Ever since Instagram became a household name, influencer marketing has been all the rage. Brands are scrambling to find influencers who can help them reach their desired target market, and customers are jumping at the chance to get free products in exchange for promotion.
But there’s more to this marketing strategy than meets the eye – if you’re not careful about which influencers you choose and what type of content they post, your campaign could be as good as done before it even starts!
In this blog post, we’ll discuss five mistakes that will tank your influencer marketing campaign from day one:
Not researching your target audience
One of the most important parts of any influencer campaign is research. For example, if your product or service is targeted toward women ages 25-35, you need to find and work with female content creators who have a following in this age group. You also want to ensure they are creating content about topics relevant to your campaign topic.
You need to research which influencers are the best fit for your campaign and determine what they charge. You can do this by searching for influencers using keywords in your industry. You can also use social media tools like Klout or Buzzsumo to find popular content creators and establish their follower count.
Failing to understand the influencer’s content strategy
Once you find an influencer, it’s important to understand the type of content they produce. More often than not, influencers have a niche, and they stick to it. Knowing this will help you determine whether or not an individual is a right fit for your campaign.
Failing to understand the influencer’s content strategy can lead to wasted time and money on less-than-successful campaigns. For example, a fitness influencer who doesn’t produce meal prep content might not be the best fit for a cooking campaign.
Lacking a creative brief for the campaign
A creative brief helps define the scope and goals of a campaign. It also helps to create an action plan for success with tangible objectives, milestones, and key performance indicators. Without one in place, you can expect that your influencer marketing campaign will not be as successful as it could or should be.
You should prepare a creative brief for each campaign and keep it updated as the goals of the campaign change. Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that the brief is reviewed by your key stakeholders, who can provide input and feedback.
Ignoring key metrics
Your key metrics are your KPIs. If you don’t know what they are, it’s time to figure out what matters most for this campaign to succeed and share it with your influencer marketer (or agency).
A list of key metrics could be impressions/reach, engagement rates, content views per post, the average cost per post sponsored, conversion rates, and influencer engagement/followers.
You should track these metrics throughout the campaign, and if there are any drastic changes in results, you should take notice. If your KPIs are not being met by a post or influencer, then it’s time to go back to them with this information and see what needs adjusting before continuing on.
Not understanding how influencers are compensated for their content
You need to know how influencers are compensated for their content. Some brands will pay an influencer a flat fee, some offer payment in the form of free products or services, and others incentivize them with cash payments (in either traditional currency or cryptocurrency).
The type of compensation you use should align with your goals for that campaign and what makes sense for the influencer. If you want to create a lot of buzz around your brand, then it may make more sense to offer free products or services as compensation rather than money.
However, if your goal is to get high-quality content that will help influence potential customers through word of mouth and social media posts to drive sales, it may be worth your while to pay a higher fee upfront or provide an incentive such as cash payments.
It’s not always easy to get your voice heard on social media. You need to find the right influencers, know what they want in exchange for their time and expertise, and create a campaign that is both engaging and effective at driving sales. If you can follow these tips, then you are well on your way to success!
