What are the key steps to avoid common influencer marketing mistakes?

Here's how it goes to choosing the right influencer 1) Choosing the right demographics based on your Target audience 2) Making sure the following is geographically aligned to where you'd want to focus on 3) Checking the engagement rate 4) Estimating reach and cost per reach based on pricing 5) Tonality of communication should align with the brand 6) Niche of the influencer should also resonate with the brand

Influencer Marketing has gained a lot of popularity. It’s not only about celebrities now, the perception of what a common man can do basis his/her talent has given the world a whole new dimension. Every influencer has a niche, talent, genre, style and personality to connect with specific set of people or to masses. Some key points: 1) Define the brief with objective very clearly. This is the base for everything. 2) Budget, channel, demographics, metrics, outcome, impact. these are to be absolutely clear 3) Style - Direct or storytelling narrative. Quirky or Emotional. What your target audience should connect to. 4) Let influencers carry their own style, minimise external influence. Let originality prevail for best of the results!

1 important point many marketers seem to miss out is the fan base of the influencer in your country. For example, do you use an influencer with 20k followers with 80% local following or an influencer with 100k followers with 5% local following? While is answer is simple, many seem to forget to check this vital point when selecting KOLs.

Always use websites like socialmediablade.com to analyze the profiles of influencers. In the era of bots, you must look for an engagement rate more then number of followers e.g an influencer with 10K followers with an average engagement of 14% is better than one with 100K followers and 2% engagement rate. Also, these websites can help you analyze their follower's growth so that you can spot who has genuine followers and who has bought followers to stack up the numbers.

I’ve seen that it’s easier to choose influencers when you know what you want to achieve . Whether it’s brand awareness, increase sales , tap into new markets , push a campaign etc . I believe there’s a way you can work with an influencer who doesn’t exactly align your brand depending on your campaign objective. For example if you want more brand engagement on social media , you may consider an influencer who drives more engagement. However , always keep in mind the brand attributes. No need to damage your brand while trying to grow it .

Influencers are not testimonials. Influencers are also not "press spokespersons". Influencers should ideally remain as authentic as possible, but at the same time be as culturally appropriate as possible.

Objectives help you consolidate tasks in one direction. Otherwise you end up doing so much and achieving minimal results . Without clear objectives, it’s impossible to measure progress and identify where you need to adjust or what you can do more of . It sounds cliche but objectives have to be S.M.A.R.T. Keep refining each objective until it fits into SMART . The less objectives you work with , the better for you.

Answer this question to your self: why do I need an influencer? Then you will get the main objective of your brand working with an influencer.

Influencers are also humans. You can be specific and constructive in your feedback, focusing on areas for improvement. Acknowledge strengths and highlight successful aspects of their content. Use a professional and respectful tone to maintain a positive relationship. Provide actionable suggestions for enhancements or adjustments.

It is important to identify influencers whose values align with your brand, engage authentically, leverage diverse platforms, and track performance metrics for continuous optimization.

Picture this, give a Swiss army knife to a kid and he will be confused, but the maker will have absolute knowledge of how to use it. Brands need to communicate this know-how to influencers, every tiny detail. You just need one well-thought video/post to make your brand viral.

While a solid strategy and brief is important, it's also key to Not spoon feed influencers into sticking to a script. This basically kills their creativity and approach to creating unique and authentic content. Rather guidelines should be stated and direction should be given in terms of the fundamental expectations of the message you'd want them to convey.

For a solid strategy when working with influencers, start by clearly defining your objectives. Do you want to increase visibility, generate sales, or promote a new product? Then, research influencers whose audience aligns with your brand. Evaluate their authenticity, engagement, and values to ensure an effective partnership. Communicate your expectations clearly to the influencer: what you expect in terms of content, tone, key messages, and deadlines. It's crucial to create a detailed brief containing information about your brand, goals, creative guidelines, and KPIs to follow.

There are so many influencers that might already be using your products online and giving your brand a lot of praise. Look for these opportunities they are are already in love with your product. Why not seal the deal.

Some ways to build genuine relationships: 1. Keep in constant contact like you would with your friends so that they will not feel distant when you suddenly need to seek their support 2. Don't treat KOLs like work but as a form of making real friends In my case, I have made many wonderful friends through meeting KOLs via events and workshops. Don't be shy to reach out and exchange contacts with genuinely nice KOLs! A simple hello is all it takes to start!

Creating strong relationships with influencers is more than just a strategy but it’s about crafting a community where creativity flourishes. To add to this, ensuring regular, informal check-ins can help keep the relationship grounded and personal. Additionally, featuring influencers in your own content can show reciprocal support, further solidifying a partnership that extends beyond the typical business transaction.

Monitoring the activities of an influencer both on their page and your account is very important to conclude whether it was successful or not.

Social media guidelines should encourage engagement, not prevent it. The rules should be correspondingly trusting and at the same time binding. I think the following social media guideline would be very nice and courageous: Just don't be stupid!

I always hightlight the importance of being transparent with KOLs. This way your brand and reputation will be good within the industry. You cannot inform a KOL that the brand is unable to do something yet you are able to do it with another. This will compromise on the integrity of your company and in the long run, it might cause you or your company unexpected difficulties.

Before starting an influencer campaign, I always tell my clients that "followers are cheap, engagement is expensive". This means that anyone can buy followers but getting real customers and potential customers liking your content, commenting on your content and sharing your posts with others is where the ROI of social media marketing and working with influencers is the highest.

In my suggestion use these steps to select an influencer: - Look for how many followers does her/she has (reach) - Look for what type of content that influencer creates and relate to your business (relevance) - Look for the current engagement rate that the influencer’s page has (resonance)

Many brands overlook the importance of obtaining a media kit from influencers, which is a significant mistake. Relying solely on follower count and aesthetically pleasing content doesn't encompass the key factors for successful influencer marketing. It's crucial to consider the broader view, where elements like professional-looking media kits play a vital role in assessing the quality of an influencer's audience. These kits encompass audience demographics, follower growth rates, audience interests, past collaborations, and rates. Thus, a media kit serves as an all-in-one solution to determine whether an influencer is a suitable fit or not.

When you have an influencer campaign going on you have to start monitoring from day 1, understand why they are performing and if not, what are the why's and why nots. Then, optimise according to the performance, and always have a plan B. Your influencer programs are directly reaching to audience so we don't want any haywire and if it does happen, how to resolve it come down to plan B.

Choose the right influencer to get more impressions and engagement. Organically promotional activities would definitely bring Brand recall and awareness