Here are a few common mistake I’ve seen brands make:
– Advertise with a popular influencer that has a large number of followers without taking into account if the influencer’s followers are their brands target audience.
– Work with an influencer whose content is not relevant to the product or service.
I like to keep this in mind: influence is not always popularity.
Being a fan of the influencer and actually finding them influential are two different things. Influence drives people to take action. So if you’re just looking to raise awareness on a topic or service then by all means advertise with a popular influencer. However, if you’re looking to generate action I recommend going with an influencer that generates authentic content relevant to the product or service you want to promote.
A person with 10K followers could have more influence than a person with 200K followers. It all comes down to the quality of their content and their reach.
So how do you choose the right influencer?
- Observe the influencers audience. Are their responses positive or negative? Do they seem influenced?
- Analyze the influencers content. Do they have the ability to drive action? Is their content and tone authentic?
A quick example: if you were promoting chicken broth cubes and your objective is to increase sales, then it would make more sense to advertise with a chef blogger than a very popular instagram photographer. Yes, the popular photographer would have larger reach but the food blogger would generate higher engagement from their followers.
