Guidepost: Five Significant Errors to Avoid in Influencer Marketing Campaigns
Jason Hall, the mastermind behind FiveChannels, dominates in the realms of brand recognition, online visitors, and lead generation, along with marketing funnels, social media, and other related fields.
When you decide to collaborate with a well-known celebrity endorser, the aim is usually to spark curiosity about your brand and establish a more personal bond with your target market. Unfortunately, without proper planning, numerous ways exist to undermine this objective, often resulting in substantial monetary losses.
With over three decades of experience in the marketing sphere, I've witnessed numerous companies make mistakes, ranging from selecting inappropriate endorsers to violating disclosure regulations. By acquainting yourself with some of the most frequent blunders businesses commit, you can ensure that your partnership with an endorser will result in a profitable collaboration.
1. Picking The Incorrect Endorsers
One of the most common errors I often observe companies make when engaging in influencer marketing is the misguided choice of endorsers. While the influencer's follower count may be alluring, this does not necessarily mean their audience aligns with yours.
Frequently, companies select endorsers based on their follower count, and the result is often disastrous. If the fans of the endorser are not genuinely interested in your product or service, your message will fall on deaf ears, effectively wasted resources.
Instead, your primary goal should be to discover your audience on the platform, and subsequently, seek out the endorser they adore. By putting an emphasis on quality over quantity, you'll generate significantly more conversions since the eyeballs viewing your pitch are more likely to be interested in you.
Furthermore, try to identify an endorser who embodies your brand's values; you'll have a much higher chance of observing a positive return on investment for your campaign.
2. Lack of Authenticity
Another prevalent error I often encounter involves a lack of authenticity in the endorser's pitch or your attempt to script the endorser's message. If you attempt to excessively manipulate the endorser's message, the audience will likely recognize it and harbor negativity towards both the endorser and your brand.
Currently, audiences can easily discern artificial messaging, and they swiftly lose interest in it. Any attempt to overly manage an endorser's message results in damage to their credibility and yours.
To avoid this pitfall, trust in the endorser's ability to deliver your message accurately, but in their distinct style—the very style that made them popular amongst their audience in the first place. Remember that 69% of individuals trust endorsers and their close friends more than brands themselves.
Endorsers possess distinctive insights into their audiences; let them craft the message that will resonate with their followers. You will foster trust, boost engagement, and forge stronger connections with prospective customers.
3. Failure to Establish Clear Objectives
Not establishing clear objectives is another frequent mistake in organizations, rendering it exceedingly challenging to determine the success of their campaigns. When there is no specific objectives and metrics to strive for, it becomes difficult to judge whether the campaign is successful. Moreover, jumping into a campaign with no predefined purpose, risk wasting time and resources, leading to no discernible impact on sales.
As an alternative, set clear goals and understand your campaign's primary objective—be it brand recognition, engagement, or conversions. Your key performance indicators should be click-through rates, engagement rates, or direct sales.
You will effortlessly track your success and whether you are meeting your objective. Additionally, you can make necessary adjustments if your progress is lagging behind.
Your objectives serve not only to help you measure success but also guide your approach. Your objectives will ensure both you and the endorser adhere to defined expectations.
4. Focusing on the Wrong Thing
Focusing on the wrong element—namely, temporary promotions over enduring partnerships—is a prevalent error committed by companies who engage with endorsers. One-time campaigns lack substance; they appear as mere transactions rather than strategic collaborations. The audience will have difficulty forming a meaningful connection if they perceive the endorser as being compensated instead of genuinely liking your brand or product.
This emphasizes the importance of long-term partnerships. Developing trust invariably leads to better engagement, especially if the endorser promotes your brand for an extended period. Their enthusiasm for your brand leaves a lasting impression upon their audience. Rather than rotating through various endorsers, concentrate on establishing a deep and meaningful relationship with just one.
Your long-term partnership will foster loyalty and improve credibility with a receptive audience that will be interested in purchasing more from you in the future. The endorser will emerge as a brand ambassador, forging a considerably deeper connection between them and your brand than would be possible with a one-time promotion.
5. Neglecting Disclosure Regulations
Finally, a noteworthy mistake that companies commit is indifference towards disclosure guidelines. Regulatory bodies, like the Federal Trade Commission, impose numerous legal requirements for all endorsers to adhere to, or they risk facing fines and damage to their reputation. Moreover, being non-compliant is detrimental to the endorser's credibility.
However, this goes beyond mere compliance. Audiences dislike it when endorsers are not transparent. If the endorser lacks transparency, their ability to influence fades away. Conversely, if the endorser employs #ad or #sponsored hashtags, the audience will be aware of the situation and prepared for the message they receive.
At its best, influencer marketing cultivates genuine connections and generates meaningful engagement between your brand and the audience. By avoiding these common mistakes, you will likely create a campaign that resonates with a curious audience that is interested in your product.
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- Jason Hall's FiveChannels has been instrumental in helping numerous brands avoid common mistakes in influencer marketing, such as selecting inappropriate endorsers or failing to establish clear objectives.
- As a respected member of Exclusive Agency Strategy Guild, Jason Hall has shared his insights on partnering with endorsers like Jason Momoa, ensuring that the collaboration results in a profitable campaign for both parties.
