Finding your brand’s soulmate

Rachel Evans reflects on the recent partnership with Honest Mum and the importance of finding the perfect partnership.

Online social media stars are now reported to be more influential than celebrities –creating an opportunity for brands to build tangible and powerful relationships.

Whether they are bloggers, instagrammers, youtubers or viners – they are not only a trusted source that is extremely relatable to consumers, but they’re also often much better value for money than the traditional celebrity.

Vicki Psarias, founder of the blog Honest Mum has made a successful career out of blogging – and it’s easy to see why.

The KISS PR team recently collaborated with Honest Mum on a consumer campaign for the back to school period. She ticked the boxes when it came to target audience and brand fit, but her real selling point is her undeniable passion for what she does.

Set up only six years ago, Vicki is now in the top 5% of sites worldwide with 60,000 average monthly visits to her blog and a combined social following of over 92,000. Despite the demands of brands knocking on her door, she goes above and beyond the make a partnership work well.

So why is it so important to get the right partnership? Ultimately, influencers have flourished because of an invested trust from their followers, and the most successful are those who genuinely believe in what they are advocating. As consumers become savvier to paid for partnerships, a deeper connection needs to be present for a brand partnership to work.

5 ways to tell if an influencer is right for your brand:
1. Do they have a genuine interest in your brand: bloggers base their sites on being trusted sources so they must be genuinely enthused by your product or service
2. Does the influencer fit with the brand’s core values: what does your brand stand for and does the influencer also hold these values?
3. Know your audience and ensure they regularly talk to and are engaged with them
4. Make sure they’re not working with any conflicting or competitive brands
5. Are they engaged, do they have ideas? For a partnership to flourish this is essential!