Influencer marketing is in full bloom, even more so during a crisis such as COVID-19. People spend more time online, and setting up an influencer marketing campaign can be easily done and set virtually. Influencer marketing is alive and will keep being alive.
More and more brands see the usefulness of this particularly effective way of marketing and attempt to respond to this trend themselves. As an Influencer Agency we would like to share two mistakes that are often made in influencer marketing.
Authenticity above reach
It is an art to understand the influencer market, so we will quickly explain the rough classification again. Currently, influencers are grouped into micro influencers, when you have 5,000 to 25,000 followers, macro influencers from 25,000 to 100,000, and mega influencers with everything that floats above. Recently, another group has been added, the so-called nano-influencers. These are especially avid Instagrammers who like to share their tips, such as nice purchases or nice places they have visited, but do not yet have a large reach and have not yet been influenced by the money that can be earned in this industry.
One of the big mistakes that is apparently still made too often is that brands only look at the number of followers of an influencer, without thinking whether this influencer can actually help your brand forward. Collaborating with one major influencer to share your product in a small corner on social media works much less effectively than a number of micro influencers who better suit your brand.
If you are looking for an authentic influencer, stop looking at the number of followers. Rather see if the content they share fits your brand identity and whether they have the same target group. Often with micro and nano influencers you have a better chance of directly addressing your target group. They are more focused on a specific niche. In general we can say that the more niche the influencer is, the higher the engagement rate.
In addition, ask yourself the question: “Would this influencer also recommend my product by itself?” if there wasn’t any money involved..
Give influencers freedom
Another common mistake is that companies don’t give influencers the freedom to be themselves in the content they share. If you give them more freedom, a lot of creative content will come to the table. People avoid advertising. As soon as they realize that it is just advertising, they will lose interest and quickly click away. People trust people, they want to read real stories. That is why it does not hurt to also mention the negative aspects about certain collaborations. You often hear companies asking influencers to only be positive in their content and, once they are slightly negative, don’t post the message online. When the negative and positive aspects are compared, there is a much clearer and more reliable one.
