In the first installment of our series on building authentic creator partnerships, Acceleration Partners influencer expert Mandalynn Carlson talks about why it matters and the dos and don’ts of identifying the right matches.
In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, connections between brands and creators have become the cornerstone of successful campaigns. But brand-creator matchmaking is both an art and a science: to make a partnership meaningful, it has to be authentic. Consumers spend an average of almost 2.5 hours a day on social media, and half of them spend more time watching user-generated content than TV or movies. That means they trust influencers over traditional forms of advertising — and they can tell when someone’s not being genuine.
To both build trust in creators and generate positive brand sentiment, Acceleration Partners has several strategies to make a proper match. This approach matters: authenticity can be the difference between a ton of upper-funnel metrics — impressions and clicks, for example, which don’t always translate to revenue — and lower-funnel metrics with impact, such as conversions and repeat business. The truth is that authentic influencers create trust and amplify brand loyalty with consumers.
So, where do you start? In this series, I’ll walk you through our process, with top tips for what we’ve seen work for brands around the globe. And, it makes sense to start at the beginning, with…
Of course. But how? To find the right matches for our brands, AP’s influencer team researches creators across platforms, and our internal databases. We look at their audience, location, brands they’ve mentioned in the past, engagement rates and tone. We also want the creators to feel like real people — do they speak comfortably to their audience? Do they post about their life outside of brands, which builds trust? Are they active on stories and in the comments to foster community?
When you’re working with creators, there are a few tells for authenticity and connection. If they follow thousands of people, it’s likely a follow for follow situation. Looking at actual views is the best way to see the real influence they have. Also, check for engagement pods — groups of people who DM new posts to their friends so they all comment and falsely boost engagement. You can tell it’s fake when it’s the same people in every comment section with the same kind of comment “Wow, I have to try!” or “This is so awesome, thanks for sharing!”
Another item to look out for: is every single post a sponsored ad or gifted products with the same people commenting? It’s good to have breaks between sponsored content, so the audiences get a feel for the creator and develop that relationship of looking to them for recommendations. If they only post about products 100 percent of the time, audience fatigue is a real worry. People might lose trust in their recommendations and choose not to buy what they’re selling, or the audience grows so accustomed to the sponsored posts that your brand or product gets drowned out in all the noise.
For example, working with a college student to sell a college savings plan might not land. Sure, they are in college and there is some word association overlap, but their audience most likely isn’t the target buyer. Or, there might be a trend-forward, young creator talking about Amazon and TikTok shop finds… but the brand has a high price point with more traditional or polished older consumers. Not the best creator fit, even if they are the most popular in the moment.
We put the elements of this identification strategy into practice for Divi, a healthy hair care brand, as part of the company’s new product launch. The AP team reviewed past partnerships to find influencers who could provide the most effective content; through that process, they landed on a trusted Divi partner who was already posting about how Divi’s Air Dry Cream helped her care for her naturally curly hair without heat. Her organic content had already built a deep, genuine connection with her audience. For the paid Instagram story, this creator had the freedom to tell her story authentically, and AP used historical performance data to provide suggestions that would optimize engagement. The campaign resulted in one of Divi’s highest sales to date, yielding a 5.3x return on investment.
Since successful campaigns rely on a wide spectrum of influencer types and sizes, the team at AP takes researching creators and building a roster seriously. We’ve built trusted relationships with thousands of creators, and by consistently testing and learning with new creators, we always have our finger on the pulse of the next generation of influencers. With this approach, our clients have found they can prolong campaign lifespans, scale efficiently and accelerate growth.
So, once you’ve identified creators who are authentic, connect with their audience and match your brand values, how do you build the relationship? We’ll cover that in our next installment. In the meantime, if you have questions about how AP can help you develop your influencer strategy and drive performance, contact our team.
