“Influencer” has become a murky catch-all for folks who contract with brands to promote products or services. Depending on your marketing strategy and sales goals, contracting with Influencers, Ambassador, and/or Affiliates can help further brand awareness, attract and educate new and current audiences, and increase sales.

As someone who has crafted numerous editorial calendars based on an strategy, posting outside the plan can be tough. On the flip side, with more and more people changing up how they view brands and use the platforms, involving HR can be both an incredible recruiting tool and a refreshing way to share a brand’s story. And you know what? Boom. Content made and problems solved all in one.

It doesn’t have to be an exact match - introducing new voices can be very helpful in reaching new audiences, but you should feel confident you can slide their content into your feed without causing a massive jolt to your audience.

I take three actions with his posts: 1) swipe through the pics or watch the watch the video, 2) tap to read all the content, and 3) ‘like’ the post. Three points of fairly consistent engagement and I’m delivered his new posts in a very consistent manner whenever I hop into the app. This is the algorithm working and working well. (And note: no saves, no shares - just watching, reading, and liking. Basically the algorithm thinks we’re friends - and who am I to correct that?)

The key difference from the social platforms: we ‘google’ with an idea of what we want or need, or have a question we’d like answered. Using the market example: we go to a farmers market to get food and support local farmers and producers; not to buy an airline ticket. Same goes for when we use a browser - we have a general idea of what we’re looking for or a question we’d like answered.

If a brand is creating content specifically for Instagram, then simply hitting that “share” option, so the exact same content pops up on their Facebook page, a majority of the brand’s audience - 91% if we directly apply Pew’s findings - will potentially see the exact same post if they’re following on both platforms. That’s like hearing the exact same songs in the same order when you switch playlists.

One day, a shooting was shown live on a platform and instantly went viral. I completely broke down at my laptop. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw those videos playing over and over again. It had simply become too much.

I’ve seen first hand how great an influencer’s partnership can be for a brand, improving awareness, reach, and engagement. I’ve also read my fair share of generic pitches from influencers, often sent without showing any value or trust, - and often quickly dismissed by my clients.

Relationship Matters: how close you are to the other account in terms of engagement is important. In other words, any and all engagement, including reciprocal engagement and direct messages, bumps up an account in your feed.