Title
The relationship between the brand and the influencer can take various forms. It may involve product gifting, where a brand provides free products or services to an influencer in exchange for a review or promotion. It can also be a paid partnership, where influencers are remunerated for promoting a product or service. In some cases, the brand and the influencer may enter into a long-term ambassadorship, where the influencer promotes the brand consistently over a period of time.
Influencer marketing can take place on various media platforms. A brand must choose the right influencer who aligns with their values and resonates with their target audience. This marketing strategy can boost brand awareness, reach a targeted audience, and increase sales.
Like any marketing strategy, influencer marketing has its pros and cons.
| Pros of Influencer Marketing | Cons of Influencer Marketing |
|---|---|
| 1. Access to Engaged Audiences: Influencers have dedicated followers who are often very engaged with their content. This means a brand’s message will likely get significant visibility and interaction. | 1. Lack of Control & Brand Standards: Brands don’t wholly control what influencers say about their product or service. |
| 2. Authenticity: If an influencer genuinely likes a product or service, their endorsement can come across as more authentic than traditional advertising methods. | 2. Risks to Reputation: If an influencer behaves poorly or gets involved in a scandal, it could potentially harm a brand’s reputation. |
| 3. Targeted Marketing: Influencers often have a specific demographic that follows them. Brands can choose influencers whose audience matches their target market, resulting in highly targeted advertising. | 3. Potential for Misalignment: There’s always a risk that the influencer’s image and message may not align with a brand’s values and voice, which could cause confusion or backlash from consumers. |
| 4. Builds Trust and Credibility: Influencers have already built trust and credibility with their audience. When they recommend a product or service, their audience will likely trust their opinion. | 4. Transparency and Authenticity Concerns: With the rise in influencer marketing, audiences are becoming more skeptical. If endorsements aren’t appropriately disclosed, or if the influencer is promoting something they don’t honestly believe in, it could lead to audience and or legal backlash. |
| 5. Engagement: Social media platforms, where most influencers operate, facilitate direct engagement. Posts can be liked, shared, and commented upon, creating a dialog between the influencer, brand, and consumer. | 5. Fake Followers and Engagement: Some influencers artificially boost their numbers with fake followers or engagements. Brands might end up paying for reach and influence that isn’t genuine. |
| 6. User-generated Content: Collaborating with influencers often results in the creation of unique content. Brands can repurpose this content in various ways, from social media posts to advertising campaigns. | 6. Short-lived Impact: Unlike evergreen content, some influencer promotions might have a temporary effect, especially if tied to transient social media posts. |
In summary, influencer marketing can connect brands directly with engaged audiences through trusted voices, offer a sense of authenticity in promotions, and enhance targeted marketing and SEO. However, it also presents challenges, including the need for complete control over the brand message, potential inconsistencies between the brand and influencer’s image, and difficulties in accurately measuring the return on investment. Additionally, the significant costs associated with high-profile influencers and the potential reputational risks due to controversial influencer behavior add to the complexity of this marketing strategy. Ultimately, it is up to the individual business to decide if the pros outweigh the cons of partaking in influencer marketing.
Our approach to influencer marketing:
When working with influencers or creators on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc., we like to think about it in this way:
- Work with people who only use or believe in the brand.
- If they don’t relate to your audience or needstate of the product, why does that make sense?
- How do they relate to and implement the brand in their daily lives?
- Authentic UGC is the best UGC.
- Someone with a larger following that is a customer is by far the best influencer/creator to work with
- They like the product and will have more genuine content when creating
- Someone with a larger following that is a customer is by far the best influencer/creator to work with
- Focus on content quality, not content distribution.
- Create content in alignment with media trends and company vision
- Easy-to-follow, informative, fun content
Due to the current state of organic social and their limited reach, paying for posts doesn’t make much sense. We would rather pay for high-quality UGC for them to allow us to whitelist with or run in the brands’ ad accounts.
