7 min read
| July 25, 2018
Brands that are thinking about working with influencers are often plagued with worries and doubts. Despite hearing about how effective influencer marketing can be and how it can achieve great results, they’re often not sure what to expect with this communication strategy.
The influencer profession is relatively new. If you add to that the fact that the concept of an influencer has primarily grown around social networks such as Instagram, where posing prevails, it’s no surprise that the perception of influencers is distorted:
- They’re bon vivants.
- They spend all day taking photos of themselves and eating in restaurants with the money they make through collaborating with brands.
- They receive lots of gifts.
The truth is that many influencers’ lives aren’t as beautiful as they make them out to be, and that behind every successful profile, there’s a lot of hard work and dedication.
With the aim of clearing up some of these myths and establish some realistic expectations for brands, both for those who think that working with influencers is a waste of time and for those who are hoping to get an influx of sales with their first campaign, we’re going to go over some of the main questions that may generate doubt. After clarifying these points, we hope it’ll be much clearer what you should expect from working with influencers.
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Myths and questions about working with influencers
● If you have lots of followers, you’re an influencer
The number of followers isn’t a variable to consider when classifying someone as an influencer. The quality of the content they post and the interactions they provoke from their audience is much more important.
Furthermore, since many people use this figure to define themselves as an influencer, buying followers is increasingly more common.
For that reason, when it comes to showing off, perhaps that number is of interest to the profile owner, but from a brand’s point of view, as the one who’s footing the bill for the campaign, being swayed by such a vague criterion is a huge error.
No. More followers isn’t always better.
Real influencers are not measured exclusively by their number of followers. As well as having an ample audience, they must post credible and quality content.
- An influencer does whatever they want whilst a brand pays them
Evidently, there may exist cases in which this is true, but a professional influencer who takes pride in being one, doesn’t just think about their wallet, but their public, too. Credibility is an influencer’s most precious asset. If their followers think their profile has turned into a bulletin board for brands, their glory days will soon be over.
For that reason:
- Good influencers don’t just accept any campaign collaboration. They only accept campaigns that will bring value to their fan base.
- Thanks to this approach, they get higher engagement.
- These are the influencers who are worth working with.
In addition, when selecting which influencer to work with, it’s important to bear in mind the values with which their image is associated, since these are the values which will be affiliated to the brand, too.
Betting on an “unscrupulous” influencer, capable of promoting anything, isn’t the best idea, since it can only be perceived as economic interest and nothing more.
That’s why it’s so important to carry out an extensive study and select the potential influencers who you can trust to fly the flag for your brand and whose values are in line with what you wish to transmit.
● Working with influencers only works for certain sectors
Influencer marketing is often associated with glamorous photos and beauty, fashion or luxury goods. This is why many brands think that their product isn’t appropriate for these types of marketing campaigns.
An influencer isn’t just an image, but credibility. For that reason, even if the product or service you’re trying to sell isn’t particularly visual, you don’t have to completely discard the option of working with influencers.
People want real recommendations from influencers they trust and almost all products are capable of telling a story that will generate interaction and opinions from the audience.
It’s just a question of choosing the right person, the right tone and the right way of presenting the conversation
● Celebrities are the best influencers
Some brands are willing to pay a fortune for celebrities to promote their product and, in some cases, it works very well.
But, what happens if you’re a small company who can’t afford to pay social media stars? Does that mean you can’t use influencer marketing?
The answer is no, and we’ve got some good news to share with you:
- Celebrities ARE NOT ALWAYS the best influencers.
- They may have bigger audiences, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a greater ROI.
- A micro-influencer can be much more beneficial for a small company than a celebrity.
Micro-influencer doesn’t mean micro-results.
They may not have such a big fan base, but they’re influential people in their sector and can provide a much higher degree of credibility.
- Working with influencers doesn’t allow you to measure your investment
Wrong answer
Any moderately serious campaign is based on metrics. You can, of course, offer money to any reasonably famous influencer and hope the orders coming flooding in, but that’s not the correct way to work with influencers.
With Influencity’s software, not only can you measure the Earned Media of your investment, but you can do it in real-time, which allows you to instantly know which campaign actions are more effective and which ones are not, in order to optimise your investment.
Want to know more about working with influencers and how to do it effectively? Download Influencity’s free success case from the retail sector and see the results for yourself!
