Brands today want to connect and get closer to their target audiences in a subtle way without using obsolete messages or invasive techniques. They also want to humanize their brands and properly showcase benefits to their audiences.
On the other hand, we have informed consumers who no longer rely on commercials to discover great brands. Instead, they seek recommendations from those they trust. These include family members, friends, and influencers.
Want evidence? Well, according to a study, influencers can make consumers trust, buy from, and talk about brands.
However, despite this and other studies showing the benefits of partnering with influencers, there are still people peddling influencer marketing myths.
These are convincing myths that could make you hesitate or fail to implement influencer marketing campaigns at all.
But should you trust these influencer marketing myths?
This post shows you the true value of partnering with influencers by debunking common influencer marketing myths.
Let’s get started.
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1. Every Influencer Has Fake Engagement and Followers
There’s no denying that some influencers use fake accounts and bots to inflate their engagement and reach.
However, contrary to what the influencer marketing myths say, not all influencers do this. There are genuine influencers out there who work hard to grow their following and build their brands.
But how do you tell the difference between a fake and a genuine influencer?
Take note of their engagement rates and likes. If they have sudden spikes in follower counts or huge followings but unusually low engagement, they may be fake.
Additionally, you may notice that posts from fake influencers feature identical engagement rates or irrelevant comments not related to the posts. These include emoji-only comments or generic ones that can apply to any post.
Now, while this manual checking method is great, it does consume time and resources when applied to many influencers. In this case, leverage advanced influencer platforms that offer reports on each influencer. These include the total number of fake followers, engagement rates, audience demographics, content types, etc.
2. Influencers Only Care About Money
You may assume that influencers only want to partner with you for money. However, although money is a motivator, this is one of the influencer marketing myths that you should ignore.
Why?
Genuine influencers work hard to build their audiences, grow trustworthy relationships, and build their reputations. And even when they’re not promoting brands, they create engaging content their audiences find valuable and entertaining.
Most importantly, genuine influencers vet brands before collaborations and only work with those whose products appeal to their audiences.
Take, for example, Lisa “Lisbug” Schwartz, a YouTube influencer with over 2 million subscribers. When asked about her process for choosing brands to work with, she said:
“I’m not gonna push something on my audience I don’t genuinely believe in. So, you will never see me promoting diet pills or laxative teas. If I’m going to expose my audience to a brand deal, it’s gonna be something I use or think is worth them actually checking out.”
3. Influencer Marketing Only Applies to B2C
Influencer marketing does make sense when used by B2C brands in the food, beauty, lifestyle, and fashion industries.
However, contrary to what influencer marketing myths let you believe, it also works for B2B.
A good example of a brand proving how relying on influencer marketing myths can rob you of opportunities to drive awareness and engagement is Adobe.
The company runs several always-on influencer initiatives, including the #AdobeInsider Program that brings together B2B influencers. These include industry experts, top executives, contributing journalists, and technology pioneers who help the brand boost its reach and build thought leadership in the space.
And guess what?
Your campaigns can run on various social media platforms and involve different engagement ideas. These include software walkthroughs, influencer interviews, guest posts, webinars with influencers as guests, etc.
Want to increase reach, offer social proof, and boost engagement with your campaigns? Reshare influencer content on your website, blog, social media accounts, and eCommerce store. For example, you can use an influencer walkthrough video on your landing pages or eCommerce product pages.
4. Influencer Marketing is Costly
This is one of the influencer marketing myths that makes many brands hesitate to work with influencers.
Of course, some influencers, including celebrities and mega-influencers, charge high prices. However, it’s a different story if you work with micro-and nano-influencers. Their prices are low and vary depending on the campaign.
Best of all?
They sometimes accept free products as payment. On the other hand, if an influencer insists on cash payments, you can collaborate through an affiliate program. That way, you only pay them when they bring in a lead or make a sale.
5. Content Trumps Context
One of the most common influencer marketing myths is that as long as an influencer produces great content, they can promote your brand.
However, before running an influencer campaign, consider the context.
Does the chosen influencer support a cause your brand does or share similar values?
For example, you may get a fitness influencer who posts incredible visuals to promote your vegan diet. However, if social media users discover he also eats meat, your brand loses credibility.
The same applies to influencers who post offensive or racist comments.
It will not only ruin your reputation but can cost you lots of money as you try to untangle yourself from the influencer.
It’s, therefore, crucial to run thorough background checks before hiring. Track their influencer journey and the type of content they post when not promoting brands.
Most importantly, find out if they are prone to controversies that could land your brand in trouble.
6. It’s Impossible to Measure ROI (Return on Investment)
Knowing whether a strategy brings in a return on investment is crucial, and this, above all else, is what makes this one of the most dangerous influencer marketing myths.
Furthermore, why should a brand invest in a strategy if they can’t tell if it generated an ROI or not?
However, if you use the right tracking technologies, this problem becomes a thing of the past.
Most influencer analytics tools like Klear, TapInfluence, Shopping Links, open Influence, etc., can help you track influencer campaigns as they happen. They enable you to track views, reach, conversions, clicks, social value, and, most importantly, ROI.
Stop Letting Influencer Marketing Myths Rob You Of Opportunities
Although influencer marketing has gained a bit of a bad reputation over time, trusting influencer marketing myths can lead to lost opportunities.
And as you’ve seen, you just need to approach influencer marketing from the right angle, implement well-laid-out strategies, and use the right tools.
Do you know of any other influencer marketing myths you would like us to debunk? Comment below, and we can address them.
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