Influencer marketing is one of the tools that more and more brands and companies use as an advertising channel to reach a wide audience in a creative and simple way.
In accordance with The Drum, the influencer marketing industry will be worth up to $ 15 billion by 2022, so it is clear that it will not stop growing and be the industry’s favorite alternative.
Faced with such a situation, influencers are in charge of collaborating with different brands to promote their products or services in exchange for payment.
Although this may not seem like it, the benefits of this strategy are many, as consumers tend to listen more often to a third party who has achieved fame on social networks in a natural way, rather than a presenter on television.
Influencers based in a community develop high levels of trust in the audience, becoming the ideal advertising channel for many brands, however, they are also considered opinion leaders with a responsibility towards their audience, so making mistakes can be a problem and damage the reputation of both influencers and the companies they represent.
These are five of the Most common influencer marketing mistakes:
- A bad disclosure
In recent months it has been seen as one of the most important parts of influencer marketing is letting users know that it is a paid promotion and it did not contain 100 percent organic as they are used to.
In different parts of the world, more and more regulation of this situation is being sought in social networks, and although in many countries these rules have not yet been established, the truth is that letting users know that it is a promotion is better both for the reputation of the influencer and the brand.
Likewise, while a post can be a way to reach many people, followers also expect influencers to show their experience with the product verbally, or in video, either after using it or applying it on the spot.
2. Stop being authentic
There is no doubt that more and more influencers promote a product on social networks, however, there is a limit to everything. Working with an influencer who actually turned their content into a billboard might not be beneficial to brands.
The ratio between organic and promoted content must be balanced so that followers do not stop trusting the authenticity of the comments made by the influencer, as an excess of ads could cause the audience to question the veracity of their opinions.
Although this directly affects influencers who carry out these bad practices to a greater extent, the truth is that it damages the strategy in general, since it leads consumers to perceive influencers with skepticism.
3. Follow a script
Having information about a product can make it better when promoting it and end up convincing many more people about the realism of knowing what is behind a product. However, there is a different issue that leads to a negative side.
It is about having a written script, which makes it look like a brand has taken over the influencer and controls it like a machine to say a specific speech about its products.
Likewise, the high frequency of mentions can also have a negative effect, as some followers may consider this act as ‘desperate’. Perhaps one or two mentions in a separate time frame will suffice, or a personalized strategy according to the agreement between the brand and the influencer.
In addition, companies and brands should know that the true power of influencer marketing is to let these personalities work freely on their content, allowing them to use their creativity to present a product and make their audience truly enjoy it.
4. Don’t overuse it
Brands know that this strategy works, however, overusing it can also be dangerous for their company, especially when their promotions are carried out with influencers within the same community.
When working with personalities who have similar audiences, even greater care must be taken not to overwhelm the audience, as this will become a repetitive and boring act, as well as a failed strategy.
Companies and brands should avoid working with an excess of people within the same community for a campaign and pay greater attention to programming. Also, allowing creative freedom will make brand fatigue less likely.
5. Payment to influencers
We know that all work deserves to be paid, but in the case of influencers, also showing an excess of indulgence of brands towards personalities can be somewhat counterproductive.
Seeing influencers receive excessive amounts of gifts makes consumers feel that the relationship between promotions, influencers and merchandise is not viable.
The companies They should reduce incentives for influencers or ensure that such endorsement activities also benefit other members of the community through contests or giveaways.
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