Influencer marketing is quickly becoming one of the most effective strategies for marketers interested in building a strong brand. According to data cited by AdWeek, 94 percent of marketers who use influencer marketing strategies believe it is effective.
Other statistics indicate that consumers prefer content that features influencers over traditional advertising and mainstream celebrity endorsements. A study conducted by Ogilvy and Google found that 74 percent of purchases are made via word-of-mouth recommendations, and influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to drive word-of-mouth purchases. Another report found that fans of YouTube find YouTube influencers to be 17 times more engaging than mainstream celebrities.
Given the findings from the studies mentioned above (among many others), it is no wonder that marketers are increasingly embracing influencer marketing strategies to achieve their business objectives.
Unfortunately, however, in the rush to adopt an influencer marketing strategy, some marketers are committing a few common mistakes. Happily, these can be easily avoided if you’re aware of them. This article outlines 11 common influencer marketing mistakes to steer clear of in order to be successful and avoid overlooked costs.
1. Failing to understand your audience.
If you don’t truly know your customer, you will never be able to create an effective long-term influencer marketing strategy. Marketers who have not yet developed a clear marketing persona should place their programs on hold until there is a clear understanding of who the customer is and what the customer is interested in achieving from an interaction with your brand.
To create a marketing persona (some brands have multiple personas), you’ll want to understand purchasing habits, pinpoints, demographic information and psychographic information. Usually, all of this data can be collected through customer interviews.
Once you have a clear understanding of your target audience, it becomes much easier to identify the appropriate influencers to work with. Furthermore, you will be able to provide influencers with a clear brief that will help them to better serve your marketing goals.
2. Using influencer marketing in the wrong channels.
Influencer marketing is not equally effective across all channels. Effectiveness will vary by channel depending on your customer focus (business to business or business to consumer) and your target audience.
For example, an influencer marketing campaign that is designed to target members of Generation Z will be less effective if executed on Facebook and Twitter than on Instagram. That’s because members of Generation Z overwhelmingly prefer using Instagram. Conversely, an influencer marketing campaign designed to engage middle-aged customers will probably be more effective on LinkedIn or Facebook.
3. Expecting overnight results.
While a powerful influencer marketing campaign can in some cases produce overnight results, this is usually not the case. Especially for companies that are not in the e-commerce space, influencer marketing can take time.
Remember, effective influencer marketing campaigns usually help to increase brand awareness. Once a prospect is aware of your brand, they still need to move down the marketing funnel to the consideration and decision stages before making a purchase.
If your influencer marketing campaign is focused on creating top-of-the-funnel awareness, it will take time for prospects to make…
