According to PsychologyToday.com, a healthy relationship involves “honesty, trust, respect and open communication between partners and they take effort and compromise from both people.” Albeit this definition more than likely makes us think of friendships or something romantic, in the world of public relations, the approach to developing a healthy and productive relationship with influencer agencies is no different.

Specializing in the beauty and fashion space, I’m constantly popping up in the inboxes of influencer marketing management teams and over the years using the principles of how to foster healthy relationships has not only made influencer relations an enjoyable part of my job but has also opened up a ton of amazing partnership opportunities for my clients.

Honesty

When it comes to sharing that initial campaign ask or negotiating a contract, full transparency will always get you farther. This doesn’t only just mean in terms of dollars and cents either. Sometimes a quick pivot in plans means a campaign needs to be executed within a week vs. a month and that level of disclosure at the onset is going to set up both sides for success and moderate expectation.

Trust

We all know the saying ‘it can take years to build trust, but only seconds to break it’ – that couldn’t be more true. As time goes on and relationships between PR agencies and influencer agencies grow stronger, there will inevitably be a time one of you will need a favour. Being able to confidently trust that the other side will uphold their end or return the favour in some way in the future is priceless.

Respect

Treat others the way you want to be treated, it’s as simple as that. Showing mutual respect is key to sustaining a long-lasting partnership. It can be as easy as watching how you phrase feedback to promptly responding to emails to ensure no one is forced to rush because you took an extra day to respond.

Open Communication

At the end of the day, the name in your inbox is a real person to who values open and direct communication. Wherever you can provide rationale or context for a decision that’s been made, a change in creative direction or a last-minute shift in timelines, do it. Creating this expectation of transparency will only serve to further strengthen feelings of trust and respect.

Compromise

Last, but not least, be open to compromise! The ‘my way or the highway’ mentality never leaves anyone feeling great. It’s essential to recognize that both sides are ultimately after the same goal: a successful campaign and a happy client.

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