How brands in the Philippines can get influencer relationships right

Influence is power and brands are certainly aware of it these days. Often brands collaborate and work with influencers to tap on their community, yet time and again frictions around how the posts or stories should be created exist. So how can brands wield successful collaborations with influencers and most importantly, reap conversions from these collaborations?

Speaking on a fireside chat during MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's inaugural Digital Marketing Asia conference in the Philippines, food content creator Abigail Marquez said that "content creation is fairly new, so many companies are yet to understand how it works."

Marquez is a food content creator with a combined following of over 7 million followers on social media. Marquez has made cooking both accessible and enjoyable with her viral recipes, using her platform to empower home cooks and offer livelihood ideas to Filipinos. Known as TikTok’s Lumpia Queen, she has earned several accolades, including being named an Achiever on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia – Class of 2024.

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"How the content creation industry works is that when you collaborate with creators, you are collaborating with a creative who has already built a connection with their communities, and they have built that connection through consistently posting trustworthy, organic and very dependable content," said Marquez. Marquez added that influencers want to provide brands value and exposure in videos, but in order for the videos to work, trust and creative freedom is required. "We have to build trust, and it still has to be our video. It has to be a collaboration between what works for us and an inclusion of your brand".

According to a study by influencer marketing platform Partipost, 67% of marketers said that they are upping their investment in influencer marketing this year. Out of the marketers who are increasing their investment in influencer marketing, 23% have dedicated nearly half of their total budget to it.

It added that creators' primary focus are often producing innovative, original content, with a specific niche or expertise. They are often perceived as more authentic and genuine too.

Adding to her point is Buji Babiera, an influencer whose content revolves around storytelling. "I think for brands to collaborate with content creators, or at least for me, I really want to have communication between the brand and the content creator."

Babiera is a TikTok sensation who has rapidly grown his following to over 2 million in less than a year with his “storytime” videos. Beyond content creation, Babiera is a passionate cycling advocate and founder of First Bike Ride, a community that promotes safe cycling and sustainability. His recent brand collaborations include UNICEF, UNIQLO, and McDonald’s.

"The brand should understand what kind of content I can produce, what kind of content does my audience would like to see? And at the same time, I, as a content creator, would also like to know what is the message that you want to give to my audience, what kind of metrics do you want to achieve when we do our content," added Babiera

Riding on Marquez's point of creative freedom, Babiera adds that "trust plays a key role in content creation and in a campaign."

"The brands should trust the content creators that they can translate the message to the audience, and at the same time, the content creator should trust the brand, the message of the brand that he or she would create and give to his or her audience," explained Babiera.

At the end of the day, the collaboration has to empower both the brands and the content creator. "A brand can be hurt by the content that the content creator produces, and at the same time, it can also hurt the brand of the content creator if he or she does something that is not of her or his brand".

Listening to your audience

As much as creative freedom, trust and authenticity will secure a content creator that works for a brand, listening to the audience and understanding them is of paramount too.

"As a content creator, you must really listen to your audience. And I personally have a different kind of content that I produce or upload for different channels be it TikTok or Instagram. That's because my audience on Instagram are different compared with the audience that I have on TikTok," said Babiera, explaining that this difference comes in type of demographic, attention span and interest.

"You need to always listen to your followers, what they want, what they consume. If you just randomly put the content out there. It is unlikely to work," he added.

Babiera added that when it comes to picking a partner to work with, associating with a creator that is in line with the audience's values - regardless of their follower count - is important too.   "You want to be associated with creators that are in line with your brands, regardless if the one campaign works or not. As long as you're associated with this content creator, I think that's already a value for your brand and at the same time, it's also a value to our brand as content creator that we work for your brand," he explained.

Marquez agreed to his point, emphasising on the idea of quality over quantity.  "When you're partnering with creators, of course, you are going to spend money, resources, time on it. You want ROI, you want results. You cannot guarantee it, but there are ways to increase the chances of it performing," said Marquez.

She added that with measurement being more important today, brands should always check the engagement rate. This is includes seeing how engaged people are in the comments, the saves, the shares and if the audience is connecting with the creator or the video.  "I'm saying this now because some companies still believe that number of followers is a good metric in getting an influencer or a creator to promote your brand. I'm here to tell you it's not," said Marquez.

"You can buy followers but look at the engagement when they post. I think that's a better metric in looking at quality engagement. I would say go for quality instead of quantity," she explained.

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