What Are The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Influencer Marketing

“People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.” – Seth Godin

And influencer marketing can give you just that. But only if employed right!

Today, companies aim to communicate with consumers in the most creative manner imaginable. One of them has become influencer marketing. 

As a now well-known unique marketing technique, it helps organizations harness distinctive relationships with their consumers and reach out to them in a manner that is more engaging than most traditional marketing strategies.

To capitalize on this trend, many companies are incorporating influencers into their marketing strategies. In fact, 71% of marketers believe that influencer marketing is more successful at creating high-quality traffic and leads than traditional marketing methods are.

So, is influencer marketing the best idea for your business, or is it just another waste of time and resources? Let’s find out!

What is Influencer Marketing?

It is not the newest marketing solution for brands on the market, but it is definitely one of the most popular digital marketing trends.

With an astounding 93% of marketers using influencer marketing in their campaigns, it is currently one of the most profitable and effective advertising strategies.

Influencer marketing entails a company partnering with an online influencer to promote one of its goods or services or increase brand awareness. And a person who has created a devoted following via social media, blogs, or other networks and has the power to influence their audience through content production is considered an influencer.

Influencer Marketing Advantages

Now that you know what influencer marketing is, let’s take a look at some of its most noteworthy benefits:

• Builds Trust and Credibility in Present or Potential Consumers

Developing trust takes time, and social media influencers are trusted by their followers. As a result, their followers are more inclined to trust what an influencer says about a company.

When an influencer uses a discount coupon or a giveaway to promote a business, their fans will be undoubtedly interested. Additionally, in the case of a new company on the market, these endorsements might help establish the brand’s credibility faster.

But to develop trust and credibility, it is essential to work with influencers who are sincere and experts in their fields. Especially on Instagram and other social networking sites.

Various tools are available to help you locate influencers from an extensive database, such as Heepsy, Fiver, and others.

There are a variety of other criteria you can use to narrow your search for influencers, such as the number of followers they have, the frequency with which they post, and the location of their following.

• Broadens Relevant Audience Reach

Influencer marketing has the potential to assist in the spread of marketing messages intended to raise brand and product recognition.

Your target audience will be more interested in what the influencer offers since they have a following that is already engaged with them and their interests. By partnering with them, your message has a better chance of reaching consumers who are already in your specific niche, so you won’t have to search for an audience yourself.

Identify influencers that promote companies comparable to yours and reach out to them. Your target audience will find it much easier to learn about you this way.

For example, a successful traveler, sportist, model, or culinary blogger on social media is the best way to get your hotel, sports or makeup products, or restaurant’s name out there. Well-known influencers can leverage quality photographs accompanied by genuine recommendations, which will certainly help you connect with the consumers you aim to reach.

• Humanizes Your Brand Through Storytelling

Influencers’ material is intimately tied to their own lives. Unlike typical celebrity endorsements or commercial placements, these persons’ marketing messages are more accessible, relatable, and engaging.

When it comes down to it, influencers are probably the best storytellers. Since influencer marketing may be a fantastic way to make your brand or product more humanized and approachable to your target audience, this is undoubtedly another significant benefit of the strategy.

Note that when an influencer leverages his authority as an expert in a particular industry to promote a product on his social media channels, he shares personal stories, thoughts, and opinions. This makes him seem authentic, which increases the likelihood that the customer will believe his recommendation and, better yet – purchase your product.

• It’s Cost-Effective and Drives Almost Immediate Results

In general, influencer marketing is not extremely costly, especially compared to other types of marketing. However, expenses might vary significantly depending on the influencer you hire.

According to research, the costs can vary depending on the type of influencer: 

• Nano-influencers: $10–$100 per post.
• Micro-influencers: $100–$500 per post.
• Mid-tier influencers: $500–$5,000 per post.
• Macro-influencers: $5,000–$10,000 per post.
• Mega-influencers: $10,000+ per post.
• Celebrities: Varies. 

A further advantage of influencer marketing is that you may generate revenues within minutes or days if you work with the right influencers for your brand.

Even if it takes some time to find the right influencers for your brand, the results start to show up almost immediately after the post goes live. This is exactly why influencer marketing has such a significant advantage over other advertising methods – it can provide results in such a short period.

Influencer Marketing Disadvantages

Influencer marketing has a lot of undeniable benefits, but it also has its flaws, just like every other type of marketing. Here are some of them:

• Hard to Measure Effectiveness

Measurement and analysis of success are critical components of every marketing plan. Because there is no actual method to measure the performance of your influencer marketing activities, this process becomes more challenging.

In general, you may get a sense of how effective your campaign is by analyzing the total impressions section, but this does not provide the same level of information as other marketing strategies.

• Damage the Reputation of Your Brand and the Influencer

Genuineness and authenticity are essential factors in the success of influencers. As a result, merchants must think about the impact a poor evaluation of their product will have on their brand’s reputation and sales.

Likewise, if a corporation is dissatisfied with an influencer’s performance, this might lead to a high public–tension.

Kim Kardashian is one of the most prominent examples of influencer marketing gone horribly wrong. She attempted to persuade her followers that doxylamine succinate and pyridoxine hydrochloride were beneficial until the Food and Drug Administration got involved.

Consumer protection laws are liable for everything, and so is the brand if there are any infractions. Don’t attempt to deceive your target audience by using misleading or false information. It’s in everyone’s best interest to be as transparent as possible.

• Lack of Trust

When social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram become saturated with sponsored sponsorships from promotions and influencers, customers will have a difficult time deciding who they can trust.

With that said, even though influencer marketing has seen a surge in ad spending, a YouGov and Grey London study found that 96% of respondents do not trust influencers.

Whether or not businesses interact with influencers who are legitimately qualified as their partners, trends tend to indicate that forces to be reckoned with having a more negligible effect on purchasers than they did in previous years.

• Fake Engagement and Followers

Consider the case of giveaways, for instance. They are an excellent and straightforward way to obtain more followers and popularity. However, despite these many benefits, there are other factors to consider.

When the promotion begins, many new followers will be only interested in the reward and not your brand or goods. And after the giveaway concludes, people might even start unfollowing you.

To avoid massive unfollowing, and customer outrage and frustration, plan the giveaway post to be clear enough and be transparent about the way you will pick the winners. And don’t focus too much on gaining new followers. Instead, make the post about the benefits of your products or services, and how they can change the consumer’s life.

And remember, even if the volunteers don’t take the content too seriously, there will probably still be people out there who will criticize you for not winning your giveaway.

The Takeaway

Finally, it is up to you to determine if influencer marketing is the best strategy for your organization. So before going ahead with any new marketing efforts, it is essential to consider your business’s objectives and long-term intentions. While influencer marketing may be a very effective approach, it might not be the best method to employ in your marketing strategy.

Ultimately, sincerity determines the success or failure of influencer marketing. Influencers may help you reach enormous audiences, target the correct consumers, and establish customer trust if they are genuine. Otherwise, influencer marketing may ruin your brand’s reputation and bank account.

Filed under: Marketing Library, Social Media Marketing