Influencer marketing is rapidly rising, with a projected $15 billion being spent by brands on influencer marketing in 2022 alone. Looking at the numbers, there’s no question that influencer marketing is effective.
The question is, how do you manage a successful influencer marketing campaign?
This question may be best answered by understanding what not to do. Here are 7 influencer marketing campaign errors you should definitely avoid to ensure your next campaign is a success.
1. Rushing the Launch
The current consumer is far more particular about the brands and products they associate with. Now, it is common for consumers to seek only brands or products that they feel reflect their own values.
If you’re running a marketing business online, you should be aware of this.
Today, it’s more likely for consumers to see your influencer marketing campaign and follow up on it with research. Consumers talk with peers. They get outside opinions. They look into whether the information published is accurate.
Consumers today are looking for substance and depth in a marketing campaign. This is especially true if it is advertised by one of their favorite influencers. If you rush a campaign and include shallow details, consumers will know.
Doing this makes your content seem “inauthentic”, a veritable death to any successful campaign. Plus, your influencer will simply sound “salesy” and lose the trust of their followers.
2. Choosing the Wrong Influencer
Before you choose an influencer, decide your influencer marketing goals. Did you know there’s far more to choosing the right influencer than their number of followers?
One of the biggest influencer marketing campaign errors is choosing your influencer based on numbers.
Why? Because sometimes the influencers with the most followers don’t match your brand identity. The influencer’s image may be misaligned with the values your business holds.
Consumers who see an influencer promoting a brand that is totally unrelated to what they represent will be turned off. Nothing is more irritating to consumers than having their favorite Instagram or TikTok profiles become a dumping ground for advertisements.
Think about it this way, even if you hire an influencer with a large following (that doesn’t fit within your consumer niche), only a small fraction of their followers will act on it.
Narrow your choice of influencers. Choose those who fit your brand and your target market.
You’ll see far more conversions from your campaign this way. Having the right CPG influencer marketing insights will help you target your consumers better.
3. Burying the Product
This can be tricky as you want to allow your influencer enough autonomy to make the content authentic and true to their “voice.” However, sometimes, in an attempt to not appear like they are selling something, influencers can sometimes be so discreet about mentioning a product that it’s entirely hidden in their message.
Avoid burying your product in these campaigns.
Don’t forget that the goal of an influencer marketing campaign is not just to get high engagement rates with a post… its end purpose is to make sales. Make sure the product or service itself is made to look appealing.
4. Lack of Authenticity
Are you sick of hearing the word “authenticity” regarding marketing campaigns yet? Sorry to break the news, but the idea is here to stay. If the influencer you select does not openly disclose sponsorships, consumers tend to feel deceived or misled. This creates distrust and sometimes leads to lost followers, not only for your brand but for the influencer.
It’s also important to remember that the Federal Trade Commission requires that any partnerships must be disclosed. Proper relationship disclosures should be one of your vital influencer marketing campaign elements.
5. Narrow Platform Selection
It’s time-consuming to manage one social platform for marketing purposes. However, if you want to boost SEO and broaden your brand exposure, you need to have some purposeful presence on a somewhat diverse number of social platforms.
You can select platforms that best suit your target market demographic. Just don’t skimp on your publishing efforts to a variety of platforms. Facebook may be your bread and butter, but different kinds of content are also more effective on different platforms.
YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram all offer unique benefits for brand awareness because of the different types of content they feature.
6. Overstepping
Micromanaging your influencer results in stripping them of their voice and (here comes that word again), …authenticity. You can provide certain parameters or details you’d like them to use in describing your product.
Give guidelines, work together on deadlines, and offer product details, but remember that this influencer and their unique style is what garnered them their followers to begin with. You don’t want to tamper too much with the effective voice for messaging they’ve already established.
7. Disregarding Influencer Marketing Laws
With the popularity of influencer marketing on the rise, more legal regulations are created regarding its use. To “play dumb” or ignore existing legalities regarding the use of influencers for marketing campaigns can result in more hurt to your brand than benefit.
The notion that it’s “better to ask forgiveness than permission” does not apply when it comes to influencer marketing laws.
The main laws are laid out by the Federal Trade Commission. They state that influencer marketing campaigns should only reflect the endorser’s honest opinions regarding a product/service. To put it simply, don’t encourage your endorsers to “fudge” the truth regarding their experience with your brand.
The penalties for breaking these laws can ruin your brand reputation and be costly.
Avoiding Influencer Marketing Campaign Errors
Influencer marketing campaign errors can turn a great campaign into a dismal failure. Luckily, most of these major faux pas is easily avoided. Influencer campaigns can be some of the most effective of your marketing efforts.
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