Value Added Brand Collaborations are becoming so powerful for building online brands. In this fast paced information age, nothing offers social proof for brands than seeing a number of sources speak highly of a brand. For impact, a mutually beneficially cobranded content not only diversifies and increases reach, but surely increases the likelihood of user engagement rate.
Building a community on social media is pivotal on not only engagement, but putting faces behind endorsements, testimonials and feedback and most importantly, spotting brands in the same industry (or complimentary industry) to collaborate and grow together with. This can be done in 3 (three) ways:
1. Influencers & Ambassadors
2. User Generated Content (UCG)
3. Branded Collaborations
More especially in the awareness and retention phases of a brand, putting a reputable and trusted face behind your product or service marketing goes a mile in ensuring increased engagement and loyalty within your community, especially for consumer brands. After you and your social media team draw up objectives and a strategy to go with it, ensuring likelihood of meeting KPIs could be executed by:
· Paid/Sponsored Influencer Posts
Achieved when brands pay influencers to promote their products or services online, it can be executed on any platform, but largely done on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook stories. For the relationship to make sense and truly be relatable with the users, the brand cannot just look for and pay the nearest influencer, not only should it industry specific but the content strategy must resonate with influencer as well. A few tips:
Let your objectives guide you on the size and industry of the influencer you’d love to work with.
Be flexible and clear: guide them on objectives and campaign goals and always include them in the content strategy. Of course there has to be room for autonomy granted and room for creativity for the best value possible.
Research and Monitor Influencer Online Engagement: this is very important to gage just how frequently they can create content, storylines and also engage with their community. These are benchmarks used to monitor value of influencers.
· Gift Influencers
This mostly evident in situations such as events, shows and any instances with high traffic. But for both service and product based businesses, gifting influencers in exchange for storyline content and postings can be a strategic move for brands. But this could make or break the brand depending on the quality of the service or product being reviewed and documented.
· Influencer Contests and Giveaways
“Take a picture and post” are the best awareness campaigns driven by Influencers and ambassadors, they ensure increased reach engagement and connectivity between brands and users. There are number of such related campaigns where influencers and brands collaborate to make end users part and parcel of the brand.
2. User Generated Content
This is best driven by community engagement, putting the product user at the forefront and appreciating their commitment to the brand. Brands firstly have to establish an online voice for users to be familiarized with, followed by a consistent engagement with users who give feedback, shout-outs and compliments about the brand and lastly appreciating them with posts and strategic content. Part of this involves campaigns that award referrals and feedback, recognizing and posting loyal customers and having giveaways or discounts and sharing this content online for increased retention and brand trust.
3. Branded Collaboration(s)
Two or more brands coming together for a mutually beneficial goal ensures, more than anything, trust and reach with consumers. Brand collaborations can be and should be multi-sectorial and irrespective of size. The essence of building ecosystems centers around this; eliminating profit for value. The most powerful brand communities are built from branded collaborations. You cannot have KFC without a Coca Cola product, just you can’t picture a PC product without Windows software. Translated to content, this ensures communities are not only stretched out, but strengthened. It is very crucial for each brand, big or small to locate and mobilize brands to build a community and collaborate with.
At the core of all of this, each of our brands have to understand all this centers on building relationships. This requires a deep understanding of each brand’s voice, market and stage in the consumer funnel to reach a consensus on a route to foster going forward beneficial to all parties concerned.
Follow these tricks, you will definitely build a community on your overall online and brand image and increase chances of active loyalty for your brand!
