This article explains how to start meaningful conversations with influencer partners, share your brand story, and collaborate on engaging content.
Building strong relationships with influencer partners can help your brand create more authentic content, increase visibility, and identify collaborators who are a natural fit for your audience. These steps help you create authentic partnerships that support long-term growth.
Initiate conversations
Once an influencer has joined your program, reach out to introduce yourself and start building a relationship. Follow their channels and interact with their posts to show genuine interest in their content. This helps your brand stand out and increases the likelihood of attracting new customers through their audience.
Take time to build rapport before agreeing on any terms. This ensures you both understand the goals of the partnership and helps avoid misunderstandings later.
Consider gifting
If your brand sells physical products, gifting can be a useful way to introduce selected influencers to what you offer. It gives partners the chance to experience your products first-hand and, where it feels right for their audience, share them in a more authentic way.
When you gift an influencer, share the relevant tracking links so they can direct their audience to the right product pages if they choose to post. You don’t need to gift every influencer - focus on partners whose audience, content style, and values feel like a natural fit for your brand.
Keep in mind that gifting usually doesn’t create an obligation to post unless you have agreed this separately with the influencer. Some partners may choose not to create content, so it’s worth prioritizing influencers who already feel closely aligned with your brand, product, and audience.
If your products have a high average order value, a more targeted gifting strategy may work better. Partnering with a smaller group of highly relevant influencers can help you manage budget, build stronger relationships, and focus on the partners most likely to reach the right audience.
Create discount codes
A discount code, whether general or personalized, is a strong incentive for influencers to promote your brand. Most e-commerce platforms allow you to generate these codes easily.
Upload discount codes to the My Offers section and assign each code to a specific influencer to prevent leakage. Thanks to voucher attribution, influencers can still earn commission even if customers don’t use an affiliate tracking link.
Provide legitimacy
Influencers are more likely to promote your brand authentically when they clearly understand who you are and what you stand for. Share information that helps them feel confident in representing you, such as:
Whether your brand is ethical
Any charitable initiatives you support
Awards or recognition you’ve received
This transparency helps build trust and strengthens the partnership. When influencers genuinely enjoy your products, their content resonates more deeply with their audience.
Consider video content
Worldmetrics.org state that short form video content is now the second most consumed format globally, after TV. As your relationship with influencers develops, collaborate on short-form video strategies. Share concise product information or ready-made video assets to help partners create engaging, high-impact content for platforms like TikTok.
FAQ
Do influencers have to create content if they receive a gifted product?
No. Gifting doesn’t require an influencer to post unless this has been explicitly agreed. The aim is to let influencers experience your product first-hand and decide whether it’s a good fit for their audience.
Authentic recommendations often perform better than content created under pressure.
Should I always gift products to influencers?
Not necessarily. Gifting can be an effective way to introduce influencers to your brand, especially if you sell physical products. If you have a limited budget or higher-value products, focus on a smaller group of carefully selected influencers rather than gifting at scale.
Is there a risk that an influencer won’t post after receiving a gift?
Yes. Because gifting is generally non-obligatory, not every influencer will create content. This is why it’s important to identify influencers whose audience, content style, and values closely align with your brand.
What if an influencer doesn’t generate any sales?
Sales are only one measure of success. Influencer partnerships can also increase brand awareness, generate content, drive website traffic, and help you identify strong candidates for future collaborations. Review performance over time and consider both direct and indirect results.
Should I work with influencers who already promote competitors?
Potentially. Previous collaborations in your category can be a sign that the influencer’s audience is relevant to your brand. Focus on whether their tone, content quality, and brand associations support the positioning you want to build.
What should I look at when evaluating influencers?
Look beyond follower size. Engagement quality, audience relevance, content style, consistency, and previous brand collaborations are often stronger indicators of fit and potential performance than reach alone.
The most effective influencer partnerships are built on relevance, clarity, and mutual fit. By choosing partners carefully, setting expectations early, and reviewing performance beyond immediate sales, you can create relationships that support both short-term activity and longer-term brand growth.
Before you begin outreach, define what a successful partnership looks like for your brand. This could include the type of content you hope to generate, the audience you want to reach, or the relationship you want to build with selected influencers.