When approaching your first influencer marketing campaign, it can be very difficult to know right from wrong. With the industry expected to earn $15 billion by the end of 2022, it is vital that brands do not make any detrimental errors. Netinfluencer will guide you through a set of key practices to ensure that your brand avoids any influencer marketing campaign fails. 

What Is an Influencer Marketing Campaign?

Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing. These campaigns use individuals with an engaged social media following as a way to endorse and promote a range of products and services. 

This type of marketing can be carried out in a variety of ways and on an abundance of platforms. Influencers can conduct live streams or post content to platforms such as Instagram in order to gain more reach for the product they are affiliated with. 

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Reasons Why Influencer Marketing Campaigns Fail

1. The influencer was not given a detailed and accurate brief.
2. There is a striking lack of management and guidance from the brand’s perspective. 
3. Certain issues were ignored, leading to an impactful legal crisis.
4. Influencers were forced to promote illicit products or services on their platforms.
5. The campaign had an unclear or offensive message.
6. The content was posted to an inappropriate social media channel.

Influencer Marketing Campaign Fails Examples – Marketing Mistakes You Can Learn From

We all make mistakes but some of them can lead to a complete marketing meltdown. Listed below are just a few examples of influencer marketing campaign mistakes and some tips on how to avoid them. 

A Lack of Goal for Your Campaign

In order to see success in marketing, your client must have a clear set of goals to strive towards. When working with an influencer, it is paramount that your team offers them a detailed brief to ensure that their work aligns with your brand values. These goals can be provided in a document or even in a short meeting. In the long term, this will help your chosen influencer to stay on track and consistently have your KPIs in mind. 

Not Compensating Your Influencer

Influencers can be compensated in a variety of different ways so it is very important that you reward these content creators in an appropriate way. Some brands prefer to send products rather than paying the creator directly. This is an excellent way to compensate them but should not be used if the influencer has dedicated a lot of time, money, and effort to your campaign. Therefore, if you are working on a lengthy project, ensure that your influencer is paid according to their market rate. 

Being Distracted by an Influencer’s Following 

Although it may seem like good practice to collaborate with mega-influencers who have more than a million followers, they may not be able to effectively communicate with your audience. In turn, make sure that you conduct in-depth research into your market to find an influencer that is able to relate to your target audience. As such, it may be more useful to work with a nano-influencer who has more sway over your market’s opinion than an individual with a much larger following. 

Restricting Creative Freedom

If an influencer feels as if their ideas and opinions are not being listened to, they are less likely to put effort into your campaign. These content creators are masters of their own work so it is important to listen to and implement their contributions. Brands can do this by scheduling brainstorming sessions or asking the client about other campaigns they have completed. Thus, this can also help strengthen your professional relationship and encourage your influencer to work with your brand in the future. 

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Refusing To Disclose Your Campaign

Many social media platforms now require brands and influencers to disclose their work, meaning that both sides must explain that this is a paid partnership. If this information is not expressed, your content could be flagged and potentially taken down. To avoid this marketing fail, communicate with your chosen influencer on the best ways to clearly expose this information and ensure that you are both following community guidelines at all times. 

Which Mistakes Should One Avoid for Influencer Marketing?

1. Completing a campaign without a plan or KPIs.
2. Working with influencers who do not operate in your target market.
3. Collaborating with influencers who use spam bots to gain false engagement.
4. Choosing influencers with a negative response or reputation.
5. Ignoring a potentially negative ROI.
6. Not proofreading or reviewing a creator’s content before posting. 
7. Omitting guidance from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) regarding paid sponsorships on social media.
8. Only posting content on one social media platform.
9. Posting content at the wrong time of day or in a sporadic fashion. 

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What Are the Challenges Faced by Influencers? 

Influencer marketing is seeing great success across the globe. However, this growth is also accompanied by a set of challenges. For example, it can be very difficult for brands to choose the right influencer for them, especially if they are operating in an extremely competitive and saturated market. Thus, many inexperienced brands are left with a campaign that does not effectively translate to their desired audience. 

Depending on the influencer you are working with, these campaigns can also be very expensive. Therefore, many small brands may struggle to balance their finances and pay the content creators an appropriate amount. In turn, if the campaign is not successful or has a low ROI, it can leave businesses in a much worse position than when they started. 

If you are working with multiple influencers in one campaign, it can also be tricky to track their individual success. Every influencer will conduct their work using a different set of skills and techniques, meaning that it can be hard to distinguish which individual is seeing the most success. As a result, a business may be forced to pay for a collection of influencers when only one is positively impacting  your market. 

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Marketing fails are very common in a variety of industries and we often see working with influencers go wrong. Yet, by following the advice and guidance offered in this article, your brand can avoid these issues and see great success in your next influencer marketing campaign. If you want to learn more about how to work effectively with influencers, visit our website.

5 Influencer Marketing Campaign Fails

When approaching your first influencer marketing campaign, it can be very difficult to know right from wrong.

By Net Influencer Web Stories

On Sep 2, 2022

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