Finding relevant influencers at any time is a challenge. But discovering the best ones during BFCM? When influencers are most in demand? When the ROI expected is much, much higher than business as usual? That’s a whole other beast.

In this article, I’ll explain the best strategies marketers shared with us to recruit influencers for BFCM. The wisdom here can be applied throughout the year, though – not just during the peak holiday season.

Why you should lock in your BFCM influencers early (by September at the latest)

If I had to summarize all our findings from our BFCM survey in one phrase, I’d say: start recruiting your influencers early.

Over a third of participants in our survey said that at least 20-40% of their BFCM influencers are creators they’ve worked with in the past. For over half, that number is closer to 40-80%.

You’re already a little late to the party if you’re starting testing influencers in September. Here’s why locking influencers early matters so much:

1: Influencers get booked up months before the onset of BFCM

An influencer’s calendar gets booked like hotcakes during the holiday season. Everyone wants to recruit them. 62.5% of marketers in our survey said they have trouble booking influencers during BFCM. Influencer marketing lead, Lee Drysdale, even equates this phenomenon to the Hunger Games:

Lee Drysdale

Influencer Marketing Lead

BFCM is like the hunger games in booking talent for campaigns. This is where long-term partnerships come into play – if you already have that relationship with the talent, then this is the time to leverage!

2: Influencers hike up their rates during BFCM

I’m no econ major, but I know what happens when demand surpasses supply: prices skyrocket. 2/3rds of marketers in our survey said influencers increase their prices during the BFCM season. On average, influencers charge 20% more than their usual rate to create BFCM content.

This is where existing long-term partnerships can be extremely useful: influencers might still ask for a rate increase during BFCM to their retainer clients (aka, you), but it won’t be as big a jump. 

It’ll be rooted in the baseline rates they’ve already established with you (given that you have a good relationship with them). Influencer marketing specialist, Mark Dandy, agrees:

Mark Dandy

Influencer Marketing Specialist

If you're going after influencers that you've never worked with, they're gonna charge you 50-100% more. Influencer prices go up straight away because they're just in such high-demand.

3: You minimize your risk by not testing brand-new influencers

Let’s say you waited and started collaborating with a brand new creator during BFCM. You even agreed to their increased holiday rates. But now you have a new risk to bear: you don’t know how this influencer will perform.

You haven’t done any type of collaboration with them before and you don’t know what would bode well with their audience. Sure, you’ve done your research, but you aren’t as confident as you would’ve been with first-hand experience.

Having experience with an influencer will help you understand what works and what doesn’t with their audience. You’ll know their strengths and weaknesses and they’ll already be aware of your product. That’s a lot of work already done upfront – only if you test influencers for BFCM early.

4: Influencers will be more open to go the extra mile for you

You can expect things to go unexpectedly during BFCM. That’s a given. You might switch up your offers, a product’s messaging may need to change, and a whole host of other things will come at you abruptly.

You can’t expect a brand new influencer partner to accommodate last-minute requests and changes when things go awry. But a long-term influencer partner that you’ve built a great relationship with? They won’t hesitate to go the extra mile for you.

Mark Dandy explains it best with an example:

Mark Dandy

Influencer Marketing Specialist

If a brand changes their discount process and says, “Look, I'm sorry. I know you've created a video and said that there’s a 30% discount. We need you to refilm it. It's supposed to go live tomorrow, can you do it now, please?” If you're working with a new influencer, they’ll probably refuse. But if you've got a brilliant relationship, they might be like, "That's frustrating, but we love you guys."

How to test influencers throughout the year and build solid relationships

Saying ‘test influencers early for BFCM! Start asking them to collab with you by Sep!’ is easy. But how do you actually do it? How do you build such a solid foundation of influencer relationships that creators say yes to your offer even when they’re in such high demand? Here are four pro tips to make you a creator’s favorite brand partner:

1: Have an upfront conversation with your long-term influencer partners about your requirements

Mark Dandy advises having upfront conversations with influencers about booking them for BFCM and other brand requirements.

Let’s say you want exclusivity during the holiday season. Bring that topic up proactively and specify what you’d exactly need. Do you want category exclusivity? Or full exclusivity for a short period?

Laying down your needs and expectations early on will help the influencer plan their workload and book new brand partnerships that adjust to yours.

For example, if you’ve asked for a three-day category exclusivity and a competitor reaches out that wants to partner during the same timeline, an influencer has the clarity to offer them alternative dates. Instead of throwing a curveball when BFCM has already arrived, you’re helping influencers prepare their calendar in advance.

Mark says he communicates with influencers about the kind of collaborations he wants to continue with them during BFCM in August.

2: Offer a bump in their usual rates proactively

Why should a creator stick to you if you pay an influencer $200 for a sponsored post during the off-season, and another brand offers them $400 during BFCM? Help your influencer partners avoid losing out on potential income by proactively offering to bump their rates during BFCM. Don’t wait for them to bring it up.

Mark Dandy elaborates on how he approaches these conversations:

Mark Dandy

Influencer Marketing Specialist

We say, ‘You perform well and we've got a great relationship. We want to continue working with you. We know that you’ll get more brand attention in November. Ideally we want Black Friday messaging in your next retainer. We're happy to give an extra [$$$] for November because we know that you'll be busy, and we don't want you to lose that potential income.

By offering to increase an influencer’s rates proactively, you not only earn a creator’s goodwill, but also get the upper hand in negotiating. You’re proactive, early, and a long-term partner. All those factors would save you money compared to recruiting the same influencer for the first time (or leaving the ball in their court).

Michael Todner (leading influencer marketing at Gear4Music) says you can also offer other incentives to influencers to get in their good books – like an increased affiliate commission on sales.

3: Divide influencers into cohorts and collect deep data on their performance

One of the biggest advantages of testing influencers for BFCM early is you know their strengths and weaknesses. One creator might be great for brand awareness, another might be excellent for capturing customer data (like emails), and then there will be few consistently bringing in the most conversions.

Collect data on every influencer you’re partnering with throughout the testing period. This way, by BFCM, you’ll know which influencers are best equipped for what goal. This will also affect how you track and measure the success of your BFCM campaigns. An influencer who’s great at brand awareness might not be able to get you many customer emails, but you shouldn’t be tracking that metric for this creator anyway.

Mark Dandy explains how he divides influencers into various cohorts based on their performance:

Mark Dandy

Influencer Marketing Specialist

We measure influencer performance over two months between June and July. Based on that, we decide which influencers are performing the best, in which category, and what budgets should we align to those influences within those categories.

For example, you should partner with more ‘brand awareness influencers’ in September and October to be front-of-mind when the discounts arrive in BFCM. Then, let your ‘sales star influencers’ take the reins.

4: Set up workflows and deadlines for influencers

A creator’s workload increases multifold during BFCM. They need to create much more varied content for different brands with varying needs. On top of that, they must be on their toes for any last-minute changes and requests.

Help creators do their job more easily by being the brand that has everything figured out early on. Share potential deadline ranges (if you can’t offer definite deadlines) as soon as possible, prepare them for the offers you’re planning to roll out, and onboard them onto any workflows you need to set up. Alycia Lykins, Influencer Marketing Manager Trixxi Clothing, agrees:

Alycia Lykins

Influencer Marketing Manager, Trixxi Clothing

Begin by identifying your goals, target audience, and key performance indicators (KPIs). Collaborate closely with influencers to create a detailed content calendar, including deadlines for drafts, approvals, and posting schedules. Early preparation allows for refining your strategy and addressing any potential issues.

What if you’re a late bloomer?

There’s no such thing as fashionably late in BFCM. The earlier you start to find, outreach, test, and lock in creators for the peak holiday season, the better. But what if it’s October and you’re only just starting to plan everything?

First: talk to your highest-performing creator partners over the year. Are they open to collaborating during BFCM? Proactively offer to bump their usual rates, as we discussed earlier. Use whatever data you have on these existing influencer partners to dictate your paid partnerships with them during Black Friday. Old (creator) is gold (creator) for sponsored posts during BFCM.

Then: if you decide to onboard a new set of creators during BFCM, let them be affiliate partners. The collaboration is low-effort and low-cost. It can essentially run itself after the initial push. Plus: the payoff is better for you and the creator.

Lastly: remember BFCM will come again. Get a headstart for next year by starting your Black Friday prep in July-Sep.