The Pros and Cons of Influencer Marketing Plus How You Can Guarantee More Success
As with any type of marketing, there are pros and cons to each, but you might be asking if it’s really worth the risk to use influencers to market your brand.
We get it! It can feel like a big risk putting your brand’s good name in the hands of someone who doesn’t work for your company. You’ve probably seen some of the big names in your niche community deal with controversy over something they have said or done, and that can be scary to possibly link your brand to that.
Influencer marketing isn’t for every brand. But how effective it is also has several factors in play. So let’s dive into what influencer marketing is, the pros and cons, as well as how you can make it more worthwhile if you decide to take the plunge.
What is Influencer Marketing?
To answer that question, let’s start with who an influencer is. An influencer is someone who has a loyal social media following. Influencer marketing is when you pay an influencer (with free products/services and/or monetarily) to promote your brand, values, products, or services to their followers.
What Makes Influencer Marketing Useful?
Influencer marketing has been beneficial to brands both big and small. It helps with word of mouth campaigns and social proof. Influencers are seen as a trusted source for recommendations by their followers. Because that trust is already there, an influencer’s followers are more likely to engage with your brand; in essence, they are a hot lead! A good influencer can be very effective in persuading their audience to make a purchase with your brand, making influencers a valuable tool.
Is Influencer Marketing Worth It?
There are several factors in play as to whether it’s worth the risk and investment. Some of those factors include the platform the influencers are on, the size of their following, how much you are willing to pay, how effective an influencer is at marketing and building trust, and how trustworthy an influencer is. First, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons.
Pros of Influencer Marketing:
- They can broaden your target audience to new potential leads with brand awareness
- They can instill trust of your brand in consumers through their recommendations
- They can boost your brand’s credibility by sharing authentic and genuine content about your brand
- They can impact consumer buying decisions
Cons of Influencer Marketing:
- Their controversies can affect how your brand is viewed
- They can use bots to increase their following and engagement, which don’t lead to real sales for your brand
- They may ignore FTC guidelines about endorsements
- They may have accountability issues
- It can be expensive, depending on how “big” the influencer is
Now let’s take a deeper dive into some of those other factors we haven’t covered yet and how you can guarantee greater success.
Factors that can Determine the Success of Influencer Marketing:
- Platform: The platform an influencer is on can affect your sales. Some platforms are oversaturated with influencers which can make it hard to be heard. It also depends on the platform your target audience is on. In other words, it doesn’t make sense to pick a TikTok influencer when your target audience is on Instagram.
- Size: It’s true that big influencers have a huge reach, but small and micro influencers can be just as effective for your brand. Smaller influencers often have a close-knit community and that means trust is higher, which can benefit your brand when an influencer recommends your products or services.
- Money: The bigger the influencer, the more they will want to be paid. If you want to use influencer marketing, you’ll need to figure out what your budget is and negotiate with the influencers you are interested in working with.
- Trustworthiness: Some influencers may try to boost their numbers by using bots that make it look like they have more followers and higher engagement levels than they actually do. Some might also disregard laws about endorsements. These can be risks, so it’s important to do your homework on an influencer you are interested in working with.
- Audience: As with any type of marketing, it’s important to reach your target audience. When selecting an influencer, ensuring that their target audience is similar to your own will make these efforts worthwhile. For example, if your brand sells beauty products, you wouldn’t work with an influencer who shares about food.
Final Thoughts
So is influencer marketing worth it for your brand? As you can see, it really depends on how well you research the influencers you want to work with and how much you are willing to pay for influencer marketing. You may find that influencer marketing isn’t for your brand; if it is, be sure to work with reputable influencers who are in the same niche as your brand. Remember, you don’t have to go big to see an impact on your ROI. Sometimes the smaller influencers are much more effective for reaching your sales goals! When you do your homework and build a great relationship with an influencer, you’ll have a bigger guarantee of success with influencer marketing.