There’s no denying the power that influencer marketing is a powerful force for myriad businesses. The relationships that brands build with influencers can create irreplicable value when executed well. But finding that fit with the right influencers is a two-way conversation, and brands need to find ways to appeal to the right influencers just as much as they need to seek out the best people for their brand.

When building a successful influencer program that grows relationships and boosts sales, here are the things brands need to consider with the influencers they work with.

Audience and Product Fit to Create Amazing Content

To an influencer, the most important thing to consider is the audience they have since this is everything their business and brand is built from. To keep an audience, the influencer needs to be able to create meaningful and valuable content that will resonate with their fans and followers, so your business needs to provide this as an opportunity. Remember that influencers have great strategic insight into what works with their audience, so allowing them to inform creative decisions about the content can go a long way.

Sometimes, the best influencers are simply individuals who are already prominent fans of your brand. Chances are, their community of followers (no matter how small) could be too. Because of this, the best influencer strategies stem from your top-tier user-generated content.

Access to Merchandise and Authenticity

Whether you’re offering a product or service, it’s important to make sure you’re giving your preferred influencer access to it (usually for free), in order to allow them to experience what you’re offering fully. This strategy can work great especially when co-releasing a product with an influencer – as Jeffree Starr did with Morphe. But chances are, you've already got passionate customers who are likely to share their content with permission.

Influencer marketing works best when it's baked into an authentic review of the product. If an influencer genuinely doesn't resonate with your product, trying to force a good review likely won't work. Listen to their feedback, but even more importantly, make sure the influencer you choose to work with is a good fit.

Bidirectional Awareness Increase

Influencers aren't another advertising channel – they're strategic partners that can help boost your brand's audience. But since it's a partnership, you need to consider how you can help influencers grow too. In the case of Milani Cosmetics, helping their influencers grow has benefitted both the brand and the influencers.

“A lot of the smaller influencers that we identify early on are starting to gain more popularity with other brands. Having that relationship early on with Milani is great because we see a lot of recognition as they get bigger they shout out to us organically. And that's really great for the relationship with the influencers.”- Shelly Nghiem

Brands need to make sure they’re detailing how beneficial the partnership will be for the influencer, and what kind of impact the brand can have on the influencer when it comes to expanding their audience and bettering what they do.

Appropriate Compensation

Many businesses will underestimate the kind of payment that’s expected for influencers, but they also underestimate the number of customers already interested in sharing content for free. With larger influencers, you can expect to pay a premium for their highly engaged and expansive audience.

This doesn't mean that there isn't some room to negotiate, however. When negotiating with influencers, it's important to make sure you understand the value of their content and don't undercut the growth potential in their community.

The New Frontier of Influencer Marketing

Hiring an influencer to work with you is very different from other forms of traditional marketing, and it’s much more personal to what you may be used to. With this in mind, be proactive in connecting with your preferred influencer to ensure you’re creating the best experience possible for both parties.

‍Katrina Hatchett, a lifestyle blogger at Academic Brits and writer for Essay Help, and loves getting involved in marketing projects. She loves getting creative and helping businesses realize new opportunities. She also writes for PhDKingdom.com blog.