Should You Market Via Influencers?

Before, marketing cameos were reserved for celebrities.  Have you seen Shaq's latest partnership with Epson printers?

Now, influencers are making waves in marketing.

Influencers do just that — they influence.  They have an audience of people who follow them for news, trends, products, and style.  Influencers usually build trust among their followers by only promoting relevant brands, being honest, and sharing the "behind the scenes".  I'll just come out and say it... It's easy for me to buy a product that an influencer I like is promoting.

I haven't seen the numbers, but I will be bold in saying that influencer marketing does work.  The brands who use it well are successful.  But does that mean you should do it too?

In my opinion, no.

Here’s why…

I’ve had several clients throw money at Instagram or Facebook trying to build ad campaigns and fail because they didn’t spend time on what they were marketing.  This isn’t the same as influencer marketing, but at the base, they are very similar.

The idea is that there is a simple fix to marketing.  That is simply not true.  Marketing is a beast with a lot of research and trial & error.  Sure, giving someone thousands of dollars to promote your product might create some sales, but if you haven’t spent time on the campaign, it’s not going to work.

I believe that people default on influencer marketing because it looks fast and easy.  If you want your campaign to be successful, that’s simply not true.  You should spend just as much time on an influencer marketing campaign, as you would writing it out for a newspaper, or a blog.

Stop falling for the “get rich quick” scheme.  Organic growth takes time, work, and energy, but it IS possible.  

If, at this point, you still think influencer marketing is the right thing for you, stay tuned because next week we are talking about the nitty-gritty details surrounding influencer marketing.

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