4 Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has its pros and cons. However, it’s always worth looking into the disadvantages so you should know which to avoid as a brand working with influencers. These are the pitfalls that cost you time, money, and reputation. You surely don’t want to be the brand that influencers deliberately avoid working with.

4 Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Influencer Marketing
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Common influencer marketing pitfalls to avoid

1) Misaligned influencer values

About 75% of marketing professionals assert that the most difficult part of kickstarting an influencer marketing campaign is finding the right influencers to include in the said campaign. Value fit is critical. Brands cannot just choose between mega and macro influencers but also their subtypes that also generally vary. For instance, there are budget-friendly influencers, and then there are haute couture influencers. 

As such, it is vital to choose the influencers who can truly represent your brand. A poor match will ruin what connection the influencer built over time and the reputation you’ve cultivated throughout the years. 

2) Cultivation of negative sentiment

Brands worry about having no direct control over the ad copies, thinking that it would lead to negative sentiments. These brands that let their fears overpower them tend to micromanage, particularly how the influencers should produce the branded content when they shouldn’t. Indeed, brands are not keen on inviting praises and criticisms. Influencers must be given creative freedom. 

Brands, on the other hand, must not fear negative sentiment. A study claims that a mix of positive and negative reviews is still healthy. This humanizes the process and thus, increases consumer trust. Preparing brand guidelines to inform the influencer’s content production strategies.

3) Treating influencers as transactional

Brands still think that an influencer campaign is a one-off engagement. That’s the first pitfall that offshoots to this second one: regarding influencers as another transaction instead of a valued ongoing marketing partnership. It is about time brands plan for mutually beneficial influencer marketing relationships that build value over time with the help of influencers.

Through this also, the campaign will not feel forced nor imposing. After all, influencer marketing is all about authenticity, and you want to channel that authenticity from the influencer’s followers into becoming your loyal customers.

4) Failure to disclose

There is no excuse for the ignorance of the disclosure laws. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) outlines circumstances when a disclosure is required and the differences between an effective and ineffective disclosure. 

An influencer management agency must be adept at these regulations so that it can guide its pool of influencers. For one, the agency needs to remind its influencers to label the content accordingly. Better yet, go over the post copies for final approval before publishing.

In influencer marketing, mistakes are surely costly. Do not risk your reputation by doing influencer marketing campaigns right from the start. While influencer marketing is yet to reach its full potential, most of the processes are still trial and error. However, best practices guide you in not making these costly mistakes. Above are four of the pitfalls to avoid when doing influencer marketing.