On Monday, September 9th, Ombre Digital held their 5th annual Blogger and the Brand, an event where content creators from across the nation came to connect with local brands and learn more about the industry trends in influencer marketing and social branding. I was invited to see a little more about this influencer event and extract a few lessons from influencers in attendance.

Blogger and the Brand is very much focused on collaboration and education. True to form, the event was anchored by a panel discussion focused on defining one’s brand voice, diversity in the influencer space and the evolution of communication with brands. Style Host and local content creator Rohma Siddiqui moderated the two-women panel of communication savants including Norah Murphy, Influencer Marketing Associate with Who What Wear and Evie Phillips, CEO and Founder of Creeds Collective. Together, the trio provided valuable insight into the current landscape of influencer marketing.  Read on for some of the most important takeaways from the event.

1. Don’t “Fake It ‘Til You Make It”

While it might be tempting to buy likes and followers, especially when first starting out, brands and influencer agencies are employing increasingly sophisticated tool to discern if followers are real or bought.  Even when the  content is great, having inauthentic followers is going to be a red flag for brands who expect content creators to engage with their readers to showcase the brand’s products. One recent estimate shows that fake followers could cost brands 1.3 billion dollars this year alone. The word is out. Brands are no longer wowed by large numbers of followers and they won’t fall for the fake follower trap.

2. Do Use Statistics to Showcase Capabilities

Content creators should use case studies and analytics to showcase their capabilities. As brands continue to work with more influencers, digital marketing has to evolve. At SXSW, one of the conferences at the forefront of changing media, panelists discussed the changing influencer market and what it will look like in the future.  They agreed that while it’s important to show your personality and use your content to set yourself apart, brands are businesses. When content creators can show them that previous collaborations helped drive traffic and sales for brands they’ve worked with before it sets them apart as a professional. As a result, companies will be much more likely to consider working with those content creators.  This is particularly important for the rising micro influencers who can use their engaged audience to show that they have value beyond just the number of followers.  

3. Influencers Are the New Public Relations

“Influencers are the new PR” says Evie Phillips.  Brands are increasingly seeing that Influencers are driving some of their most engaging social media posts.  Brands are increasingly budgeting more for influencers and social media companies like Instagram are responding with ways for brands and influencers to easily promote paid advertising content to make these collaborations more successful and have a larger reach. With influencers becoming as essential or even more so than the antiquated press or social release, brands will gravitate to those who can more creatively showcase and place products authentically in front of their audience.

4. Campaigns Are Not Transactions. They Are Collaborations

“Campaigns are more than a transaction, they’re a collaboration” Nora Murphy.  This sentiment is echoed by the team at BlogHer, one of the longest running conferences in the influencer industry who are hosting their latest female focused event in Brooklyn this September.  Norah advises content creators to “find brands that resonate with you. You should want to purchase this product even if you weren’t being gifted or paid.  This will ensure that you’re able to build a long-term relationship with brands and create content that is a win win”.

5. Identify a Mentor

Find a mentor.  “Lean into the leaders that are there.” Evie Phillips.  The website The Everygirl has been a space for helping young women get life and career advice since they launched.  Now they’re running their Everygirl Rise conferences to help women get additional mentoring in their careers-particularly blogging and entrepreneurship so that young people starting out don’t have to go it alone. In an increasingly connected yet fragmented society, female entrepreneurs and creatives are finding they don’t have to do it alone. Content creators can look to other more experienced creators they follow, women they work with in PR or communication or even alumni or academics at their Alma mater for mentorship opportunities.

6. Be Authentic to Your Voice and Audience

The most important takeaway from Blogger and the Brand was an accumulation of all the other takeaways. Content creator must make sure that their collaborations are authentic. As brands have grown more sophisticated and savvy, so too have their followers, who will just as easily see3 when brand is not a good match. Poorly matched brands feel inauthentic and can damage the credibility of content creators among their audience.  This sentiment was echoed in interviews from multiple participants at the most recent RStheCon, the conference that is put on by RewardStyle, owner of LikeitKnowIt (the premier event and entity of fashion influencer marketing).

Blogger and the Brand is focused on collaboration, but thanks to the amazing panel formed by Evie Phillips, Norah Murphy and Rohma Siddiqui, the educational aspect of the event continues as well. Content creators must make sure to:

• Resist purchasing fake followers or engagement to drive up their numbers with meaningless interactions.
• Leverage more case studies and analytics to differentiate themselves from facsimiles or lookalike content creators in their local market.
• Remember that social content is the newest form of public relations. As such, messages should be delivered to their audiences that are on-brand, on-message and authentic.
• Never forget that campaigns are a collaboration, not a transaction, so care must be taken to ensure brands are interesting to the influencer and their audience.
• Seek out a mentor or at least someone who can make sure that content creator remain true to their own voice.
• Stay authentic. While this is a song content creators have heard for years, it’s never been more important to hone their own voice, be selective in the brands they represent, avoid falsifying their engagement or followers and only disseminating content or messages they truly believe in.

As a content creator, brand or even an attendee of Blogger and the Brand, what would you add to these tips? What would you have wanted someone to tell you about influencer marketing when you were just starting out?  Share in the comments below. Hopefully all these tips will help take your knowledge of influencer marketing and brand partnerships to the next level!