Is influencer marketing right for everyone? Not a chance. 

Everyday we see the successes of social media influencer marketing campaigns. More and more success stories are hitting the the news. Publications running wild with influencer marketing infographics, blogs, critiques and commentary.

That's exciting. We are happy to see the industry getting attention. But there is one question we don’t feel is asked enough.

Is social media influencer marketing actually a good idea for my business?

So we went ahead and built a simple infographic to help you answer this important question. 

Share this infographic on your site!

<strong>Please include attribution to modash.io with this infographic.</strong><a href= https://www.modash.io/blog/is-social-media-influencer-marketing-right-for-you?-[infographic]/ '><img src='https://www.modash.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/is-influencer-marketing-right-for-you-Modash.jpg' alt='Infographic guiding you through whether influencer marketing campaigns are right for you' /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

Is your company at the right stage for influencer marketing?

Before you step into the world of influencer marketing, you should set the stage for your company. Attempting to push customers into a product that isn’t ready, or a marketing funnel which is weak and doesn’t convert won't work. While you are still in the idea stage (pre-growth) of your company, it's likely not the best fit.

Focus on the fundamentals. Set up a website and building distribution channels like Facebook and a blog. From there, once you know you are ready and capable of handling growth, you can take the leap into influence.

Does your target audience spend time in an influencer friendly platform?

Some audiences (especially those in complex areas) look to traditional mediums for advice and guidance. They are eager to get valuable newsletters, they read industry magazines and even academic journals.

Influencer marketing is flexible and can be used anywhere. But it is most simply done on social media and via channels like Youtube and podcasts. If you broaden the scope from traditional, you can still make it work on sites like Reddit or Behance.

Are they loyal to particular social media content creators?

If your audience is on social media or listens to podcasts, are they loyal to one individual or group of creators? This is important in understanding if they can be properly targeted by influencers. Loyalty of the audience is what enables social media influencers to inspire action.

Many creators are great at building cult followings. Some even capable of maintaining and growing their audiences for years. Ideally, your audience follows a few trusted sources for content, advice, news and entertainment. If they are loyal to a creator, they are more easily targeted and more receptive to recommendations.

How high are the consequences of failure?

Your first campaign will likely not save your business from bankruptcy. While hundreds of thousands of marketers are seeing high ROI on influencer marketing, it doesn’t happen overnight. Building profitable influencer relationships and optimizing takes time and experimentation.

If you are not capable of optimizing over time at this stage, we recommend starting with lower risk paid marketing efforts. Methods such as affiliate marketing, or PPC often have faster guaranteed results.

High risk situations might be a low budget for experimentation, need for quick and predictable results (Influencer programs can be predictable, but it takes time to gather data) or lack of resources for managing campaigns.

How big should my budget be?

This is a popular question received by the Modash team. There is no right answer. Some of our most successful clients have seen incredible results from just a few hundred euros (less than 1% of their total marketing budget). Some see great successes from tens of thousands of euros.

Often, starting small and increasing budgets as you learn and optimize is ideal.

Who is responsible for maintaining the influencer marketing effort?

Someone truly connected to the problem or result should be in charge of leading and guiding the influencer marketing effort from day 1. They are the most connected and ingrained in the problem and will put the needed effort into solving it.

Some companies opt to build an influencer marketing specific team. Others assign this role to members of the content or social media marketing teams. This can also work, as long as there is clear expectations and communication between the KPI owners and the responsible team. Disjointed efforts will lead to confusion and frustration.

User journey and customer experience based social media influencer marketing

These kinds of campaigns are best done when tied to a friction point along the user journey.

In identifying the pain points your customer faces when taking their pathway to buying your product, you make it  easier to make decisions. Identifying the stage your key problem lies will help you structure the creative, measure success and focus on the problem. To get started with understanding your user, consider this persona guide.