You can call us soothsayers if you’d like, but flattery won’t get you anywhere. These tips might, however! We know we’re on to something, that’s why we built REP—and all these articles popping up all over the place just substantiate our theory: Influencer marketing is the future. Fostering these relationships is key to your brands success. As always, we’re here to help. So, brands and influencers: Here’s a brief list to keep in mind as you build these campaigns and relationships.

1) Greater Influence > A Bigger Check – If you’re an influencer (nascent or otherwise), you’re not only looking to make money, but also grow your following. Therefore, if you’re not already, we recommend taking a more discerning approach when dealing with brands and potential partnerships. This will grow your following. It will come across as authentic and your current followers will appreciate it. Taking a paycheck to promote a product that’s beneath you or that you’re not interested in isn’t the right approach; you’ll lose credibility—ESPECIALLY if the product isn’t good. You don’t want people buying into a product because of your recommendation when it doesn’t work! But back to the headline of this bullet point: Brands will likely come to the table with a built-in audience—who may cross over and follow you, influencer, in return. This is a valuable form of currency, one that we see bearing considerable weight. 

2) Micro-Influencer is the New Influencer – We’ve dedicated a whole blog to this topic. For further reading do check it out. The short and sweet of it is that the micro-influencer yields better engagement. And better engagement yields a more significant ROI (return on investment). The numbers show that a brand can yield more through working with 100 influencers with 1k followers, than with 1 influencer who has 100,000 followers.

3) Influencer Marketing Will Be More Authentic – Peep this article about proper disclosure. The FTC is cracking down on the #ads, more than anything, this will keep influencers in check and force them to make good choices with regards to brands and partnerships. (http://www.inc.com/john-hall/kim-kardashian-could-probably-sell-just-about-anything–not-if-the-ftc-has-any.html)

4) Foster Relationships: Build and Grow with the Influencer – “Promise you’ll remember me when you’re famous…” This one is obvious but nonetheless true. While building these campaigns, you’ll no doubt come across some horror stories, but we’re hoping you fall into some romances, too. Don’t take the gracious influencers for granted. Build on these first campaigns; develop your relationship with the influencer—and watch how well those seeds you planted grow.

5) Qualitative and Quantitative Measurements Will Become More Vital – Guys, brands and influencers—we’ve spoken about both of these terms repeatedly. Quality and quantity. Strike a good balance. Through REP you not only have the ability to communicate with influencers, we’re giving you the data to gauge the metrics of their reach—and eventually those of your campaigns. Again, it’s about a balance, you’ll find the sweet spot and what works for you, but the point is the guessing game is over. Gone are the days where you, as a brand, rely on an insanely priced magazine spread or billboard to announce your product. The advent of technology and influencer marketing (in particular) has made it possible to see exactly how well your campaign performed.

In summation, be nice. Get to work. Scratch each other’s backs along the way. It’ll pay dividends in the end.

(We mean business and we have done so much research for your sake. Heck, we even read the stock newspaper business section.)