There’s a new way to up your brand’s social media gameーinfluencer whitelisting. Read on to know how you can maximise this new influencer marketing strategy.
As influencer marketing has grown and trends have shifted the way it works, social media platforms have also evolved to suit the industry’s changing needs.
From building brand content tags on Instagram to influencer-created stickers on Snapchat, there’s no doubt that influencers have become integral to how we use social media today. The industry’s expansive reach, projected to hit $16.4 billion this year, provides businesses with always evolving ways to tap into new audiences, increase engagement, and ramp up marketing return on investment.
With the growing popularity of influencer content, it’s no surprise that brands are now turning to influencer whitelisting as a way to ensure the right people see their content.
Whitelisting is the process of influencers granting brand partners access to their social media accounts. The definition of a whitelist is similar to an allowlist, a cybersecurity strategy where users can only take actions on their computer that an administrator explicitly allowed beforehand.
Influencer whitelisting is a new intersection between the two worlds of organic and paid media. While posting organic content on social media accounts helps you gain momentum with consumers, paid ads can gather more data.
Influencer whitelisting is where influencers give brands access to their social media accounts, like Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok, to have more control over ad placements. This means that instead of featuring influencers on your brand’s account, the brand directly runs the ads from the influencer’s account.
Once an influencer provides access to their account, brands can then use it to publish new ads or boost content already posted on the account. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, whitelisting allows brands to create new posts or edit and promote existing posts. On TikTok, influencers must approve every new video and provide brands with unique codes for each boosted video.
There are numerous benefits to whitelisting for brands, such as:
For many brands, influencer whitelisting is the way to advertise their products on social media platforms effectively. In 2021, influencer marketing related companies grew by 26% to 18,900 worldwide.
As brands use the influencer’s content to tap into their audience, the creators can also widen their exposure to users who may not have interacted with their account before. The widened visibility can drive more traffic to the influencer’s account, allowing the creator to grow their following quickly ー which can also mean more people seeing your ads.
There are different influencer whitelisting types, each with its own benefits:
The influencer whitelisting process also varies depending on the social media platform. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, influencers can whitelist multiple brands. However, on Snapchat, influencers can only whitelist one brand at a time.
Additionally, there are 2 main ways businesses can whitelist influencers: through an influencer marketing agency or with creators directly.
Many influencer marketing agencies offer whitelisting capabilities, like us, Sticki! Typically, agencies will have an extensive database of influencers you can search through and carefully select which ones you want to invite to create content.
Another way businesses can whitelist influencers is by reaching out to them directly. Brands often use this approach when they’re already working with a particular influencer or when they want to start a new relationship from scratch.
The main benefit of this approach is that it allows you to tailor your request specifically to the influencer rather than sending a generic invitation.
Knowing how to reach out to influencers is essential to finding the perfect partner. First, you must explain to them what your brand is looking for and why you think the influencer would be a good fit. You should also give them all the necessary information, such as what content you want them to create and how you plan to distribute it.
When you hear influencer marketing, the first thing that comes to mind is probably those #sponsored posts you see on the influencer’s personal accounts. It’s no wonder, this has been how creators and brands have been telling us about their partnerships on social media for years. This type of influencer-generated content (IGC) is a brand-owned paid ad where influencers get paid to post branded content.
However, it’s important to note that influencer whitelisting is not the same as branded IGC. The main difference is that the whitelisting strategy provides brands more access to influencer content. Where a paid partnership gives the freedom of posting to the creator, with whitelisting brands have total control over what they post and when.
While influencer whitelisting might require more upfront work, it gives brands more control over the influencer’s content. It allows you to track analytics, giving valuable insight into what type of content performs well with the target audience.
IGC is still a valuable influencer marketing strategy, but if you want more control over the content and reach, influencer whitelisting is the way to go.
A study shows that 49% of consumers believe in influencer recommendations more than branded content. Plus, it plays a significant role in their purchasing decisions.
With influencer whitelisting ads, you can take this potential to a higher level to help your brand drive more results and scale. Some other key benefits include:
The bottom line is that influencer whitelisting boosts engagement and drives sales. That said, whitelisting isn’t always as simple as it sounds.
Since it’s an evolving space, the process still has some challenges and disadvantages that brands should be aware of.
To overcome these challenges, it’s best to work with an influencer marketing agency with a proven track record of success with influencer whitelisting. In addition, the agency should have a network of influencers who are familiar with the process and can produce quality content. Plus, the agency should be able to handle the logistics of influencer whitelisting so you can focus on other aspects of your business.
There are different ways to whitelist influencers on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
For Facebook and Instagram, brand marketers need to have whitelisting permissions from creators through Facebook Business Manager. It’s important to find influencers with a Facebook Business Manager linked to their accounts.
To do this, the creator can go to Settings > People and then give the brand or marketer employee access.
Once granted partner status, brands will have access to the influencer’s accounts and directly run ads through the brand’s Facebook Ads Manager. Here, you can create influencer ads and dark posts. Similarly, creators must grant marketers advertising permissions on their Instagram accounts to whitelist content.
To whitelist influencers on TikTok, the influencer should provide brands with an authorisation code for the content they want to whitelist.
To do this, the influencers must enable ad settings on their account. Then, to authorise the video for promotion use, the video being whitelisted should already exist on the influencer’s page. After that, the influencer has to allow marketers to whitelist the video by generating a code and selecting a duration for how long the code will be valid.
Once the marketer receives the authorisation code, they can whitelist the video directly through TikTok ads manager.
You can also learn about YouTube influencer marketing here.
Whitelisting influencers is an excellent and innovative way for brands to tap into influencer content and get their message in front of a larger audience. However, the process can be time-consuming and demanding. Plus, there’s a risk of creating tension between brands and influencers.
Despite these challenges, whitelisting influencers can be a successful marketing strategy to improve your brand’s social media visibility. As social media becomes more critical for businesses, influencer whitelisting is one way to leverage the growth of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Further, a great tip to start with your influencer marketing campaign is to work with an influencer marketing agency with a proven track record, like Sticki.
Sticki has access to over 133 million creators to match your brand and expose you to more audiences that improve your social media reach and engagement. With us, you’ll have access to an all-in-one creator management platform to help you build more authentic, brand-boosting relationships.
Ready to start your influencer outreach campaign? Get in touch with us today and partner with the right content creators to provide maximum value to your business.
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