Influencer Marketing Fails: How to Not Do It?
Making mistakes is human, but when you are on social networks you are exposed to everyone watching and commenting on your mistakes, and this is something very serious for brands. A message delivered wrong or misconstrued can mean a huge loss for companies, thanks to poorly executed marketing strategies.
Therefore, below we list some influencer marketing fails for you to avoid at all costs.
1. Breaking the rules
There are many rules that brands and influencers must follow when it comes to influencer marketing. The most important are health regulations when it comes to drugs or cosmetic products, since the risks for consumers and retaliation against influencers can be enormous.
A perfect example was when influencer queen Kim Kardashian promoted the Duchesnay Company with their nausea medication. Neither Kim did the necessary research on the product, nor did the company disclose adequate information about the risks of the drug.
This is something that caused the FDA to take action against Duchesnay, causing Kim to remove the content and publish the real risks of the medication.
2. Choose the wrong people
Even if you choose the influencer with a large following and impressive traffic, if they do not adapt to your message, you are wasting your time. Therefore, to do efficient influencer marketing, you must thoroughly study the target audience and the available personalities.
It is very common for budget-minded brands to target small influencers, and this does not mean they cannot be efficient. The problem arises when they are small, but also their audience cannot connect with your message.
3. Leave authenticity aside
Brand promotion in influencer marketing should appear genuine and authentic; otherwise, it may appear that the influencer has blatantly “sold out”. Therefore, simply reading a script explaining how wonderful a product is without actually believing it is counterproductive to personality and brand credibility.
Something like this happened with the collaboration of Adidas and Naomi Campbell. Her posts were so frivolous and obvious; her followers had nothing to complain about.
4. Not preparing enough
This type of marketing, like any other, is not only based on promising wonders with the promotion of a product but on meeting those expectations. So product preparation is also important when promoting through influencers.
The consequences of not doing so can affect the credibility of the brand, and the reputation of the influencer involved; as has happened with Tana Paul and her TanaCon, or Kylie Jenner and Fyre Festival.
5. Forget sensitivity
The road to hell is said to be made with good intentions, and when a message that tries to be empathetic is not delivered with enough empathy, it can be hell for companies. Many causes are often trivialized thanks to the poor approach of marketing campaigns.
Something like what happened with the message of unity that Pepsi wanted to do with their campaign with Kylie Jenner, alluding to a sensitive fiber of the Black Lives Matter movement. However, all these mistakes have had their damage control and they serve us as learning in influencer marketing.
