8 Biggest Influencer Partnership Mistakes + How To Avoid Them

Having an influencer as a partner can greatly benefit a company. The correct relationship can significantly affect a brand, assisting in its transformation from a modest, largely unheard-of business to a household name. But if brands don’t approach potential influencer partners properly, they risk missing out on a chance to collaborate.

Without further ado, let’s discuss the first mistake business owners make when working with influencers:

1. Having Mismatched Values

Genuine influencers will and ought to choose brands to support that share their values. A true collaboration between the two sides results from this as opposed to a forced or contrived partnership with which the end user cannot identify. 

You must first comprehend an influencer’s mission statement before considering whether they would fit your brand well. For instance, finding an Instagram influencer whose page covers issues related to your brand is a beautiful starting point. Still, it would be best if you went further to ensure that they are enthusiastic about those topics and have matching values with your brand.

2. Skewed Engagement Rates

Whether an influencer buys false followers or likes and comments on each of their posts—yes, there are applications for both—their account might not be as reliable as it first seems. Although there are methods available for influencers to deceive the typical viewer, there are also tools like hypeauditor available for marketers to determine the legitimacy of an influencer’s account.

3. Being Too Transactional

Influencers are real people, not ad units. Brands frequently treat influencers as merely another component of their marketing mix by being overly transactional with them. 

When a brand invests in developing solid connections with influencers, they can be effective collaborators and the best source of word-of-mouth recommendations to reach new audiences. Influencers must be sufficiently engaged and motivated by brands to continue promoting it long after the campaign has ended. One way to do it is to follow them and engage with them on social media.

4. Attempting To Control The Influencer’s Narrative

Transparency is the foundation of influencer equity as much as their following size. The influencer’s credibility is weakened if a brand hopes to steer the narrative. That is not an option. 

Finding the appropriate influencers to approach and becoming knowledgeable about the fundamentals of influencer marketing would be helpful. Then, “negotiate” the content and give yourself some leeway to make sure your information is compelling.

When a person promotes your products or services or makes reference to your brands through influencer marketing, it not only widens your audience but also raises awareness of your brand. Read : 8 Proven Influencer Marketing Strategies To Boost Sales 

5. Product mishaps

Unfortunately, aside from receiving incorrect shipping instructions, some things can go wrong while shipping a product. The marketer must promptly provide the appropriate product to the influencer they are collaborating with, regardless of any shipping delays or failed deliveries caused by a necessity for a signature.

6. Improper Tagging & Brand Mentions

Another breached partnership rule is when influencers wrongly tag the brand’s handle or misspell the brand’s name or items in their caption. This is similar to posts without product inclusion and influencers who brand each of their photographs.

Even while this mistake doesn’t happen very often, it can occur, especially if the brand is small or if there are other brands with a similar Instagram username. Usually, this is a simple error to fix, but it’s crucial to ensure the influencer is familiar with the brand before publishing to avoid the back-and-forth hassle.

7. Lack Of Authenticity

The partnership won’t succeed if it isn’t ethical. More than ever, brands need to understand their target markets and give influencers creative freedom. Abandon the stringent brand restrictions and trust influencers to create content that makes sense for their audience. Good influencers consistently deliver quality material and are true to their audience.

8. Asking For Time-Consuming, Complex Deliverables

Deliverables that are too numerous or too complicated turn off most influencers. They’ll probably decline if your brand’s request is too time-consuming or demanding, especially if the reward isn’t compelling. Maintain simplicity and ease in your deliverables.

Wrapping Up

Due to the rising popularity and success of influencer marketing efforts, it is evident that one marketing tactic you want to incorporate into your 2022 plan is hiring content creators to advertise your service or good if you haven’t done so already.

There are many ways to do this and even more ways to do it badly, but the blunders listed above should serve as a warning of the mistakes many businesses have made in the past and still do now that cost them millions of dollars each year.

Influencer marketing revolves around actual people, much like PR and reputation management. If you treat them like “marketing tools,” you’ll quickly lose credibility. So, treat them better, concentrate on building solid, long-lasting relationships, and watch good things happen

Vavo Digital, a 360 degree influencer marketing agency is aware of influencers’ enormous influence over their audience for brands in every sector. We assist you in forming partnerships with these influencers so that they may effectively communicate your brand’s message. 

Looking for more information on influencer marketing and how it may benefit your brand? Send us an email at hello@vavodigital.com, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!