Five reasons why influencer marketing doesn’t work
Every day, you can find new reports showing how amazingly profitable influencer marketing is. However, the general feeling is that it’s not really effective as a strategy.
Want to know why some influencer campaigns just don’t work? The answer is simple — they haven’t picked the right profiles. Here, we’ll show you the key to make your campaign a success.
(Read the Spanish version here)
1. Followers vs Target
It’s a common mistake for brands to pick their influencers based on their style or their metrics, without really checking if that profile’s followers are their target.
As an example: Some luxury brands work with really young influencers that, even though they have really pretty pictures, their followers do not have the income to afford a 2000$ purse.
This mistake won’t get you any sales, but sometimes it can get even worse: your current clients might not like this tactics, which leads to you losing them!
2. Your target doesn’t want to see you there
Okay, so you found a profile with followers that match your target. Before jumping the gun and negotiating fees, ask yourself this: Do your potential clients want to see your brand on that influencer’s feed?
For example: maybe the followers of that model-looking girl are potential users for my delivery business, but they’re used to seeing photos of gorgeous landscapes and they might not be interested in a picture of the vegan burger she just ordered. This might lead to very little engagement and a negative feeling towards the brand.
3. Bad format
You should be careful when looking into the most natural way to show your product. Following our previous example, maybe the followers of that model-like girl aren’t interested in a picture of the vegan burger in her feed, but if that profile can stream her day-to-day life in Instagram Stories, there might be a way to make your delivery company fit in there.
4. Poor creativity
Sometimes, a restrictive briefing can lead to a boring post. While negotiating with an influencer, we encourage you to ask what would they like to do with your brand. Some of them are really creative and might give you great ideas.
After all, they know their followers, and they know what they like. However, before going on with that brilliant idea, we suggest having all of it written down in a signed contract, just to make sure the content meets your needs.
5. Not analysing metrics
This is the most important point: Never ever hire an influencer without having checked out their metrics.
You must calculate the engagement, check for false followers, what sort of comments they get, what sectors they work in, what are their best posts… you can calculate it manually, but it’s a very complex thing, so you’ll need plenty of time for that. Keep in mind that you have to be thorough when analysing each profile you want to have on your campaign!
Some softwares can make this task easier. Our own, Sway Map, has more than 2 million profiles on its database, and has all of the metrics you’ll need. If you want to know our solutions, you can ask for a demo or a test version in our website, or by contacting our CEO through cristina@swaymap.net
One more thing! If you liked this article and think it could help someone with their campaign, don’t forget to share! :)
