No one connects with an influencer’s audience better than that influencer.
For students of old-school marketing and advertising, it might seem odd to include someone who gained 20,000 TikTok followers by posting cat videos as part of a marketing campaign. But no one else reaches those 20,000 followers in that way, and about that topic, like that influencer. For those 20,000 people, no one else has that exact level or type of credibility.
Back when The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson averaged 6 million viewers a night, it made sense for advertisers to pay top dollar for a singularly popular platform. Since then, viewership has splintered into a galaxy of platforms that—though less popular by volume—all produce genuine engagement.
It’s no surprise the influencer marketing industry has grown almost tenfold since 2016, from $1.7 billion six years ago to about $15 billion today. For brands, the writing is on the wall: Influencers must be a key part of their marketing plans.
Seeing as influencer marketing is a relatively new space, advertisers make some common mistakes that are easily avoided. To get the most out of influencer marketing campaigns, here are some common pitfalls to steer clear of.
Putting follower count above engagement
Many brands get seduced by a big number of followers and don’t dig deeper. One basic, avoidable miscue comes when a lot of those followers are bots, which don’t exactly have a lot of purchasing power.
More deeply, a high number doesn’t always mean strong, high-quality engagement. An influencer with 100,000 followers who only gets 12 likes per post is much less valuable than one with 10,000 followers who gets 3,000 likes and 500 comments per post. Strong engagement is proof that followers are paying attention, not idly scrolling.
Miscommunicating the mission and vision
When brands either don’t know or fail to communicate the underlying mission and vision of the marketing campaign, influencers often produce content that misses the point. Some influencers will proactively ask about the deeper marketing objectives, but companies should assume they won’t.
Not prioritizing long-term partnerships
One-off influencer marketing pushes can generate a burst of attention for a brand. But without a long-term partnership, that short-term boost is all you’ll get.
Brands should look to build long-term relationships with influencers. That way, their products show up in front of an interested audience repeatedly. According to the Marketing Rule of 7, first developed almost a century ago and still true today, people need to hear things seven times before they’ll take action.
Lowballing influencers
Because influencer marketing is still relatively new, many brands don’t have a good understanding of the market. Oftentimes, brands offer too little compensation and are rigid in negotiations when influencers expect more.
Brands that are inflexible on their budgets are more likely to lose the influencer to a competitor. This happens all the time. Take care of your influencers. Make them grateful for your support, not resentful of a lackluster deal.
Falling out of touch
Sometimes after a successful campaign, you’ll want to reactivate successful influencer partnerships. But if you fall out of touch with the influencer, they’ll forget about you and, again, you might lose them to a competitor.
Staying in touch with strong influencers keeps the relationships fresh and allows you to quickly reactivate them when you have a new campaign. The more points of contact you build with their audience, the more likely you are to drive purchases.
Letting the content collect dust
There’s no rule that says you can only use influencer marketing content once. Once you license a piece of content from an influencer, it’s yours to use as you see fit, depending on the terms of your agreement. Figuring out meaningful ways to repurpose the content maximizes your return on investment.
The world of influencer marketing is gradually evolving from a Wild West-type dynamic. It’s a bona fide market and a proven channel for brands. Rather than (or in addition to) sinking untold sums into billboards, streamer commercials and display ads, explore the plethora of ways you can repurpose influencer content—and watch out for these pitfalls as you do.