Influencer Marketing: The 7 Unforgivable Mistakes To Avoid

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that uses key opinion leaders (KOL), celebrities, and influencers who have great success in social networks to promote a message, product, or the service of a brand.

Whether you’ve already launched influencer marketing campaigns or are considering launching them, you need to know how to manage them effectively. In this blog, we highlight the 7 common influencer marketing mistakes and how you can avoid them.

1 – Search for celebrities

Sometimes celebrities can be mistaken for real influencers. After all, influencers and celebrities promote brands and influence the consumer behavior of their audiences. So what’s the difference?

The difference is mainly based on the target audience. While celebrities can be media stars, they tend to have diverse audiences with a wide variety of interests. Getting a celebrity’s approval to represent a brand can be exciting, but there’s a good chance that a good number of their followers aren’t among your target audience.

2 – Focus on the size of the audience

The expert positioning of the influencer is as important for a campaign as the emotional side of celebrity marketing. It remains to be seen how to find the right influencer for your brand, the one that will allow your business to generate more sales and exploit a targeted audience for your products and services.

Like most aspects of marketing, influencer marketing is about numbers. However, before you partner with an influencer, make sure you know the numbers that really matter. Remember that an audience of tens of thousands or even millions does not guarantee a good ROI (Return On Investment).

Engaging a well-targeted audience is much more important. An Instagram account with 500 followers and a good engagement and interaction rate on all published posts are worth 1000 times more than another Instagram account with thousands of followers who have no interest in your product or brand.

3 – To focus too much on the product or the brand

Although the commercial dimension is the main concern of the company, it is also important to develop a friendly and organic relationship with the influencer and their audience. Brands need to share what interests fans the most in order to capture their attention before presenting products.

We must also not forget to establish a real relationship with potential influencers. Establish a connection on social media or via the influencer blog, and consider sending free samples, without asking for anything. This gesture in return can pay off. After all, it is important for any influencer you work with to promote your products or services in an authentic way.

Many influential people will be happy to mention the brands they prefer and thus stimulate audience engagement.

4 – Show myopia marketing

Money is the first motivator for your employees, but the trust you place in them can also push them to give MORE. The same reasoning applies in influencer marketing, where a small sign of trust in influencers motivates them to do better. This trust will often give rise to a long-term partnership.

When you establish a real and lasting link with an influencer, you are more likely to benefit from your relationship and even amplify your campaigns. Additionally, partnering with the same handful of influencers can help you streamline your workflow and focus on creating great content, instead of wasting time recruiting new influencers every time.

5 – Fishing by the excess of control

If you’ve put your blood, sweat, and tears into building your brand, you may be inclined to tell influencers how to talk about your products and services or even demand to oversee their content creation process. While it is common to define your expectations and guidelines at the start of a partnership, it is not always useful to want to control influencers, it can even be counterproductive.

Keep in mind that trust is a key element of any successful influence campaign. If you have chosen the right influencers, it is essential to believe that they will effectively promote your products or services to their audiences. It is also important to understand that influencers do not speak for the brand, they will use their own voice and methods to convince their audiences to embrace your brand.

6 – Choose the wrong method of remuneration

Not only do influencers have a wide range of rates based on their experience and niche, but many also offer multiple compensation options. Most charge per blog post, post, or campaign, but some may accept alternative payment methods that better match the objectives of the campaign.

If you want to obtain commitments or generate more leads, ask your brand ambassador if you could agree on a cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-engagement (CPE) compensation method. If sales or subscriptions are your priority goals, consider offering influencers commissions based on these metrics.

7 – Do not set SMART objectives

Each brand must analyze the results of its influence campaign and measure the degree of its success. It all starts with defining the campaign objectives. To do this, meet your marketing team, identify the types of customers with whom you want to connect, and define appropriate objectives to increase brand awareness, boost sales or encourage customer loyalty.

To analyze your return on investment (ROI), you need to follow the right metrics. For example, if you want to increase awareness of your brand, you need to track organic, paid and total reach, as well as the number of views. If you want to increase your sales, you should track conversions and the use of promotional codes. With the right metrics in hand, you can determine the effectiveness of your influencer marketing campaign and take appropriate action to strengthen your campaign, review your goals, or partner with a more effective influencer for your next campaign.

Conclusion:

Now that you have a clearer idea of how to avoid the most common influencer marketing mistakes, you will be able to define your goals, find the right partners for your brand, and develop an effective influencer marketing campaign. Do not hesitate to call on a digital marketing agency, which combines expertise and commitment, to support you in this work. With authentic influencers and a committed partner by your side, you have the potential to raise your brand to the top of its game.