7 common mistakes, that brands commit in influencer marketing

Have you collaborated with an influencer in the past, but it didn't bring you the expected results? You may have made one or more mistakes. Based on our many years of experience in influencer marketing, we decided to write down the most common mistakes that we regularly see. If collaborations with well-known personalities are created correctly, they can bring great results and many benefits for the brand.

COLLABORATION WITH INFLUENCER WITH GENERAL AUDIENCE

In influencer marketing, the choice of the the right personality for your campaign. In order for the campaign to work properly, it is necessary that your target group overlaps as much as possible with the influencer's audience, otherwise you are targeting marketing communications to the wrong people who not interested in your product or service.

You can best achieve this if, instead of influencers who communicate on their profiles in a very general way, you focus on those who have a very specific audience within one topic. Influencers who build their communities within a specific “bubble” are proven to have higher audience engagement than those who post to a more general audience. Influencers who have a specific topic, industry or focus are considered niche influencers.

What does this mean? If by establishing cooperation you are trying to increase the visibility and support the sales of your bookstore, the ideal choice for you will be an influencer whose work is based on reviewing books or who is an avid reader and often presents or recommends book publications on his profile. This means that, like an influencer, his audience is made up of active readers and book lovers. These people are very relevant to your business and many of them can be considered potential customers. Of course, even in this case there are exceptions. It really depends on the type of audience and the book you are interested in promoting. If you are interested in increasing the sales of mainstream publications, it is okay to establish cooperation with mainstream influencers. There are many variables to be aware of in this area, so it is often better to consult an expert in influencer marketing.

INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN WITHOUT MEASUREABLE GOALS

This mistake is more common with small businesses that have minimal or no influencer marketing experience. Cooperation is agreed, which does not have predetermined goals, and subsequently it is very difficult to evaluate whether it was a successful or unsuccessful advertisement. It is important to establish what the goal of cooperation is and how we will measure its success. Are you interested in increasing your fan base? Do you want to collect e-mails for newsletters or are you trying to promote the sale of your products or services? Choose your main goal and choose how you will measure it. Only then can you get objective results that show you what worked and what didn't.

LACK OF SPACE FOR CREATIVITY

It is natural that you want to be involved in the creative process, but even in this case it is true - a lot of everything is harmful. Do not forget that influencers are freelance creators and are not used to strict assignments. Freedom is very important to them and they like to do things their own way. While leadership is important, it's also essential that you don't get caught up in micromanaging. Don't try to control every little thing. Each influencer has their own unique way of communicating,thanks to which their audience follows and likes them. Therefore, if you create a scenario for the influencer from A to Z, where he has almost no room for his own creativity, his audience will detect this and your campaign will lose authenticity and effectiveness.

FOLLOWERS ABOVE ALL

We believe you already know this, but just to be sure. The size of a pub doesn't automatically mean a lot of influence. Many influencers are still shoppingfake followers, learn how to spot them. Drop audience size and focus on the relationship with the fans.

INFLUENCERS ARE NOT DOOR-TO-DOOR MARKETERS

If you think that after the first post from an influencer, your sales will increase immediately and dizzyingly, you are mistaken. There's a reason why it's called influencer marketing and not influencer sales.

Of course, marketing activities should bring new customers to your business and increase sales, but it is important to set realistic expectations. Influencers should be a part of your marketing communication that supports sales, not the only tool for an instant increase in sales. In order for cooperation with influencers to work, you need a long-term strategy. And only when you stick to an appropriately chosen strategy for a long enough time, only then can you expect an increase in sales. Don't push the influencer into the position of a door-to-door salesman, whose job it is to force a product or service on people. Rather, authentically include it in your marketing strategy, gain new followers, work on brand credibility and build permanent customers.

REACHING USING GENERIC EMAILS

You are interested in starting a collaboration, so you send the same email to several influencers. We have to stop you. When reaching out to celebrities, it's important to remember that they are approached daily by several brands to choose from. You need to impress them with your offer, and this will be difficult if you address them through generic emails, which they receive dozens of daily. It may also happen that several influencers is represented by one agency, which can very quickly reveal whether you are really interested in cooperation with one particular creator, or if you are just spreading the net through copied offers and waiting for someone to catch on.

Do your own survey of influencers and honestly choose only those who fit your brand the most or leave it to us and we will take care of a super match. Thanks to this, you will not have to send a large number of e-mails, and the saved time can be invested in creating a personalized approach. Take the time to prepare an interesting offer, be personal, specific, show the human side, appreciate their work and avoid general phrases.

COOPERATION FOR VISIBILITY

It is 2021, there are several studies on the effectiveness of influencer marketing, its popularity is constantly growing and more and more brands are using this approach in their marketing strategy. It is time to approach influencers as professionals and evaluate them adequately. Simply if you are interested in working with professional level personalities who will take your brand seriously, treat them like professionals.

Influencers can be parents, artists freelancers, students or small businesses, and these people have bills to pay, just like us. Just like when you order a graphic artist to create a poster for you and you pay for his service, it is also necessary to reward the influencer. and its know-how.