Communications Manager Laura Smith shares her advice on how to get noticed
According to research published by Marketing Week in 2018, 65% of brands plan to increase the amount they spend on influencer marketing over the next 12 months. In fact, brands are so invested in influencer marketing, experts predict they’ll spend over $10 billion on it by 2020.
But with so many influencers out there, how do you get a brand to notice you? It’s a problem every blogger has felt at some point. The main thing is not to let imposter syndrome strike you down. There may be thousands of influencers out there with a bigger following, more confidence, or more aesthetically pleasing content, but if
you’re the one that pops up in a PR’s inbox and offers the right fit for a job, there’s no reason to expect to fail. Life is always a game of ‘right time, right place’,and the influencer world is no different.
You’d think brands choosing influencers to work with would be like kids in a never-ending sweet shop, right? But for some brands, the reality is that the sweet shop doesn’t have the exact fizzy watermelon they want. Some jars are too high, others too expensive, some contain flavours we don’t like, and some just aren’t what we’re looking for that day. So, when the perfect sweet makes itself stand out, puts itself at eye level and has the brightest label, we’re not just happy to have found what we’ve been looking for, we think that sweet is THE BEST for helping us to find them.
Of course, you’re not a strawberry bon bon, or a chewy toffee, you’re a human being, and the best thing about that is that you’re unique. Sure, influencers exist to, well, influence. And if there’s one product out there that hits the spot with everyone, it can feel like you are playing a broken record by talking about it. Take Holly Willoughby, for example: her work with Marks andSpencers last year saw leopard print become an Autumn wardrobe stable – let’s not forget its roots as a daring print back in the noughties. In doing so, she has washed the Instagram nation with a wave of fashion items so must-have, M&S now warns its followers of the ever decreasing opportunities to find the items available in shops. But did all thismean Instagram became flooded with repeat content everywhere you looked? No, of course it didn’t. And you know why? Because while every lilac coat and leather-look skirt may have been mass produced, no person is.
Every single one of us is unique, just as our reasons for purchasing an item are. Maybe you’re Holly Willoughby’s biggest fan and will buy anything shemodels. Maybe you just love M&S clothes. Maybe you work damn hard to scrape together the cash for a special purchase and this year the leopard print skirt was it. Whatever motivates your shopping habits, we can all wear a skirt, but how and why we wear it will never be exactly the same. And that’s where you grab a brand’s attention.
I work for a consumer mum and baby brand. There’s no shortage of parenting influencers. If I wanted a cute baby to pose for a social media campaign I could scroll through Instagram and choose the first ten people I came across and have my work done in under an hour. But things are never that simple, nor should they be. It would produce low quality work and devalue the content influencers put so much time and energy into. Communication managers and PRs like me value what you do so much that we entrust you with our own brand’s messages, and that’s kind of a big deal. We won’t do this with just anyone – an influencer has to be the absolute right fit before I’ll consider working with them.
Your personality, and your ability to convey your personality through your content, is the number one reason I will choose to work with an influencer. Being able to convey that my brand is one that you are excited to be involved with to your followers is vital, and being authentic in doing that will put you at the top of a PR’s list. It’s not all about your follower number or how many likes you can amass in an hour. In fact, your stats aren’t even in the top three things we look for most of the time.
There’s a problem brands like the one I work for face day after day: how to discover you. Often, we’ll be approached by agencies that help source the right influencers for our campaigns, but no matter how many hours they spend trawling Instagram week after week, they simply cannot find every suitable influencer out there, meaning a lot of the time we get the same results coming out over and over.
For example, when I wanted a mid- size influencer with a quirky style, comic captions and a child under 18 months old, I knew exactly which individual to turn to. The trouble was, so did everyone else. This one influencer fit the bill so well, that agencies didn’t bother to look further afield for fresh talent.
No digital expert, social media manager or talent finder will ever know your content like you do. You are the one and only expert on this planet that can truly understand you, and that’s where your strength lies. Tell brands about what they can expect by working with you in a completely open and honest way, and you’ll have already done a lot of the leg work for them.
Contrary to popular belief, PRs don’t spend all day on social media. They do, however, spend all day with their emails open. Take the conversation where they are and slide out of their DMs. Use their brand’s website or LinkedIn to find out who you need to speak to and contact them directly. By sending a quick ‘hello, this is what I do’ email, you’ll potentially save PRs tens of hours (and as long as you’re concise and professional, they’ll be grateful for it).
What exactly does being professional mean? Contrary to popular belief from the last century, nobody needs addressing as ‘Dear Sirs’, regardless of gender. Yet still, it happens. This isn’t just about living in 2019 though, this
is knowing the professionalism that suits your audience. I don’t expect a formal letter, meticulously typed out and hand signed, but I don’t expect a ‘hey, PM me’ on Snapchat either. Know who you’re speaking to and know the information they’ll need from an introduction. After that, let your content do the talking. That’s the whole point, right?
Secondary to this is remembering that your hello email could be the first time a PR has heard your name, so it’s important to remember your content might not be the thing to get you noticed. Your blog, Instagram and YouTube are there to engage with your followers, not brands, so don’t assume they are going to see it unless you point it out to them. Before doing this, you should assume the brand knows nothing about you. Really, nothing. Your Instagram handle, current follower count, most recent successful post. Providing concise information that answers a brand’s questions about you will increase your chances of saving the brand valuable research time and place you higher in their estimations.
Always tell a brand why you’re a good fit for them. Get to know your own followers so you can confidently talk about who engages with you. Is your audience the same as their audience? Can you back this up with follower demographics? Emailing a brand is a lot like applying for a job – you have to demonstrate you’re the right candidate. Do you share a colour scheme, have a history of complementary content, or can you show you haven’t worked with a direct competitor of theirs? None of these are deal breakers, but they will push you up the list of most attractive influencers to work with.
One of the most important things to consider when trying to build your influencer work is your personal network. So many influencers talk positively about the relationships they’ve formed and new friends they have through Instagram and other channels, but the benefit to having like-minded friends in your online world doesn’t have to stop at support. Think about whose audiences are similar to yours, and build a small community of yourselves. There’s nothing stopping you approaching a brand as a group – having this established network will only increase your reach.
One of my favourite things from my work with influencers this year was seeing the mutual support between the individuals I worked with. Previously strangers, the group I selected chatted to each other regularly after being identified for the same campaign, and made the effort to comment on each other’s work – something which outlasted the length of the campaign and now takes place as regular mutual engagement and friendship. It adds to the authenticity of your support for each other, as well as the brands you work with. Now, these girls regularly put each other in touch with brands, not only increasing their own work but also their reputation for being wonderful to build relationships with from both sides of the table.
Lastly, be up front about what you want. Asking for payment for content won’t strike you off most brands’ lists, but if you’re only looking for products in exchange for content, then make this clear.
So next time you find a brand you want to work with, keep this checklist handy:
- Be yourself. If you’re proud of your content, others’ achievements shouldn’t dilute your own
- Don’t assume your content will get you noticed unless you shout it from the rooftops
- Get off social. Emails will get into the right hands far more often than a DM
- Email brands to say hello, but remember to include all of your basic information
- Do your research and only approach brands you’re a good fit for
- Show off why a brand needs you, and why your content complements theirs