6 New and Innovative Influencer Collaboration Ideas
If you’ve been doing influencer marketing for a while, then you’re likely familiar with influencer collaboration methods like gifting, affiliate marketing and sponsored posts. These approaches have been key for brands to build partnerships across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
However, these aren’t the only ways to collaborate with influencers. To make your brand competitive, there are other innovative and less conventional strategies to explore.
Influencer marketing has shown impressive ROI, with brands earning an average of$5.78 for every dollar spent. This showcases the profitability of well-executed influencer campaigns, particularly those that tap into niche audiences and stand out from the competition.
In this article, we'll introduce 6 fresh and creative influencer collaboration ideas. By diversifying your partnerships, you'll build stronger relationships with content creators, earn higher ROIs and craft campaigns that captivate audiences in 2024 and beyond.
1. Content Co-Creation
This doesn’t refer to influencers creating content about your products and brand. Instead, content co-creation is when a brand representative joins forces with influencers to produce images and videos about a new product.
It’s usually done with famous influencers from the brand’s niche and showcases how a product works or can be used. It also works for promoting campaigns overall.
How Beauty brand Patrick Ta impulsed their TikTok engagement and reach with content co-creation:
Beauty brand Patrick Ta created a TikTok with influencer @bretmanrock (17.5M followers) for his campaign titled “Beauty That Brings You Out”, which inspires users to share how beauty and makeup inspire their confidence.
Patrick Ta, a makeup artist himself, is also an influencer, and by creating a video with a major social media personality like Bretman Rock, the brand impulsed their engagement and reach on TikTok.
Brands that want to increase their social media reach and engagement
Lifestyle, beauty, and fashion brands since they often thrive on visual storytelling, and co-creating content can show the brand’s products being used in real-world scenarios.
Brands targeting niche audiences as it can help tap into specific communities by leveraging the influencer’s trust and connection with their followers.
Products that have practical use or need to be demonstrated to show the product’s effectiveness.
Pros
Cons
Authentic Engagement: Co-creation helps generate more authentic and relatable content since the influencer has creative input, making the audience more likely to engage.
Higher Costs: Because it involves more collaboration and effort from the influencer, co-creation might have higher compensation demands than traditional sponsorships.
Deeper Brand-Influencer Relationship: Working closely with influencers strengthens the relationship between the brand and the influencer, leading to potential long-term partnerships. Plus, working with the same influencer across multiple campaigns builds more trust with their audience, and 56% of marketers have engaged in recurring partnerships.
Not Scalable: This approach is often customized and tailored, making it difficult to replicate across multiple influencers or campaigns in a scalable way.
Enhanced Trust and Credibility: Influencers’ followers are likely to trust the content more because they see the influencer as genuinely involved rather than just promoting a brand in a traditional ad format.
2. Giveaways and Contests
These two influencer collaborations have the same purpose: giving out free products or services to the influencer’s followers. But they have different rules:
In influencer giveaways, winners are typically selected randomly, and participation is usually simple: liking a post, following a page, or tagging a friend. No skill or effort is required to enter beyond following the entry rules.
Whereas in contests, participants must submit something, like a photo, video, or caption, and the winner is handpicked based on skill, creativity, or effort. The influencer or a public voting often determines the winner.
How the Vitamin Water brand gained visibility with an unconventional contest idea
Maitri (@honeyidressedthepug) is a colorful decor influencer with +240K followers, and shares a lot of DIY content. That’s why Vitamin Water partnered with her to launch a non-conventional contest, where the winner could receive a check to cover one year of rent and custom design services.
This contest helped both Vitamin Water and Maitri to gain visibility and increase their connection with their consumers and followers respectively.
Brands that want to grow their social media accounts
Seasonality campaigns or time-limited offers to communicate urgency and encourage action
Giveaways can be a way to show appreciation to existing followers and customers, building loyalty
Contests can provide valuable UGC to later use in marketing and their own social media
Contests can also reflect the brand’s personality or values by asking for specific types of submissions (e.g., environmentally friendly ideas, or showcasing how users interact with the brand’s products).
Pros
Cons
Quick audience growth: This can quickly boost followers, engagement, and visibility as people like, share, and tag friends.
Limited brand connection: Since giveaways are based on chance, they don’t always foster a meaningful connection between the brand and participants.
Great for brand awareness: Both giveaways and contests help expose your brand to a larger audience, potentially introducing it to new customers.
Less control over who participates: Giveaways and contests can attract participants who aren’t genuinely interested in your brand but just want to win a prize. This could also mean that they unfollow you as soon as the offer is done.
New leads: They are a great opportunity to attract customers as they might not have heard about your brand before, or they did but were hesitant to purchase and now have the possibility to try it.
Prizes need to match effort: Contest prizes usually need to be more substantial or appealing since participants are required to invest effort, potentially leading to higher costs.
Develop influencer relationships: They can strengthen relationships with creators as they can be offered after a first partnership, where the potential was tested and proven successful. They also bring engagement to influencers themselves, so it might be easier to get them on board.
Judgment criteria: If the contest winner is based on skill or creativity, it may lead to disagreements or frustration from participants if the selection process isn’t transparent.
Short-term engagement spike: Drive quick bursts of engagement (likes, comments, shares), giving your profile a visibility boost on the platform’s algorithm.
3. Account Takeover
It’s when an influencer or content creator temporarily "takes over" a brand's social media account, usually a few hours to a day.
During this time, the influencer posts content directly to the brand’s account, engaging with the brand’s audience as themselves while often promoting the brand or its products.
How Dripping Gold incorporates account takeovers to their social media strategy
The tanning company Dripping Gold has held multiple account takeovers, where influencers like Cindy Prado would post multiple stories showcasing their favorite products.
The brand also pinned these takeovers in their highlights in case their followers missed it and wanted to check it out. This also helps increase exposure over time and maintain reach.
Brands that are able to collaborate with larger influencers, who will be recognized by the brand’s audience to cause real impact
Product launches or special promotions, as influencers can highlight how they use the brand's products in a natural setting and draw attention to it
Target specific audiences, since influencers can target their niche and generate buzz around the brand
Special events like award shows, red carpets, and parties.
Pros
Cons
More authenticity: When doing takeovers, influencers speak in their own voice, making the content feel more personal and relatable.
Risk of Misalignment: If the influencer's content style or messaging does not align well with the brand, it could create confusion or turn off followers.
Fresh Content: The brand's social media feed can get a new and creative perspective from the influencer, which can help break monotony.
Temporary Impact: While takeovers can drive temporary spikes in engagement and followers, the impact may fade once the takeover is over if not followed by sustained engagement.
Increased Engagement: Takeovers often encourage more comments, shares, and likes, improving engagement metrics.
Negotiation: Account takeovers are a big responsibility for creators, and depending on the amount of content and interaction expected, also time consuming. Therefore, they can be harder to negotiate and might require a deep relationship or a high fixed fee to get influencers to agree.
4. Events and Activations
They are promotional strategies where companies invite influencers to participate in curated experiences designed to generate buzz, showcase products, and create authentic brand engagement.
The most common types are product launches, experiential and interactive activations, sponsored events, workshops and panels, and virtual launches or activations.
Jim Beam Cheers On the US Women's Soccer Team with a Send-Off Block Party:
The famous spirits brand Jim Beam sponsored the Send Off Block Party for the US Women Soccer team, to celebrate their last match before heading to the 2024 Olympics.
Before the game, fans were invited to enjoy a few drinks with live music, giveaways and even meet and greets with players from the national soccer team. Who wouldn’t be excited to share a drink with their favorite player?!
Brands entering new markets, launching new products, opening a new store or rebranding efforts, since it’s a great way to draw attention to it as multiple people would post about it
Brands looking to connect on a more personal level with influencers and build stronger relationships
Brands seeking user-generated content or social media share
Brands with complex or odd products or services that require influencer understanding to convey the value accurately.
Pros
Cons
Networking: Events are a great way to personally connect with influencers and even new people of interest, if creators take a plus one.
High costs: Organizing influencer events or activations can be expensive, as brands may need to invest in venue rental, setup, influencer fees, and product samples.
Content generation: Influencers are motivated to share real-time experiences through stories, posts, or live streams, sparking conversation.
Unknown ROI: While the event may generate buzz, it doesn’t always translate directly into sales or tangible results.
Exclusive experiences for customers: These events provide customers with exclusive content opportunities—often in visually appealing settings—encouraging them to produce high-quality, authentic content. It also gives them hands-on experiences, so customers can form genuine opinions about products.
Risk of negative content: If influencers and customers have a bad experience or are unhappy with the brand during the event, they might share negative content, which could harm the brand’s image.
5. Brand Trips
Usually done to promote product launches or to associate brands to certain lifestyles, brand trips are a great way to connect with influencers on another level by taking them to a specific holiday location.
These trips tend to be weekend getaways where influencers can create more aesthetically pleasing content and share unique experiences on their social media, advertising brands as something more than just the products they sell.
Brand trips are also a fantastic way to add to the brand storytelling, which is crucial to connect with the right audience: Over 60% of marketers say that increasing brand awareness is the top goal for their influencer marketing efforts, and collaborations focusing on storytelling tend to perform best in this regard.
Revove Leads the Way in Influencer Trips with Their Exclusive Revolve Festival:
Revolve is the brand when it comes to influencer trips. They were one of the pioneers and to this day, continue to have macro influencers and even celebrities among their travelers.
One of their most famous trips is to Coachella, one of the most important music festivals in the world. They started with usual brand trips, flying influencers to Coachella and arranging their stay, in exchange for organic social media exposure.
Now, they have grown so much in popularity that they even host their own “Revolve Festival”, a few days before Coachella starts and for invites only.
Best for:
Brands looking for meaningful ways of connecting with their influencers and ambassadors, as a free trip to an exclusive location tends to be something difficult to say no to
Diverse and active content generation. Just like in events and activations, influencers have more reasons to share about the brand during a trip where they are doing different activities.
Brands striving to be associated with certain lifestyles whether that is digital nomad, outdoor, luxury, and so on.
Attracting new influencers to the roster. Some influencers are highly sought after and therefore hard to collaborate with, but a brand trip can be more enticing than a regular product exchange.
Pros
Cons
Cost effective collabs: When working with large creators, organizing a brand trip might be more cost effective than paying for a singular collaboration with each, where every post is paid individually. On a trip, influencers might be encouraged to share more than usual.
Controversy: Brand trips have been the cause of controversy and even outrage by some consumers in the past, as an over-the-top trip can come off as unrealistic and out of touch. Planning accordingly to the target audience is crucial.
High-Quality Content Creation: Unique, photogenic locations inspire influencers to produce top-notch, visually appealing content that resonates well on social platforms.
High Costs: While they can be more cost effective than individual partnerships with large creators, expenses for travel, accommodations, and activities can make brand trips one of the more costly influencer strategies.
Enhanced Brand Awareness: Multiple influencers sharing their experiences simultaneously can generate a buzz, widening the reach and building interest in the brand. Plus, most influencers have friends in the industry, and followers love to see them together!
Logistical Challenges: Planning a seamless brand trip with multiple influencers involves complex logistics, which can lead to unexpected complications.
Strengthened Relationships: Brand trips often foster loyalty and deeper relationships with influencers, making them more likely to become long-term partners.
6. Brand Ambassadors
Brand ambassadors are influencers or content creators who develop a long-term relationship with a brand, often representing it in a more formal and consistent way than one-off partnerships.
Because they resonate with the brand’s image and values, ambassadors are seen as authentic representatives, helping to build trust with their followers. This also means that they are often more knowledgeable about the brand, allowing them to offer insights, tutorials, or reviews that go beyond surface-level promotion.
Lululemon Expands Its Brand Ambassador Strategy with Fitness Influencers Building Local Communities:
Content creators often sharing a post about the brand they represent isn’t the only way of being brand ambassadors: Lululemon has built a large network of fitness influencers who host training sessions in their area, building a community of people who shares the same values (and wears Lululemon to exercise!)
Best for:
Developing strong relationships with creators. Once more, this collaboration idea is a great way to strengthen influencer relationships, as it is a way to constantly reward those who drive sales for your brand and create valuable content.
Brands in competitive markets. Ambassadors can influence purchasing decisions through trust, particularly for high-consideration products like tech gadgets or luxury items, where followers are more likely to rely on the ambassador’s recommendation.
Brands focused on sustainability or social impact, since they can benefit from ambassadors who authentically share and advocate for their values, helping to connect with like-minded audiences.
Pros
Cons
Exclusivity: Many brand ambassadorships require that ambassadors don’t promote competing brands. This exclusivity strengthens brand loyalty, ensuring ambassadors fully commit to the brand’s image and message, enhancing authenticity and credibility.
High initial investment: Securing an ambassador, especially a well-known one, often requires a substantial upfront investment.
Consistent brand exposure: Ambassadors provide ongoing brand promotion, which ensures consistent visibility. Over time, this repeated exposure reinforces brand recall and keeps the brand top-of-mind for potential customers.
Risk of overexposure: Ambassadors who post about the brand too frequently risk causing overexposure, which can lead to audience fatigue. Followers may become less responsive if they feel they’re constantly “sold to,” potentially diminishing the ambassador’s influence.
Reputation risks: Ambassadors are public figures, and their actions reflect on the brands they represent. If an ambassador faces negative publicity or engages in controversial behavior, it can quickly damage the brand’s reputation by association.
Final Thoughts on Influencer Collaborations
Influencer partnerships can take various forms, and while sponsored posts and affiliate gifts are classics for a reason, they aren’t the only way brands can navigate influencer marketing.
Brand ambassadors, influencer trips, giveaways, account takeovers and content co-creation all have some pros and cons, but they are all a great way to go the extra mile and strengthen relationships with creators.
Nowadays, content creators have the power to build or tear down a brand. So if you want to make sure they are on your side, and that you recognize the effort they have put in promoting your brand, exploring one of the innovative collaboration ideas previously mentioned can have a great impact on your exposure, sales and brand awareness.
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