Common Struggles in Influencer Marketing

Like all marketing strategies, influencer marketing can sometimes lack results. Here are three common struggles in influencer marketing and how to overcome them.  

1. Delivering on efficiency

One of the largest struggles in influencer marketing is delivering on efficiency. In an era where consumers are bombarded by content from all angles and at all times, it can be a daunting task to get your content noticed. A common strategy is to simply bombard media users with large quantities of content through an army of different influencers. However, a far more effective strategy is to deliver quality, highly impactful content. Instead of connecting with large numbers of influencers, connect with a smaller number who genuinely enjoy your product and have the trust of their media consumers. 77% of Generation Z members do not trust influencers or the products they market. Instead of throwing money away at the 77% (SmarterCX), capture the market that trusts their influencer and capture the influencer that can yield the best ROI.

2. Using fake followers

Perhaps the most problematic struggle, influencers using fake followers derail the trust between themselves and the companies that sponsor them. Additionally, fake followers deceive companies who believe that they will be gaining more exposure from the influencer than they end up receiving. What results from fake follower use is detrimental to both the influencer and the company. On the one hand, companies end up wasting valuable money on an influencer who feasibly cannot provide what was expected of them, lowering ROI. On the other hand, the influencer, once the fake followers are discovered, could both lose future monetization opportunities and damage their relationship with their follower-base. 

3. Short-term engagements with influencers

A third large struggle brands face in their influencer marketing strategies is the ability to prosper long-term relationships with their influencers. A series of short-term engagements come with a higher risk of failure, as there is no track record to help determine whether a new advertisement will be successful. With long-term engagements, however, a brand can have a higher degree of certainty based on how influencer-company engagements fared in the past. Further, long-term engagements frequently lead to a higher ROI per placement. An influencer who regularly plugs a company’s product will give the consumer the perception that the influencer truly enjoys the product, causing the consumer to engage with the product more. Oftentimes, on the other hand, individual and short-term plugs feel forced and do not elicit a high degree of consumer trust. Similarly, a long-term engagement between company and influencer will largely make the influencer more trusting of the company and its product. In turn, the consumer will witness that trust and will be more likely to act on the influencer’s recommendation.

If you avoid these three struggles, you'll be able to have more success with your influencer marketing campaigns. Snips can also make it easier for your company to avoid these struggles with our influencer discovery, analytics, and social insights. Use Snips to make sure you are getting the most out of your influencer marketing strategy!