Influencers are the new black when it comes to social media. If you’ve been hiding under a rock and aren’t across the value of partnering with high profile social media personalities, we’ll give you a quick refresh.

Everyone wants to be like the cool kids, and influencer partnerships are your way to make sure the cool kids are reppin’ your brand. Let’s break this down. 92% of people still trust peer recommendations on social, which is huge when you consider 74% of people still rely on social media for information when choosing what brand to buy.

Finding the right influencer isn’t always about finding the biggest, most popular Insta accounts droppin’ fat numbers, it’s also about finding influencers who are a great fit for your brand who can help you develop great content in the future.

So here are some handy hints to help you get more value from your partnership programs.

1)  Don’t be afraid to back smaller social media accounts

Huge accounts mean huge audiences, but they also often come with big price tags and rigid demands. In short, established influencers can be real divas and that might be great for a big awareness campaign, but there is little ongoing value in it.

On the other hand, smaller accounts can sometimes come with less initial cost and a huge potential to grow the relationship. It’s that ol’ school buy low, sell high investment philosophy. If you find the right account you can ride the wave as they grow and score big influence without the rigid rules and huge price tags.

In a recent outreach campaign, we teamed one of our tool brands up with a small, ambitious start-up with a great ethos. In the months since the partnership started, that start-up has grown rapidly and so has their partnership with our brand. Now we’re looking at potential media coverage as a result.

It can be risky, but it’s definitely a risk you should take. Trust us.

2)    Foster the ideas of your influencers

It might save some time to approach influencers with a long list of demands and a dollar figure, but doing so can be restrictive. Don’t be afraid to ask them for their input and create a relationship that has them thinking of ways they can create mutually beneficial content opportunities. There’s nothing better than opening your emails to find an ambassador who’s creating a fantastic content opportunity and wants you to be involved.

3)    Don’t be afraid to show some love (tastefully)

The bigger your ambassadors get, the more people see them endorsing your brand. We’re not saying you should cross-promote to the point that your pages become some kind of weird, indistinguishable, joint account. We’re just sayin’ that when one of your ambassadors does something your audience will be into, hit that share button; it makes good content for you and helps increase the value of your partnership with the ambassador.

Done right, social media ambassadorship programs are about more than just getting eyes on your brand; they’re a springboard to teeing up some sweet third-party content that builds brand awareness and influences purchasing decisions.