Influencer marketing is not a new concept. From the MySpace, Friendster era till the rise and success of social giants Facebook and Instagram, brands have been engaging influencers as part of their marketing strategy for the longest time.

The only thing that hasn’t changed is that we’re still using the influence of a key opinion leader to reach out to target audiences. The result? We can shape the public’s opinions of our brands and products. 

I’ve spoken with multiple marketers to find out their thoughts towards influencer marketing. The response? Nah, it doesn’t convert.

According to a report by HubSpot, 49% of consumers today depend on influencer recommendations for their purchase decisions. In addition, 60% say they’ve been influenced by a recommendation when shopping in-store.

In another study by Tomoson, marketing professionals polled that businesses make an average of $6.50 for every dollar spent on influencer marketing. The same poll also found that influencer marketing is rated the fastest-growing online customer-acquisition channel, outpacing organic search and email marketing.

With more marketers engaging influencer marketing and generating positive returns, why is influencer marketing not converting for your brand? 

I’ve summed up two key reasons – relevancy and creativity. 

Relevancy

You see, influencers today are different from how they were 20 years ago when social media was beginning to gain traction. In the past, anyone with some followers online were pretty much considered influencers. Today, the criteria to being an influencer has evolved. 

In addition to the number of followers, basic criteria include engagement rates, brand and audience relevancy. Content variety is also one of the key factors that differentiate influencers.

There is no magic fit in influencer marketing. No one influencer can market for all types of products. An influencer interested in exotic cuisine will most likely be unable to influence his followers to buy the latest Mcdonald’s meal. An influencer with a strong background in mobile games will not be as influential in the arena of PC games. 

The key is to relook at your marketing objectives and strategy. You should have, or at least try to develop a clear understanding of your business. Then, you need to identify direct and indirect substitutes of your products. This helps determine what are the types of influencers you should work with. An activewear company will most likely look at influencers who specialise in sports, gymming, hiking or even fashion. A company selling cosmetic products will work with influencers who specialise in beauty and skincare.

Creativity

Gone are the days when influencers could sell products just by posing for an image with the product. Today, consumers enjoy a wider variety of content and entertainment options. As such, influencers are taking things up a notch and coming up with bold and creative perspectives to appeal to audiences. Surprisingly though, I still see many big brands engaging local influencers and are satisfied with an image post on a social feed. Yea, it’s no wonder they’re not converting. 

With the gig economy becoming a new trend, the rise of “part time” influencers and content creators is very common. This may be the reason why influencer marketing strategy is not working for you. As we all know, time is limited. Someone doing things on a part-time basis may not be able to provide as much commitment and effort as someone who does it on a full-time basis. Cheaper, definitely, but you should evaluate the pros and cons before deciding on your influencer marketing strategy.

Before engaging an influencer, here are some questions to ask. How committed is the influencer in creating content and long term collaboration? How can the influencer’s area of expertise align with your products? What are some creative spin offs you can adopt to increase outreach and engagement rate?

At the end of the day, influencers form part of your content creation strategy. If you vet and scrutinise the content your in-house marketer produces, why would you not do the same when it comes to influencers? You’re essentially outsourcing part of the content creation work!

Choosing the right influencer is the first step. Other factors such as relevancy and putting across your content in a creative way play important roles in your influencer marketing strategy too. 

To sum it up, influencer marketing definitely works. However, factors such as relevancy, product nature, fresh perspectives and content are crucial in determining the success of an influencer marketing campaign.