducing a product or service to their audience in a way that feels more authentic than the average commercial.
By partnering with creators that embody brand values and engage with their primary audience, brands can lean into preexisting cultural channels, rather than starting from scratch. When you’re looking for an influencer to work with, consider:
Campaign plan
What kind of campaign do you plan on running? Clearly defining your goals, KPIs, and budget will set the stage for a successful, well-targeted collaboration.
Audience alignment
Understanding your target audience’s demographics and the type of influencers they are most likely to resonate with is key to selecting a creator to collaborate with. It’s also important to align your demographics with a creator’s as closely as possible. Demographics can provide insights into consumer behavior, preferences, and purchasing power, helping you tailor your creator choice and content to better appeal to your audience.
By selecting influencers whose audience demographics align with your target, you can increase engagement, optimize brand awareness, and drive conversions in productive collaborations.
Meet your consumers where they are
You can’t jump to a new platform or messaging type and expect your loyal customers to follow. Searching your terms on your preferred platform can help you hone in on the influencers having the conversations that you want to be a part of. This can help you narrow down the types of influencers that you’d like to work with, gain a grasp of who they’re currently interacting with on a regular basis, and understand their posting cadence and tone. You may find yourself drawn to a creator that wasn’t previously on your radar.
Once you’ve found a creator you’re interested in, dig more deeply into their standing in the media ecosystem.
E-E-A-T
According to Forbes, gauging the experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness of the creators that you choose to work with can heavily impact the results of the campaign. Consumers are not only more likely to trust the advice of creators that look like them, but they’re also more likely to trust content from authority figures.
Working with an influencer that your consumers already trust is a way to quickly build credibility and trust with a target audience. However, it’s essential to assess the following elements when choosing who to work with:
1. How engaged is their audience?
A creator’s ability to consistently keep their audience interested in what they’re discussing and to encourage conversation and feedback can heavily impact the effectiveness of a campaign. Look at the number of likes against the number of comments, and check the comments for spam. All of these will help clarify whether their engagement will be conducive to your campaign.
2. What are your engagement expectations?
It’s important to outline the expected and desired outcome from your collaboration with a content creator. This can include specifying what type of engagement you expect from the influencer, which can include replying to questions, comments, or messages about your product or service. Engagement can also include participating in forums or chats on behalf of the brand.
It’s important to establish communication standards in your collaborations to build transparency, mutual trust, and accountability for a lasting partnership.
3. How much creative freedom are you willing to give?
Even for brands with stringent brand guidelines, it’s important to give content creators a fair amount of creative freedom. One of the most vital aspects of a content creator’s relationship with their audience is authenticity. Partnerships with rigid guidelines can lead to content reading as inauthentic and strictly promotional, which can send audiences swiping away without giving your brand’s content a second thought. It’s important to find a balance between your brand’s message and the creator’s content to build a connection with your target audience. This is also why reviewing the influencer’s content and creative style before working with them to ensure it aligns with your brand is important.
4. How long do you plan on working with this creator?
A lasting partnership can cultivate loyalty and trust among a content creator’s audience. Investing in a longer collaborative relationship with a content creator can demonstrate the brand’s commitment and values and resonate with their key demographic over time. It can also encourage loyalty with your key demographic. If consumers see someone they follow and trust consistently working with the same brand, it can foster a level of trust that can be mutually beneficial for both brands and content creators.
Start building authentic brand partnerships
In a landscape overcrowded with brands, partnering with the right content creator can strengthen your brand culture and build a lasting connection with your audience. Their authentic storytelling style can help increase brand awareness and guide consumers down the funnel to conversions. Content creators can help weave narratives and incite interest in your products and services. As brands prioritize meaningful engagement with their consumers, content creators will be the key to bridging brand goals and audience culture.
Learn more about how AI can help you elevate your authentic social content, or let’s talk about achieving more for your marketing—and your business.
