10 Common Influencer Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

In today’s age, getting the attention of audiences is harder than ever for brands. As a result, brands are looking for new and innovative ways to acquire customers.

In this aspect, influencer marketing is a customer-oriented approach for brands to stay relevant and expand their digital footprint.

There are over 500 million active social media users in India, making influencer marketing even more relevant today. However, brands are still unable to reap the maximum benefits of influencer marketing due to the common influencer marketing mistakes holding them back.

Here are the most common influencer marketing mistakes brands need to avoid.

1. Collaborating with influencers who don’t align with your brand

Choosing the wrong influencer is not only a waste of time and money but can also harm your reputation.
A few things you must consider before collaborating with influencers include their relevance to your industry, niche and level of engagement. Also, the right influencer is one who posts good content with consistency.

2. Not Considering Micro-Influencers

Many brands make the mistake of choosing an influencer with a huge follower base. A random influencer with a few million followers will not be as effective as a micro-influencers with 10,000 highly engaged followers.

Micro-influencers are known to have a much better engagement rate. Furthermore, micro-influencers focus on niche topics and their audiences tend to be very passionate. So not considering micro-influencers for your campaign is a mistake that you need to avoid.

3. Not Giving Enough creative control to influencers

Scripted content can interrupt the natural style of influencers. Putting too many restrictions can stifle their creativity, and they can’t connect with the audience in the usual manner.

While the influencer needs creative freedom, giving them some direction is also essential. So it is important to follow the sweet spot between too much and too little.

4. Not having a clear Influencer marketing Strategy

Jumping onto the influencer marketing bandwagon can seem tempting, but it is essential to have a clear strategy before you plan to go ahead with the idea.

Before achieving anything, it is important to have specific, measurable, relevant and time-bound goals. The goals for an influencer marketing campaign depend on the characteristics of your business. Additionally, these goals must be well-defined during the process of planning.

5. Not Creating Different Forms of Content

Every platform asks for content creation in different forms. By creating different forms of content, brands have a chance to showcase different aspects of their product and keep the audience engaged. Different types of content include in-depth reviews, unboxing videos, tutorials, blog posts, podcasts etc.

6. Missing out on CTAs

CTAs are used to direct your audience to a specific action. The action majorly depends on your campaign goals. Call to action helps major the goals set for the campaign. You also need to find an optimal place to insert the CTAs.

7. Focussing on a Single Platform

The selection of a platform is an important decision as it decides the target audience as well as the kind of content that needs to be curated.

Focusing only on one social media platform(Instagram) is a common influencer marketing mistake. Following a diverse social media strategy is essential for the effectiveness of your campaign.

Keeping multiple platforms in your strategy also helps you collaborate with different influencers and reach out to diverse audiences.

8. Neglecting Analytics

Using analytics platforms is important to measure the effectiveness of influencer marketing campaigns. You can use different influencer marketing tools to understand whether influencers are able to generate reach and engagement.
It is also a way to optimize your online presence and know your audience better. At the same time, the data can be used to craft better strategies.

9. Expecting Immediate Results

It is important to keep your expectations realistic. Your efforts may not yield immediate results, but they help build the credibility of your brand in the long run. Influencer marketing is not a magic bullet that will boost traffic, attract the customer or increase sales instantly. Consistency over a period of time is required to see visible results. The timeline of results will vary based on brand, product, budget, and execution.

10. Not Knowing Your Target Audience

If you don’t understand your audience, it is almost impossible to create an effective marketing strategy. Brands need to understand demographic information, psychographic information, purchasing habits etc. The data can be collected using different tools.
Once you know your target audience, you are in a much better position to formulate a strategy that helps meet your marketing goals.

Conclusion

Influencer marketing can drive great results if done right. Whether influencer marketing is a part of your marketing strategy or you are just planning to include it in your budget, avoiding the common influencer marketing mistakes will help you achieve a much better outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Which mistakes should one avoid in influencer marketing?

A1. Underestimating the power of micro-influencer is one of the common mistakes that you should avoid.

Q2. What are common marketing mistakes?

A2. Choosing the wrong influencers, neglecting analytics, and not knowing your target audience are common influencer marketing mistakes.

Q3. What is the number one mistake that influencers make?

A3. Not having a proper strategy is the most common influencer marketing make that you need to avoid.