Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media Influencers

Social media influencers have a highly-defined niche that they’ve built their authority, reputation and expertise in. They also know their audience well, based on their interests, demographics and psychographics.

Influencers promote only products that they genuinely believe in. Whether it’s a beauty product or a dental treatment, they’re not trying to sell a comb to a bald man.

1. Better Reach

Influencers’ content captivates and inspires their followers. Using social media influencers to promote your products can help expand your reach, potentially reaching a large, relevant audience.

Many creators have a “slide into my DMs” mentality and are very open to receiving messages from brands that are interested in working with them. This is especially true if you approach influencers with whom you already have a relationship and/or who are producing aesthetically-pleasing content that aligns with your brand.

Unlike traditional marketing, influencers often avoid heavy sales messaging and instead focus on providing value to their audiences. This helps them develop an emotional connection with their followers and builds trust.

In addition, research has shown that the trustworthiness of influencers significantly influences online impulse buying. Therefore, tapping an influencer to promote your product can lead to increased sales and better ROI. From a practical standpoint, this method can shorten the sales cycle and save time and resources. This can be particularly beneficial for small businesses that may not have the budget to hire a full-time marketing team.

2. Higher Engagement

A good social media influencer can have a highly engaged following. This is one of the reasons why brands prefer to work with influencers when launching new products.

But, this also means that influencers must continually create content to engage their audience. Otherwise, engagement levels will drop. In a worst-case scenario, the influencer’s account may be shut down for violating social media platform rules, which can affect their income significantly.

This is why marketers must ensure that the influencers they hire are trustworthy and reputable. In order to do so, they must secure data and analytics that will help them understand the collective profile and quality of the influencer’s followers. They must also make sure that the influencer’s content aligns with their marketing goals and objectives. This way, they can make the most of their investments. In addition, the data and analytics will also allow them to track the results of their campaigns in a quick and easy manner. They can use it to make adjustments and improve the performance of future campaigns. Moreover, working with influencers also saves them time and effort in terms of creating and distributing content for their campaigns.

3. Better Revenue

Influencers can create content that appeals to specific audiences, which can help brands generate more targeted leads. This can help brands increase sales and overall revenue.

Influence marketing can also save time and money compared to creating traditional advertising. However, some influencers can be unreliable, and they may not always produce high-quality content. Moreover, some influencers might not stick to the brand guidelines, which can result in content that looks scripted and artificial.

When marketers work with influencers, they should focus on analyzing engagement metrics like comments, shares and views to determine the content’s impact on audience interaction. They should also look at other metrics like website traffic and inbound lead generation to get a complete picture of the campaign’s performance. Using these metrics, brands can move beyond anecdotal evidence and optimize near-term engagement for greater return on investment. They can then shift their attention toward developing posts that promote long-term engagement and brand awareness. They can also leverage tools like Sprout Social’s Smart Inbox to keep tabs on how their campaigns are performing.

4. Better Brand Reputation

Influencers can boost a brand’s reputation by establishing trust and credibility with consumers. A Matter Communication survey found that 69 percent of consumers will trust information published by an influencer they follow, like a friend or family member, over an advertisement by the company themselves.

Social media influencers can be highly effective at getting your products or services in front of a wider audience. However, it’s important to remember that the person behind the screen is an individual with a real personality. If their views or actions go against their followers’ values, they can cause damage to the brand that may be difficult to recover from.

If a social media influencer becomes involved in a controversy that negatively impacts their audience, they can lose their following and income. For example, Logan Paul lost his millions of fans after posting a video about suicide that was seen as controversial. Unless brands create an approval process for influencer content, they cannot control what an influencer posts about the brand. This can result in content that looks scripted and inauthentic.

5. Better Credibility

Influencers provide credibility to brands through product endorsements and recommendations. Their followers trust and are likely to purchase products that are endorsed by influencers. This provides social proof to potential customers, speeding up the sales cycle.

Unlike traditional ads, influencers create captivating and valuable content for audiences. Depending on your partnership agreement, they can produce professional photos, Reels, gated downloads, Stories, carousels, and other deliverables that can help you reach new and relevant audiences.

It’s important to choose an influencer with a similar aesthetic and brand identity as your business. Otherwise, you risk working with an influencer whose content may not align with your ethical standards and style guide.

It’s also important to consider the type of content an influencer promotes on their social channels. If they promote an unhealthy lifestyle or unrealistic body standards, their followers can be discouraged by these messages and may develop mental health issues. Influencers must ensure they’re promoting only what they’re passionate about and believe in. This may make it difficult for them to say yes to every opportunity that comes their way.