What is the top factor when much coveted influencers decide to partner with a brand” It isn’t money.

When surveyed by What is the top factor when much coveted influencers decide to partner with a brand” It isn’t money.TapInfuence, 42 percent of influencers feel that alignment with a brand’s core values is the no. 1 most important factor when approached with a brand partnership opportunity.

TapInfluence is a marketing platform that connects influencers with brands. Finding influencers and bringing them into the brand fold has been a marketing priority for some time.

The influencer survey, launched by the TapInfluence Insights team which test trends and gathers data for brand and agency customers from influencers, defines why influencers are today’s game changers and how inbound marketing is no longer effective without the right augmentation “influence” into their inbound strategy.

The most successful strategy

“Some brands treat influencers as outsourced marketing which loses the quality and power of what these incredible creators and curators of content can offer,” said Phelon. “

TapInfluence says that influencer marketing at scale provides 11 times higher ROI than other marketing and has case studies on its site.

Our study reinforced what we knew–brands that have strong affinity with consumers, work with influencers that align with their brand values and allow space for the influencer to create great content for their audience tend to be most successful with influencer marketing.”

A surprisingly low 11 percent of influencers polled stated that payment was the most important factor when establishing brand relationships. More than 87 percent of survey respondents cited that they’ve had long-lasting relationships with brands who understand the value of what they can provide. A mistake many brands make while working with influencers is neglecting to SHOW influencers the value they see in the cyclical relationship.

Although money may not be the top driver when building relationships, we can’t argue that money still talks. 12.8 percent of those we polled say that influencer marketing relationships make up 100 percent of their yearly income and about a quarter of them said that money earned through influencer marketing makes up 5-10 percent of their annual income.

A few additional takeaways from our survey include:

  • 65% of influencers surveyed identified Instagram as the social platform with the biggest opportunity for growth
  • 75% of survey respondents report that photography is the most engaging avenue for activating their audiences with 36% stating their audience prefers video