The main problem with influencer marketing is that there is no certification process to declare yourself an influencer these days. Anyone can claim to be one.
In fact, the more likely you are to call yourself an Instagram influencer, the more likely you are to be a marketing poseur. A recent study revealed that 71% of people with influencer-level followings (25,000 or more followers) on Instagram describe themselves as something other than an influencer in their bio.
So who can you trust? Who can help your brand reach new people or help you generate sales? And who will just waste your time?
Re-Think Influence
Your first step is to stop looking at the quantity of someone’s followers and look at the quality of their following.
Even in the modern world of digital marketing, too much of influencer marketing is just old-fashioned “shotgun marketing.” A lot of companies are just blasting their message out to as many people as possible, and going after the people with the biggest followings.
Someone with 25,000 followers is great, but someone with 2,500 in your community is probably far better for you. Don’t focus on volume. Focus on value!
Next, think about your target market. Whose testimonial or endorsement would actually resonate with that group? If you’re targeting Gen Z and Millennial-aged buyers, a local radio personality with 3,000 followers is not going to help you, despite their local reach. However, if you’re targeting Gen Xers or Boomers, they could absolutely help.
But if you’re going after young people, you need someone who can connect with this market. You don’t need celebrities, which is good because you probably don’t have the budget to reach out to Millie Bobby Brown.
Find Local Influencers
You could certainly connect young people if you reach out to an attainable local influencer. Maybe they’re an up-and-coming athlete or SoundCloud rapper.
However, you will actually probably see a better return on investment with “regular people.” Our family, friends and classmates still have considerably more influence over purchase decisions than celebrities.
Why is this? First of all, the more famous or visible someone is, the more likely that their endorsement comes off as a transparent ad. Once the brain picks up on this, it files it under Ignore with all of the other 3000 ads it saw today.
However, if something is recommended by someone we see or interact with on a regular basis, their endorsement is more likely to be perceived as sincere and helpful. The audience feels that this person seems to legitimately love this item (sweater, makeup brush, app, whatever) and this can legitimately motivate someone to buy.
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