Authentic Influencer Marketing
In influencer marketing, authenticity is everything.

Effective influencer marketing all boils down to real, genuine relationships. GRIN is designed to help you build them, one creator at a time.

There is only one way to do influencer marketing right.

Influencer marketing is the most effective way to build a valuable brand—if it’s done well. What’s the secret? Trust. When people trust someone’s endorsement of your brand, when they can sense the relationship is real, they believe it—and they’ll buy

See How We Do It

Don’t think of influencer marketing as a quick smash and grab, think of it as building relationships with people over a long period of time, for the benefit of both of your brands. The goal isn’t shallow and fleeting promotion. Be prepared to invest in the process and communicate you’re looking for long term. Do the research and keep standards insanely high.

Ben Francis

Owner of Gym Shark, $1.3bn valuation, in Forbes

Too many brands think trust can be bought.

Unfortunately, many brands today think they can shortcut trust. They pay personalities to promote products they don’t actually use or believe in. The result is influencer marketing that feels fake and inauthentic, breeding distrust (and anger) among consumers. The reality is, consumers don’t hate influencers—they just hate being sold a lie.

The influencer marketing model is broken.

The root cause of the failure of influencer marketing stems from what we call the “middleman” model.

Here’s how it works:
Influencer marketing networks and marketplaces that promise to unite creators and brands play the role of middleman. They’re incentivized to find any creator who will hawk a product in exchange for cash.
Since the product endorsement is seen as a transaction, there is little to no thought given as to whether or not the messenger actually believes in the product they’re promoting.

When brands treat influencer marketing this way—like it’s an ad buy—and use a middleman who prioritizes transactions, influencer marketing fails. The content isn’t trustworthy. At best, this transactional approach ruins the benefits of influencer marketing. At worst, it can lead to disastrous consequences for the brand.

Genuine trust is the only fix.
Direct relationships inspire honest endorsement.

Trusted endorsements are the linchpin to effective influencer marketing. But if you can’t buy trust…how do you build it? The same way you do in real life: Through cultivating genuine relationships with creators—directly, not through a middleman. At GRIN we call this approach human-touch at scale. Brands need to see creators not as a transaction, but as a real connection.

If trust is the goal of influencer marketing, then brands must take a relationship-based approach. Because relationships create authenticity and authenticity creates trust.

Why does trust matter?

Brands trusted by consumers aren’t just trendy, they’re more valuable. Value happens because of the “halo effect” that trust and authenticity creates: Trust improves conversion rates across the entire marketing mix, delivering higher ROI on influencer marketing investments. The halo effect is the hidden key that creators produce and high-growth brands embrace.

Compare GRIN to the competition

How to build trust
one creator at a time

To start building genuine relationships with creators, brands have to introduce themselves to the creator in a way that’s authentic and credible. From there, they need to lead the creator down the path of know –> try –> believe –> love, before a single social post is made.
This process is a critical component of delivering authenticity to the consumer. If brands skip any steps, credibility goes out the window. Consumers sense when someone doesn’t believe in the product they’re endorsing.
But when brands take the time to follow this process, they can expect the consumer to follow the same journey as the creator—ending up deep in brand love.

GRIN helps brands create honest connections with creators

Our relationship-based model enables brands to nurture and own their creator relationships. We help brands guide creators to know, try, believe in, and eventually love them—leading to genuine endorsements. The result is authentic influencer marketing.
This approach to influencer marketing results in authentic content and deeper trust with the consumer. Each relationship strengthens the overall influencer marketing program, creating a dynamic asset inside the organization and a rich network of authentic content creators to be used across the marketing mix.
Consumers see that the brand isn’t just another sponsor—they’re a true partner.

Your step-by-step guide to authentic influencer marketing

Creator relationship building is both an art and a science, and GRIN has cracked the code. Our all-in-one platform helps brands hit the 6 key steps to establishing deeper, more meaningful connections with creators and the consumers that follow them.

Make your way through those 6 steps and you’ll have not only a steady stream of organic consumer reach and authentic content, but a loyal family of brand ambassadors and a growing legion of brand fans. Not to mention the influencer marketing holy grail: higher ROI.