Make no mistake, when social media influencer marketing is done correctly, it works. Think about SmartWater’s Instagram marketing campaigns with Jennifer Aniston. Using a well-liked celebrity who is known for being ageless, SmartWater has tapped into healthy-minded individuals who want to eat and drink healthy.
The influencers don’t have to be celebrities either; brands like Sperry use regular folks on Instagram to help provide them with high-quality images and content. These Sperry Ambassadors are a great way to build a lively and engaging community, one that responds more to messages from peers as opposed to a popular celebrity.
But, what happens when influencer marketing is done poorly? What happens when your influencer isn’t reaching your target market? Well, you can always cut ties and try someone else. No harm, no foul.
But what about when your influencers aren’t as trustworthy as you thought?
Recently, Unilever has decided to crack down on working with influencers who either buy followers or are followed by fake bots. It’s an indication that companies have heard the complaints from consumers who want digital transparency and, in response, these businesses are looking for the same transparency out of their influencers. This has become imperative because of the association influencers have with brands they work with. If an influencer receives negative press, brands they work with run the risk of receiving negative press as well. Not only that, but if you’re working with an influencer who has fake followers, then it is difficult to assess your total reach and how much you are actually building your awareness.
What Will Change When it Comes to Social Media Influencers?
It seems likely that there will be an overhaul in terms of which influencers companies will choose to work with. Brands are starting to closely scrutinize their influencers to make sure that they will be beneficial to work with. As a result, we should start to see more meaningful influencer campaigns that will have a more powerful impact on the audiences they reach.
Brands that are in the most danger of being linked to non-trustworthy influencers are companies that are more concerned on reaching a large amount of people rather than a smaller group of quality potential consumers. We’re beginning to see a shift in this way of thought, spearheaded by Unilever. Rather than being preoccupied with maximizing views, brands are now shifting to finding credible, trustworthy influencers with a loyal fanbase. From an influencer’s perspective, it will be essential for them to be maintain healthy, real followings on their social media profiles, or risk losing business opportunities.
How to Do it Right?
There are tons of great options for influencers out there today. The key to finding them is to take the time to carefully vet anyone you consider working alongside. One aspect you can look at is the quality of the engagement on an influencer’s posts, such as conversations in the comment section in regards to the product they are sharing. The more high-quality engagement a post receives, the more likely the message will spread through word-of-mouth.
As you do this, ask whether the accounts engaging with these posts align with your ideal customer profile, and whether the influencer is actively engaging with their followers. If one of your potential customers has a question about your brand, you’ll want to know that the influencer is prepared to go the extra mile to answer these queries.
It’s also important to consider your budget. You don’t have to spend a lot of resources on working with influencers. You can find local influencers who won’t be as costly whose fan bases are just as receptive as those with more followers. In fact, a study by Makerly found that influencers with 1,000-10,000 followers can have 4x the engagement on paid posts vs. influencers with a higher following. Bigger doesn’t always equate to better.
Why We Love Social Media Influencer Marketing
Here at Snap, we work with influencers in a number of different ways, such as affiliates, quotes, tags, mentions, and content shares. We’ll work with you to find the perfect influencer for you. We reach out to relevant influencers with a high reach that contains quality prospects who can share you content in front of a large audience, particularly those who may not know about you yet.
We always make sure to tag relevant resources that will more than likely retweet, repost, share, or start a conversation that will lead to followers and engagement. We take the time to invest in getting influencers to share our created content. This is a great way to build up relationships with thought leaders in the industry. This not only grows your social media reach and influence, but also enhances brand recognition and brand authority.
If you’re interested in learning more about what we can do for your social media marketing, reach out today!