The Do's and Don'ts of Influencer Marketing

When it comes to marketing your brand, you can't beat the reach and impact of influencer marketing. But like anything else in the marketing world, there are some do's and don'ts when it comes to successfully leveraging this method. That's why we’re dedicating an entire blog on the dos and don'ts for anyone who wants to build a successful influencer marketing campaign.

Do review an influencer's past campaigns.

Before you decide to work with an influencer, it's important to review their past campaigns. This will give you an idea of the style and approach they use when creating content. You can also see what types of content they create, how often they post it (and if this aligns with your brand's goals), as well as how many followers they have and how much engagement they get on each post.

Don't just focus on one metric.

It's important to track multiple metrics when measuring the success of your influencer marketing campaign. The most common metrics include number of followers, engagement rate and follower growth rate.

• Number of followers: This metric can be useful in determining who has a sizable following on Instagram or Twitter. You can also use it as a benchmark for comparison when you're looking at different influencers with similar types of audiences (e.g., two fashion bloggers who specialize in streetwear).

• Engagement rate: This is how often people comment on or like your post when it appears in their feed -- it's basically an indication of how relevant they found it and whether they think it would be worth sharing with others who might be interested in what you're selling too! If someone engages with an image three times more often than another one then this means there's probably something about that particular photo which resonates strongly enough with them personally so as not only draw attention towards itself but also prompt further conversation amongst other users.

Do choose a niche that fits with your brand.

The first step to choosing an influencer is to identify a niche that fits with your brand. You want to find someone who has an engaged following in your niche and whose content aligns with yours.

The best thing about partnering with influencers to make sales is that when they match your niche their audience is already warmed up to the idea of making certain types of purchases and trust what this influencer endorses.

However, this can be challenging to assess if you're not sure what kind of influencers are out there, or what they look like, so let's take a look at some examples:

Don't trust any buzzwords or overzealous claims.

When it comes to influencer marketing, it's important to be skeptical of the buzzwords and overzealous claims that you might hear. There are many people out there who will try to sell you on their services as an "influencer marketing expert," but this isn't always necessarily legitimate. You can also get caught up in the hype surrounding this relatively new area of digital marketing--you don't want your business getting lost in its noise!

In order for your campaign to be successful, you need an experienced team with a proven track record of success behind them. It's important that they understand what makes an effective influencer campaign (and why). It's equally important that they have experience working with brands like yours before so they know how best integrate themselves into your existing strategy while also finding new ways for reaching potential customers through social media platforms like Instagram or Snapchat

Do keep your campaign data organized and in one place.

The second most important thing to do, after creating a campaign, is to keep your data organized and in one place. If you don't have an easy way to track the ROI of your influencer marketing campaigns and analyze the results, it's going to be difficult for you to make adjustments as needed.

Here’s an easy way you can do this:

Use a spreadsheet or Google Docs spreadsheet (or even Excel). You can use this document as a master list of all of your influencers and their contact information, as well as notes about each individual campaign (e.g., when it started/ended). 

You can also track social media performance by entering URLs into columns so that they're automatically updated every time someone clicks on them during tracking periods (e.g., one week after launch day). 

Then, at the end of each month, when all data has been collected from each platform/network used during that period - Facebook Live videos watched by viewers; YouTube views; Instagram Stories views/interactions - enter this info into another column so that once again everything will automatically update itself based on whatever timeframe has been selected ("Last 30 days"). 

This way there won't be any errors with numbers being off because someone forgot how many posts were made since last month's report.

Don't underestimate the power of visuals, especially when it comes to video content.

When it comes to video content, you'll find that visuals are more engaging and memorable. This is especially true on social media, where users are constantly scrolling through their feeds and looking for something eye-catching, interesting, or funny to share with their friends.

Video also allows you to tell your story in a way that's easier for people to digest than text-based content. A lot of information can be conveyed quickly through visuals--you don't have to dedicate an entire blog post or article just explaining what your product does; instead, you can use video as a way of showing customers exactly what your product will do for them, without having them read paragraphs upon paragraphs, which can cause people to lose interest and scroll away before they’ve gotten to the call to action.

Influencer marketing can help you reach new customers and drive sales, but only if you do it right.

Once you've got your list of potential influencers narrowed down based on the criteria listed above, then comes message creation: What transformation are we going to share with the audience? What message should we convey? And how will this affect our brand image in general?

Remember that whatever message goes out there will influence how others perceive us as well as your product or service offerings; therefore careful consideration should go into crafting something appropriate beforehand so nothing gets lost in translation later when trying to collaborate again sometime soon after the campaign has passed.

There's no denying that influencer marketing is a powerful tool for brands. But it's also one that can be used disastrously, if you're not careful. 

To avoid making these common mistakes and get the most from your campaigns, take some time to review each tip above and see how it applies to influencer marketing campaigns you’re considering running for your business.

Book your free consultation with us NOW to discover if an influencer marketing campaign is a good fit your YOUR business!