Overview
In the second installment of a series focused on authentic creator partnerships, Acceleration Partners influencer expert Mandalynn Carlson outlines practical best practices for building durable, high-performing relationships with creators. As consumer behavior continues to evolve, authentic brand-creator partnerships have become a critical growth lever because more people increasingly purchase from who they watch.
Audiences often follow creators who feel aspirational or relatable, and they treat creator recommendations with the same trust they would extend to a friend. By partnering with creators who can clearly speak to the problem a product solves, brands can communicate their stories in compelling, appealing ways.
Acceleration Partners previously addressed creator discovery in the first post of the series. The focus now shifts to what happens after a brand identifies a creator who meets all requirements: how to connect, collaborate, and build a mutually beneficial relationship. Based on work with influencer clients across the globe, Acceleration Partners highlights several strategies that consistently support strong outcomes.
Best Practices for Strong Creator Relationships
1) Be open to the creator’s unique approach
Acceleration Partners emphasizes working with creators who share personal experiences with products, noting that these narratives typically resonate more effectively with audiences than content that feels overly branded.
To support that authenticity, the team keeps communication open and avoids being overly prescriptive. Rather than dictating exact scripts, Acceleration Partners provides themes and thought starters as a launch point for the creator’s own storytelling and reviews. This approach gives creators room to share the brand’s story with genuine excitement.
2) Set expectations
With extensive experience in the influencer space, Acceleration Partners reports having a strong understanding of market norms for terms and deliverables. The team shares these expectations with clients, secures approval, and then negotiates with creators.
During negotiations, Acceleration Partners seeks to balance:
- A fair deal reflecting the creator’s time
- The value of the creator’s audience
- The work involved in content creation
- The brand’s needs, including content usage in ads, specific language or disclaimers, and other factors
The company also notes recent success on existing accounts by contacting creators and their agencies with an offer to set a baseline for negotiations. According to Acceleration Partners, this step helps reduce mismatches between a creator’s rate and a brand’s budget.
3) Build a foundation for a long-term partnership
Acceleration Partners describes long-term partnership building as the combined result of the first two strategies, sustained consistently throughout the relationship.
Carlson underscores that the most important step for a seamless partnership is recognizing and protecting space for the creator’s creativity in the content. When creators have the freedom to be authentic with their content and audience, and when they are compensated fairly, Acceleration Partners says it supports long-term success because creators feel valued and remain excited to bring the campaign vision to life.
Acceleration Partners’ Programmatic Approach
Acceleration Partners positions its Performance Influencer program as a full-funnel strategy designed to support this type of growth. The company’s three-tiered suite of influencer services is described as scalable, measurable, multi-touch, and full-funnel, serving brands of every size.
The program is also designed to evolve to avoid fatigue through diverse creator partnerships. Acceleration Partners states it is willing to conduct cold outreach to new creators while also leveraging existing relationships with creators and agencies. The firm describes this blended approach as enabling a smooth process that can scale, supported by a working style that earns trust and an ongoing understanding of how the market is changing.
What Comes Next
Acceleration Partners also notes that it has specialized methods to measure the success of influencer campaigns and to iterate and improve future campaigns using performance data. Additional details on measurement are slated for the next post in the series. For readers seeking support in developing an influencer strategy and driving performance, Acceleration Partners invites inquiries through its influencer services offering.