Here’s What Sucks About Influencer Marketing

With the amount of insight we have gained through navigating the influencer marketing industry, it would be remiss to overlook the components that have garnered negative attention.

The benefits of influencer marketing have long been extrapolated. Everything from increases in sales and brand awareness to more in-depth customer insights than ever before; these closer communications have mainly come as a result of the collaborative efforts between brands, influencers and other respective parties.

This method of marketing dominated the industry in an unprecedented duration because it fostered a business model that centered around genuine relationships. Integrating “everyday people” who have a knack for sharing their particular interests with an accumulated audience (that presumably shares the same desires and lifestyle as they do) has proven to be an exceptional tool to amplify a brand’s voice and significantly improve ROI. The draw of similarity and relatability creates a tight-knit community, and the advertisements made in these spaces resonate with social media users as legitimate and authentic. Pre-formulated targeted audiences for a brand’s product ensure campaign success far more than traditional forms of advertising. Evolution of this practice has allowed influencers with anywhere from 1,000 followers to millions of followers the opportunity to collaborate with brands to generate income; and for those who possess the work ethic and industry savviness, they are able to use their platform as a profession.

The issue of influencer marketing lies in a couple of its easily exploitable loopholes. When trust is quickly amassed and generously given, it’s worth raising an eyebrow at under any circumstance. However, the three main concerns this industry faces can be avoided or addressed to maintain the positive benefits of the practice.

1. Fraudulent Behavior

It’s impossible to get too far into the conversation of the pros and cons of influencer marketing without primarily addressing fraud.

Read this article to understand our breakdown of what “influencer fraud” is and how to detect it.

This sort of account is easy to come by because most aspiring influencers aiming for money and fame are often willing to cheat their way to the top with false aesthetic methods (e.g., buying followers).

Influencers are unpredictable in the sense that, like working with anyone, you cannot entirely control the portrayal of their online content. As freelancers and individual entrepreneurs, influencers do not abide by a commitment to one brand primarily. Therefore, to protect your brand image and keep some control, concentrate on the details within your terms of agreement with the influencer. Fraudulent behavior reflects poorly on your business and will never give you the results you are looking to gain from campaigns. Background checks are critical. Do not settle a deal until you have worked with them to meet at a common ground of understanding and mutual benefit in order to ensure smooth collaborations.

2. Poor Communication

The influencer marketing campaigns that end poorly usually begin with unclear expectations that are left unmet. This typically results from an influencer’s misunderstanding of a brand’s goal or a brand not knowing its target audience.

Inadequate marketing materials that do not draw sales or new customers is often blamed on an influencer’s inability. Though in some cases this can be true, it’s a two-way street; over-communication is reassuring, whereas instructions that lack detail are often detrimental. To avoid this tension, be available to address any questions or concerns about your business goals, target audience, current product usage, benefits, future trajectory, etc.

Though the collaboration may be temporary, treat the influencer as a member of the marketing team within your business and keep them up to date on pertinent matters to make sure that you are both aware of your goals and/or expectations.

3. Misaligned Content

Most influencers take their online presence very seriously as professionals and thereby dedicate their time and money to creating the best content they can in order to give themselves the opportunity to work with brands.

However, as influencers are unique in their online persona, niche understanding and engaging community, it is possible that the content they post to advertise your brand may not be what you had expected. If so, be sure to readdress or rework previous expectations moving forward and discuss the obstacles in their way.

Keep in mind that macro and mega influencers do not guarantee better content than micro-influencers. The larger the following, the broader and more wide-ranging their sponsored content generally is, which means niche products are more likely to get lost in the mix. In many ways, this devalues and lessens the effectiveness of a sponsored post. Working with smaller influencers with smaller audiences can target people with specific interests in ways that a cross-disciplinary following cannot.

Much of influencer marketing is a matter of finding the balance between professional practices and spreading authentic information that mutually benefits brands, influencers and ultimately, the consumers. influenc provides brands and influencers with specific processes to help facilitate positive outcomes from all types of collaborations and ensures that regardless of the product, the audience that it needs to reach is met.