How to make influencer marketing sound authentic

Authenticity In The Influencer Marketing Space. 

Let's explore why it is essential to make your campaigns more authentic and have your genuineness shine through when you work with influencers and how to achieve this authenticity.

Consumers nowadays are bombarded with ads. If one looks from their point of view, many consumers do not enjoy seeing ads all the time. Whether in the street, on a train, plane, surfing the web, watching a video, or anywhere else, people are always trying to sell things to consumers, and they naturally grow tired of this. 

One of the reasons people do not like ads is because they seem inauthentic and impersonal—this is why making your ads authentic is so important. If your campaigns stand out for their genuine sound and message, people will be much more likely to entertain your campaigns and ultimately purchase your products or services. Hence, sounding authentic is crucial because it builds consumer trust, increases brand loyalty, and sparks peoples' interest in your company.

Now how does one achieve this authenticity? These tips will help you create genuine influencer campaigns.

Tip 1: You Should Always Work with Influencers Who Align With Your Brand Image

Whether you are a skincare company that values sustainability, a juice brand made for "new-age moms," a fitness company that does minimal advertising, or a coffee brand that sources locally - finding and working with influencers who reflect your brand ethos is critical. When engaging in campaigns, the right influencer will have a clear and well-represented voice. 

A company that values sustainability may want to find influencers who already make content about the subject matter. But deeper than this, the brand will want to discover influencers with an aesthetic similar to the brand. Overall, finding the correct influencer is vital, and you should not select an influencer just because they are in your niche but should also look further to see if they fit your brand's ethos.

Tip 2: Don't Force It

Once you have selected influencers who best represent your brand, you should give them creative freedom to make the type of content they feel comfortable with. As much as you want the influencer to sift into your brand's image, you also want them to retain their uniqueness and individuality. 

The audience can tell when the influencer is speaking in a style that is not typical of them for the sake of brand collaboration and will make your campaign feel inauthentic.

The audience can tell when the influencer is speaking in a style that is not typical of them for the sake of brand collaboration and will make your campaign feel inauthentic. This stage or insincere-looking partnership can lead the audience to lessen their interaction with and purchase products from your brand. Assisting the influencer with specific keywords you would like them to sift into their review of the product is OK, and instructing them on which features you would like them to showcase is also OK. 

However, you want to avoid writing lengthy scripts for them to say or edit in a way that is not typical of their style, as the audience will notice, and the influencer may not accept the deal. Part of authenticity is a sense of ease and naturalness.

Tip 3: Examine The Influencer's Past Collaborations

An excellent way to see if an influencer does a good job of maintaining their brand image while working with a brand is to see how they have done it in the past. It is essential to understand that you should not look at a sponsored post's performance in terms of engagement to qualify whether the influencer performed well. 

Often sponsored ads do not perform as well as regular content. Instead, it would help to look at how the influencer speaks, acts, and engages with products in previous campaigns. A bit of research on the other brand's image and style may be helpful to judge it against the content the creator makes. You want to look for things like adherence to their traditional content style, furthering the brand's voice, how they present the product to the audience, and ultimately how you believe their collaboration with your company would look. 

You want to look for things like adherence to their traditional content style, furthering the brand's voice, how they present the product to the audience, and ultimately how you believe their collaboration with your company would look.

A better vision of what you want from a partnership with an influencer will help you scan the landscape and reach out to influencers with a history of performing well when collaborating with brands.

Tip 4: Don't Strive For Perfection

More and more in the age of social media, people crave authentic, true-to-life content that reflects their lived experiences. Sometimes brands try to construct a version of their image that is perfect or untarnished, but this is not always necessary. 

When asking yourself how to make influencer marketing authentic, some honest slip-ups are OK in making the content more authentic and relatable. Maybe your product has a name that is difficult to pronounce, one of the ingredients is from a different language; the influencer accidentally spills your product in their video—all of these things can be OK! 

Mainly if the content creator already uses this style when making their other videos, some candid moments while using your product can be endearing and make the audience feel like your company is not too elevated or perfect. This technique can serve you well if used correctly!

Wrapping it Up

When asking how you can make your influencer marketing sound more authentic, the four points discussed in this blog post will be a reference when constructing an effective campaign. Sounding authentic is subjective, and that is why relay.club helps brands source creators who fit their brand image and will convey their voice. As always, relay.club is here to answer any questions about the topics we explored in this blog post or any other questions you may have about influencer marketing!