Influencer Marketing: The Pros and Cons

Influencer marketing has been gaining immense popularity on social networks such as YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. For those who are not familiar with the term, influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which companies seek out individuals (“social media influencers”) who have a very large and dedicated social media following. The influencer promotes the company’s product, service, or campaign by creating and sharing content that is engaging and unique.

For example, a cosmetic company that is launching a new lipstick line might partner with a prominent beauty-vlogger on YouTube to have them incorporate the product in an upcoming makeup tutorial video, product review, or to include in a giveaway.

As with any form of marketing, there are advantages and disadvantages that naturally occur with executing a campaign. This blog will provide you with an overview of the major pros and cons that come along with influencer marketing.

PROS

When considering influencer marketing, there are several advantages that you can benefit greatly from. These include:

1. ) accurate and Easy Targeting

Influencer marketing allows brands to team up with people who have a strong connection to the target audience that the brand is trying to reach. Companies from a wide variety of industries have used social media influencers to reach their respective target audiences. These industries include beauty, retail, fitness, consumer electronics, and automotive.

2.) Brand Exposure and Awareness

This pretty much goes without being said. Having hundreds of thousands (or in many cases, millions) of relevant eyes on your product is an amazing thing that a company can benefit from. This can result in an increase in sales or even change consumers’ perception about the brand.

CONS

Although there are many positive things associated with utilizing influencers, there are negatives that you also must consider. These include:

1.) Strict Guidelines

The saying, “with great power comes great responsibility” applies to social media influencers. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) legally requires social influencers to “clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands when promoting or endorsing products through social media” (ftc.gov). Influencers will often do this by posting the hashtags #ad or #sponsored. Unfortunately, this can potentially create some unforeseen problems because when a company partners with someone, they can’t know for sure if the individual will act in a responsible manner when it comes to these guidelines. It’s very important that social influencers follow all guidelines and regulations set by the company that hired them, and, of course, the FTC because “the company could face legal repercussions if the influencer does not properly disclose that they were paid” for their involvement (Insightpool.com).

2.) Cost Allocation

Yes, social media influencers require compensation for their involvement. Companies interested in hiring an influencer may not be aware of just how expensive it is to engage in influencer marketing. According to an article by Insightpool, “posts by users with three to seven million followers have an average cost of $187,500 per post on Youtube. Instagram and Snapchat go for $75,000, while Twitter averages at $30,000.”

Will You Be Hiring an Influencer?

In the end, you need to take these key pros and cons into consideration when deciding whether or not to partner with an influencer, and whether or not it will help propel you towards achieving your overall business goals and objectives. If done correctly, influencer marketing can be very beneficial for your business.

For advice on what social media marketing campaigns and other digital marketing techniques may work for your brand, contact Aronson Advertising today at (847) 297-1700.

Sources:

insightpool.com/pros-and-cons-of-paid-influencer-marketing/