Digital marketing has been a crucial part of brand’s and business’s success for about two decades now. Social media has also been vital in how brands present themselves and interact with their customers. Social media has also given rise to a relatively new digital marketing strategy, Influencer Marketing. We’ve seen brand’s use this marketing strategy to reach their target audience to enhance engagement and create buzz around their products and services. However, it is only possible when influencer marketing is done right. 

One such example of influencer marketing done right is “Prime hydration drink.” Prime is an influencer (Logan Paul & KSI) backed hydration drink, and is said that it’ll create the very first billionaire YouTubers. This gives us an insight into how you can even create an influencer led brand. Coming back to the point, influencer marketing is not just about partnering up with influencers who have a huge fan following. Like any other digital marketing campaign, influencer marketing also requires a strategy for it to drive desired results. For that, it is crucial to know what to and what not to do in influencer marketing. 

If you are a brand or a business looking to promote your product or service through influencer marketing, this post is for you. However, before getting into the do’s and don’ts of influencer marketing, let’s first take a look at how it works.

How Does Influencer Marketing Work?

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that allows businesses and brands to partner with individuals with high social media following. The individuals with high social media following and engagement are known as influencers. How it works is that companies or brands promote their products through an influencer. In return, the influencers are compensated for it, either through predetermined fees or any other way the brand and the influencer agree upon. 

Once the agreement is in place, the influencer then promotes the brand’s products either by endorsing them or through the content they create. This is where the influencer’s following comes into play. Once the influencer has promoted the product, it directly reaches the influencer’s audience which is in hundreds of thousands if not millions. It is important to note that there are different types of influencers. 

Types of Influencers in Influencer Marketing

There are four major types of influencers in influencer marketing, Mega, Macro, Micro, and Nano.

Mega Influencers

These influencers are the creme of the crop when it comes to influencers with the most fan followings. Their follower count can range anywhere from a few million followers to hundreds of million followers. The reason behind their large followings is that they are often more popular than influential. If your main objective is to reach as many people as possible, then mega influencers are the right choice for you. However, they charge in millions, not per campaign but per post. Here’s the list of the top 5 instagram influencers and what they charge per post.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo is first with the average price per post of $3.2 million.

2. Leo Messi is second on the list with the average price per post of $2.59 million.

3. Third on the list is Selena Gomez with an average price per post of $2.55 million.

4. Second last on our list is Kylie Jenner with an average price per post of $2.38 million.

5. The fifth and last entry on our list is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. A single post from The Rock will cost you around $2.32 million on average.

Macro Influencers

Macro influencers are notch down in terms of reach from mega influencers. Their follower count can be anywhere from 100,000 followers to one million followers. Unlike the mega influencers, macro influencers gained popularity through the internet. Macro influencers are a great choice if you are looking to target a certain type of audience while not compromising on the reach.

Micro Influencers

Micro influencers have a follower count anywhere from a thousand one hundred thousand. These influencers usually do not boast celebrity status and are perfect to reach your target audience. Micro influencers usually have much more influence over their followers than the macro or mega influencers. This means you can accomplish your marketing goals relatively easier with micro influencers.

Nano Influencers

Nani influencers have the most influence over their followers as they are usually those with influence over their community. These influencers have a follower count of anywhere between 1000 to 10,000 followers. Nano influencers are usually people in an influential position within a community, such as a local pastor or a local politician. These influencers have the highest levels of engagement, but their small audience size doesn’t allow for a great reach.

It is important to note that there is no definitive follower count that separates the mega influencers from the macro influencers, or the micro influencers from nano influencers. Some brands consider influencers with 10,000 followers as macro, and some consider them Nano. With that being said, let’s look at the what to and what not to do in influencer marketing.

“Effective influencer partnerships: A guide by seattledigitalmarketing.”

The Do’s and Don’ts of Influencer Marketing

As mentioned earlier, like any digital marketing campaign, influencer marketing requires a good strategy for it to be successful. For that purpose, we’ve compiled a list of the do’s and the don’ts of influencer marketing.

The Do’s

Here are the things that you must do to get the most out of your influencer marketing campaign.

1- Find the right Influencer

Finding the right influencer is as important as reaching the right audience. Just like there is no point in promoting your product to the audience who is not interested in it, there is no point in partnering with an influencer whose audience is not engaged. Here are the things you must consider before partnering with an influencer;

• Make sure the influencer is an active user. Active user means that the influencer must be posting regularly on social media platforms.

• The influencer must know what they are doing. Take a look at their socials, are they getting all the engagement on certain types of content and none on the other posts. If yes, then that’s a red flag.

• The influencer must have an engaged following. What is it that you want to achieve by partnering with an influencer? To take advantage of their followers and promote your product or brand either to boost sales or to enhance engagement for brand awareness. So, if their audience is not engaged, that is a big NO.

• Another important thing to consider is the audience itself. You should only partner with an influencer whose audience is interested in your product or the service.

• Lastly, it is absolutely crucial for you to consider if the content created by the influencer resonates with your brand message or not. 

By keeping all these things in mind, you can find an influencer that can add the most value to your marketing campaign.

2- Have A Strategy

Always have a strategy in place when working with influencers. It is simply not enough to rely on the influencers to make your marketing campaign successful. You should always discuss your strategy with the influencer and get them on board. This will help the influencer understand your objectives and help drive results more effectively.

3- Repurpose Influencer Content

If your strategy involves the influencer creating content for your brand, then do not let it go to waste. Repurpose the influencer content on multiple platforms. Repurposing content is always easier than creating new content. Another upside of repurposed content is that it works. If it didn’t, why would you partner with an influencer in the first place.

4- Always Compensate the Influencer

Do not take the influencers for granted. They are a valuable part of the digital community. When you partner with an influencer, always come to an agreement before you start working with them. 

The Don’ts

1- Never Take Full Control

One of the reasons you are collaborating with the influencer is the content they produce resonates with your brand voice. It is always better to let them have a say in the campaign. After all, who knows the audience better than the influencer who has built it up?

2- Don’t Dismiss Small Influencers

It depends on the brand whether they consider an influencer with a follower count of 10,000 micro or nano. Regardless, it is important to not dismiss these influencers. It is because these influencers have a more niche specific audience and their engagement rates are also higher. You should always welcome any micro influencers reaching out to you for a collaboration, especially if their niche is relevant to your business.

3- Don’t Expect Unrealistic Return

If you are collaborating with a micro influencer who has 30,000 followers. Do not expect that every single one of those 30,000 followers will flock to your business page. Always ensure the influencer you are working with and their audience is interested in your niche.

4- Don’t Miss Your Part

One of the biggest mistakes in an influencer marketing campaign you can do is not doing your part. This means that your brand’s social media page must be ready to entertain any traffic coming from the influencer. If you are not prepared to entertain the traffic they’ll simply just leave and you’ll never achieve your objectives. 

The best way you can do this is by repurposing user generated content. This will help maintain the aesthetic of your social media, plus do not forget to add value with the content you generate. 

Summing Up

Influencer marketing is the best way to enhance engagement for your brand. However, it is only possible when done right. You must remain fluent and let the influencer have a say in the campaign to drive the best possible results.