In short - building a meaningful, impactful relationship with key advocates of your brand will (and should) take time.
Position yourself in the place of the advocate; not only do they get approached by thousands of brands to collaborate in some way or another, but they also have an existing list of favourite brands and products, some of which they've been using for years. If you jump in with a brand new offering, especially if they haven't heard of you yet, a quality content creator will want to get to know you and experience your product before they decide if they want to advocate your brand. The goal here is for your product to fit seamlessly into their life.
At this point, it will then take time to discuss and decide how the partnership will work, and the most valuable advocates will invest in producing high-quality content to show your product in the best light possible to their dedicated and engaged audience.
WARNING! There are a lot of agencies out there who will promise to deliver guaranteed fast, cheap (sometimes free) content through a mass list of "influencers". It's not difficult to find people on social media willing to guarantee a post in exchange for free stuff, but it is very unlikely that they will have any level of connection to your brand. They are more likely to regularly post advertorial content for multiple low-quality brands, and most importantly most of them will be willing to post without having even tried your product.
On paper it will look like these agencies have delivered for you, as the numbers of posts start stacking up, but how many of these same-pose-posts are actually driving sustainable value to your brand? Spoiler: none.
In order to grow your brand in a meaningful way watch out for "quick wins" as they'll deliver very little and cost a lot more in the long run. Instead, invest in the time it takes to grow powerful relationships with respected content creators. They'll fall in love with your product, and through their collaboration with you, their army of fans will too.
- Geo, Founder and Director at HappyCat.
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