The term influencer marketing is gaining more traction and popularity in today’s world. While this encourages brands to be more attentive, the popularity of the term does not really teach brands and entrepreneurs what influencer marketing is really about. There’s been a lot of misconceptions around the practice of influencer marketing and in this article, I will be debunking a number of the most common influencer marketing misconceptions that will help you gain a clearer understanding of what influencer marketing means and what it can do for your brand and business.
Misconception 1: Quantity over quality
It’s common to assume that the influencers who’ve amassed the largest followings will convey the most engagement and ROI to a marketing campaign, but as many brands have come to realize, this is not always true. Yes, the influencer with a lot of followers has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands, or maybe millions, of social media users with just one post, however that doesn’t imply that their posts will spark engagement or any desired action. When it comes to influencer marketing, engagement is far more beneficial than an outstanding reach. Finding influencers who are suitable for your brand will result in more compelling content. Influencers who not only align with the marketing campaign messaging, however also boast of a high and steady engagement among their fans will provide your marketing campaign the pleasant chance of succeeding.
Misconception 2: The larger the budget the better
One fact about influencer marketing is that it is not a one size fits all strategy. Influencer marketing can and ought to be tailored to every particular brand marketing campaign primarily based on both budget and goals. However, it’s true that big brands have deep enough pockets to hire the most ambitious and expensive influencers. These massive, bullish campaigns don’t always generate a widespread boost in brand awareness or ROI. Influencer marketing is scalable and brands with small budgets have only the capacity to put into effect a campaign with smaller reach, however exceptionally suitable influencers can evangelize the brands message on a much more effective smaller stage.
Misconception 3: Short-term influencer relationships are better
Many brands are however just experimenting with influencer marketing; they’re attempting to differentiate the budget, strategy and goals that will work best for them. As a result, many brands aren’t necessarily looking into long term influencer relationships. Cultivating long term relationships with influencers appears like too much dedication too quickly — mainly if brands have just recently tailored influencer marketing into their standard marketing practices. Commitment is scary. But more frequently than not, it generates worthwhile results and relationships. Before you persuade yourself into believing you are not ready for that long term relationship, first understand that longterm influencer marketing relationships do not necessarily mean a heavy investment of money. They do, however, require a huge investment of time. Taking the time to engage with some influencers who may have already published for your brand, or who you’d like to work with in the future, doesn’t cost you a dime, but it’ll pay dividends when a new influencer marketing campaign possibility comes up.
Misconception 4: Brands should control their influencers’ content
Influencers have received their social media statuses and followings due to the fact that they’re expert at developing content material that evidently engages audiences. Influencers understand their personal voices and aesthetics, in addition to their target audience’s expectancies and dispositions, better than you do — that is why you should constantly trust your influencers’ innovative ideas. If you force influencers on your marketing campaign to follow overly scripted recommendations, their audiences will right away pick up on the unnatural tones and patterns and be disengaged with the message. If you need influencers to deliver great content to your target audiences, you need to loosen up the reigns.
Misconception 5: Finding influencers is easy
While there’s an abundance of content creators across each possible niche actively posting to blogs and social media platforms every day, finding the right influencers for your brand isn’t like taking candy from a baby. Finding the most applicable and promising influencers requires hours of looking and sifting through blogs and social media content material, and crunching social metrics.
Misconception 6: Influencers always say yes to paid offers
Even as it’s a fact that influencers are within the commercial enterprise of creating and selling content, most popular exceptional influencers are picky about the paid campaigns that they choose to associate their personal brand with. To convince influencers that their participation in your marketing campaign may be beneficial for both brands, you ought to take the time to cautiously craft your pitches. Referencing some of their best work, engaging with their posts on social media and being transparent about the goals of your marketing campaign are a few of the distinguishing elements that contain in a nice pitch. You may have a skill in pitching but perfecting your pitch will make a huge difference. For sustainable influencer relationships, it is imperative that the pitching process is prioritized within your influencer approach.
Knowing what influencer marketing isn’t, and strategizing past these common misconceptions, is a vital first step if you want to set your brand up for influencer marketing success.
Contact us for more information on social media management and strategies, online marketing, or any other digital marketing services we can help you with.