Influencer marketing is one of the few online businesses that has thrived in the wake of the pandemic. As the world and the rules turn upside down, content creators are more important than ever. People stuck at home, many things are done online, and social media has become the main source of information. Brands use influencer marketing in order to penetrate the customer's circle and impress a specific audience.
There are three ways to contact and collaborate with an influencer:
1. Work directly with influencers
You can connect with the influencer directly through the contact information provided by them on social media, or you can post a "Recruitment" on your page, letting influencers actively seek your cooperation. However, this approach has both advantages and disadvantages, that is, the quality of influencers who usually take the initiative to seek cooperation is generally not very good, and their niche market or audience is not the audience target of the brand.
Some influencers prefer to cooperate with big brands, in order not to lose followers, they may often give up the small brand offer.
The biggest advantage of this method is that it saves money because it bypasses the agency fees. Besides, because you are directly connected with the influencer, you can discuss with the influencer about the promote ideas and requirements that best meet your mind and your brand image.
The disadvantage is that you need to put more time and effort into it. You need to scroll and select influencers and observe their social media performance. Sometimes influencers did not receive your message or email, you need to find a replacement or think of another contact way. There is also some risk for example in the middle of the event the influencer opt-out the cooperation.
2. MCN
MCN stands for Multi-Channel Network, it is a third-party service provider that affiliates with multiple Youtube channels to offer services that may include audience development, content programming, creator collaborations, digital rights management, monetization, and/or sales.
To some extent, MCN can be understood as an influencer agency, which charges service fees by providing education and training, marketing, and brand sponsorship services for influencers.
With MCN, there is only one contract, which represents all influencers.
The advantage of this way is it saves your time. You just need to communicate with MCN, and they will be responsible for the follow-up work. The disadvantages are:
- Because you cannot reach the influencers directly, you need to work with their manager. Therefore, if the influencer wants to collaborate with your brand but their manager did not wish it. Your collaboration will fall through.
- MCN has a large number of influencers, and these influencers may be good in certain fields, and MCN is like an influencer manufacturing, their style and characteristics may be very similar, or maybe the same, so your content will lack innovation.
3. Agency
The difference between Agency and MCN is that agencies generally have a good relationship with influencers, but they don't own these influencers. You can choose the influencers yourself and let the agency negotiate cooperation with the influencer. Another way is that agency will make plans and choose the influencer for your brand to collaborate. After negotiating the cooperation intention, the agency will deal with the influencers and manage the influencer content quality, publishing timeline, and do all the follow-up jobs.
The advantage is that it solves the matching problem and ensures content quality. Agency is more suitable for the commercial operation of enterprises than MCN to some extent because they solve the shortcomings of creative content, that is, an agency can flexibly choose appropriate influencers to promote according to the needs of customers. Because an agency has a good relationship with influencers and has more experience in holding activities, it has a great advantage in planning and managing activities.
These three ways to engage with influencers got both advantages and disadvantages. Depending on your requirement and budget, you can choose the most suitable way to hold your influencer marketing campaign.
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