With more than 300 fashionphiles gathered at Milk Studios (@milkstudio) for the Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference (#IFBCON), it’s no wonder that brands like J Brand Jeans (@JBrandJeans), Lyst (@Lyst) and Lifebooker (@Lifebooker) were thrilled to partner up with IFB to host, connect and establish mutually beneficial relationships with bloggers. Below is a recap on how these brands designed spaces that were interactive, valuable and engaging.

Shop, Shoot, Share

To celebrate the launch their ready-to-wear collection, J Brand Jeans hosted an interactive “Style Showdown” using hashtag #JBrandIFB. Bloggers raided a wardrobe of the latest and most coveted J Brand pieces for a chance to win a $1000 gift certificate. With countless bloggers curating creative looks, the friendly J Brand team had an opportunity to genuinely interact with bloggers both live and online (and during and after the conference). @JBrandJeans Twitter stream received a ton of activity as both the brand and bloggers shared their favorite new products and lookbook-esque photos. The top nine looks from the IFB conference were selected to enter the official “J Brand Style Showdown” on Facebook, which is currently live. Vote for your fave look here. Kudos to J Brand’s marketing and social media team for paving the way to authentic blogger engagement.

Charge up the Value

To ensure bloggers could tweet, tumble, pin, share photos, post and so forth without fear of losing battery life – Lyst hosted an essential charging station that ensured attendees could stay connected throughout the conference. By creating a space that was valuable – bloggers swarmed to the Lyst station to learn more about this social shopping site that helps you discover the best fashion in one uber-customized stylefeed. If fact, Lyst’s new affiliate program, Blog Connect, is all about adding real value to bloggers. By connecting their sites to Lyst.com, bloggers can post outfit and shopping stories and link products on Lyst.com or simply add items they love and earn money whenever shoppers buy them.

Make it “Worth” it

Every year, the hot button question is “What are bloggers worth?,” Lifebooker joined a panel of successful bloggers from Glamour, Denimology, I Spy DIY, Corporette, and La Carmina in leading the conversation about brand and blogger partnerships. Lifebooker allows members to discover exclusive health and beauty deals and book discounted online beauty appointments based on price, location and rating. As an emerging concept, the brand is seeking new partners and influencers. So how can bloggers get noticed by brands that are looking for strategic partnerships? Lifebooker’s Brand Director, Lauren Tesar, looks for blogs with “flexibility, credibility and scalability”. To learn how each panelist monetized their blog, find the Livestream recap here.

The IFB conference sparked a host of new relationships between bloggers and brands. The key to these partnerships are finding bloggers that are on brand for your vision and making sure to approach blogger relationships with experience-rich opportunities, customization and authenticity.

Image via BrightontheDay