Influencer Marketing: 7 Common Mistakes You’re Making
Unless you’re living under a rock, you would have come across the term ‘Influencer Marketing’ at least 817 times in the last week!
Speaking about Influencer Marketing, you would know that it is one of the hottest buzzwords spoken by marketers for building your brand online. Honestly, Influencer Marketing is pretty simple – a business partners a popular individual on social media (referred to as Influencer) and the Influencer Tweets, Instagrams, makes videos, or blogs about the business’ products or services – that’s it.
So what makes Influencer Marketing so popular?
Studies show that this new form of word of mouth marketing can be highly effective. According to TapInfluence, Influencer Marketing can increase sales ROI by 11 times! [Though I have my reservations with this]
A poll of marketing professionals conducted by Tomoson, claims that businesses are earning $6.50 for every $1 spent on Influencer Marketing.
Having said that, Influencer Marketing isn’t just about selecting an Influencer and laughing your way to the bank. We look at the 7 most common Influencer Marketing mistakes you must avoid to run a successful campaign.
- Starting without a campaign goal
It’s said that ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’. This applies to Influencer Marketing as well. You shouldn’t launch an Influencer Marketing campaign just because your competitor is doing one.Before you get started, you must have a clear vision of the goal of the campaign and how will you measure success and track the key metrics. The metrics must be in alignment with the campaign objective and these could include engagement, website traffic, online sales, etc. - Picking the wrong influencer
According to a survey by Econsultancy, the biggest challenge faced by 73% marketers was identifying the right influencer. This is understandable, since the selected Influencer literally becomes the face of your brand. So, make sure you select an influencer who fits your brand and shares your values.Picking an influencer who is not the right fit, could be highly damaging for your brand and result in you losing the trust of your consumers. - Not understanding the influencer’s audience
Influencers attract followers based on their personality and the unique content they create. Once you’ve shortlisted potential Influencers for your campaign, it is essential to study their followers and see if they match with your Target Audience. While it’s impossible to find a perfect match, there should be a sufficient overlap to make the partnership worth it. - Selecting influencers based on fan following rather than engagement
One of the most common mistakes marketers make is choosing Influencers based on their fan following. While it is important for an Influencer to have a sizeable follower count, it is not the only deciding factor. To make your campaign successful, make sure you look at the engagement rate when selecting the Influencer. - Giving too much or too little freedom
The success of Influencer Marketing depends on collaboration between the Influencer and the brand. It’s important to understand that Influencers are creative people who need freedom to create engaging content. If you have too many restrictions, it will stifle the creativity of the Influencer, whereas giving them too much freedom could result in losing focus of the campaign objective. - Not selecting the right KPIs
Influencer Marketing can help your brand build the right connect with the target audience. The only way to understand the success of your Influencer Marketing campaign is by measuring the right metrics. Make sure that the KPIs and the metrics for the brand are decided based on the overall campaign objectives. - Expecting instant results
While Influencer Marketing can work wonders for your brand, it takes time. So, you must not expect overnight results. Instead, focus on using it as a long-term strategy.
Looking to add Influencer Marketing to your Digital Marketing efforts? We can help! You can get in touch with us here.
