Four Misconceptions About Influencer Marketing

I hope you're doing well! Over the last few weeks, I've been writing a lot about the ever-changing social media landscape, and other social media trends. But I want to dive a little bit deeper into something that I find exciting as a marketer.

So for today, let's talk about influencer marketing and some misconceptions marketers face. For many marketers and brands, 2021 was a pause or reduction of marketing efforts as belts were tightened, and ROI became even more critical. Based on the conversations I've had with other marketers, one of those programs that were initially paused was influencer marketing. 

I've discussed the importance of influencers for brands of all sizes and across all industries in the past, but as we approach the new year, many expect influencer marketing not only to return but grow. 

If you're a social media professional looking to amplify or even start your influencer marketing efforts, you've come to the right place. Today I'll dispel five myths about influencer marketing. 

Brands are looking to build relationships with their target audience by creating entertaining, educational, or inspiring content. Influencers can start that relationship by leveraging their personality, tone, and voice, introducing consumers to a brand. 

As we approach 2022, you'd be pressed to find an advertising professional who hasn't either personally worked with an influencer before.

Let's get into it. 

1: Influencer Marketing is Just a Trend.

Before COVID-19, brands were partnering with influencers to create content that would help them reach their target audience at scale. As consumers hunkered down and stayed inside during lockdowns, consumer shopping behavior shifted. Studies earlier this year showed that 75% of consumers reported trying a new shopping behavior like Instagram Shopping, enabling brands to reach consumers.  

As a brand, the goal of an influencer campaign is to identify and partner with influencers who fully embody the brand's personality and essence. Brands can reach new customers and increase their overall brand awareness by partnering with influencers who have ancillary interests in said brands. 

I feel like a broken record saying this, but influencer marketing isn't a fad or trend. Despite all of the flack Meta has received (and deservedly so), social media continues to be thoroughly ingrained with the everyday consumer. Even if there was a global reduction in social media usage, the existing data and advertising space established on these platforms still exist. Brands will still use whatever existing first-party data is available to segment and target their prospective buyers. 

I'm excited to see what's next for influencer marketing in 2022, but I expect to see more sponsored posts in my feed as we get closer to the new year. I look for ways to amplify our efforts by partnering with my colleagues in paid media and email for my programs. 

2: Influence Marketing Is Only For The Young 

To be honest here, if I asked you to close your eyes and picture an influencer, what would they look like? If you're picturing a younger adult like a Gen Z or millennial, you're not alone. You even see it on commercials as Gen Z is known to have grown up fully immersed in social media and influencers. 

While that generation is more familiar with influencers, that doesn't mean that influencers can't partner with brands that have an older target audience. I have been successful with influencers across multiple industries, including the auto, household cleaning, and even adult incontinence industries. 

Boomers and younger generations may not have grown up with sponsored posts and their favorite entertainers saying, "This video is brought to you in partnership by...," but they remain active on social media. Their favorite brands that they happen to follow on social media are already working with influencers. 

3: Influencer Marketing Is Only Effective With Macro influencers or Celebrities

It's a misconception that brands have to partner with influencers with social followings in the millions to have an effective campaign. The exact opposite is true, and more often than not, micro-influencers provide a better ROI than other influencers. 

The most significant trade-off between a micro-influencer and macro-influencers is the quality of the said audience. Micro-influencers will often have a more engaged audience than macro-influencers or other celebrities. As one's celebrity continues to grow, influencers are expanding to new niches more often than not. 

For example, Kim Kardashian's social following is split up between different chapters of her life. Some follow her from her days of being Paris Hilton's friend, others from the Keeping Up With The Kardashians days, some follow her for her relationship with Kanye, you get the gist. But if you look at the interests of the individuals who have an affinity to those different "chapters" of Kim's life, there may not be much overlap. 

With a micro-influencer, the majority of their followers are there for one thing only. And that's the niche of said micro-influencer. So when brands decide to partner with a micro-influencer over a macro-influencer, they know that most eyeballs on their influencer's post will be people who have a genuine affinity for that influencer's content. 

4: Influencer Marketing Is The Wild West

This is an interesting misconception because, in my experience, influencer marketing has often had the most guidelines, internal reviews, and legal oversight compared to other social media efforts I've launched in my career. 

Influencer marketing is still in the relative infancy compared to other marketing channels like radio, print, or even podcasts; however, there are no rules or restrictions when communicating on social media. 

Even marketing companies like Popular Pays, Linqia, and Tagger help brands launch campaigns at scale and do so in a manner that allows brands to do it safely. For example, in a previous campaign, we used Popular Pay's audience analysis to confirm that the influencers we partnered with for an alcohol brand had most of their followers being of legal drinking age. 

Well, those are just four of the more common misconceptions involving influencer marketing, and I can already think of others that need to be addressed. Woe is the life of a social media professional. Are there any trends that you think don't get enough attention? Leave them down in the comments and I’ll share my thoughts on them.

Thanks again for reading my latest blog piece!