The future of Instagram influencer marketing is bright. The problem with influencer marketing is the misunderstandings surrounding it. Make no mistake, there are companies that use their own Instagram influence, and companies that use other Instagram influencers, and they make a lot of money selling their products and services. Check our guide to know how to pitch brands on Instagram
This article attempts to explain the confusion and misunderstandings surrounding influencer marketing.
Why Do Some People Think Influencer Marketing is Useless?
They think it because most Instagram influencers couldn’t sell water to a thirsty camel. This is where a large part of the misunderstandings come from. The biggest influencers on Instagram, many of whom are celebrities, are not able to sell their health drinks, their clothing lines, their perfumes and their self-help courses. In almost every case, they have lots of sponsors and backers, but their own attempts to set up businesses have failed.
The reason for this is simple. These people are not businesspersons. They are famous, but they are famous for selling themselves as a product. They would be better off printing shirts with their pictures on because much of anything else is not going to work.
Influencers Are Making Money
Do not confuse the point of this article. Influencers themselves are making a lot of money from promotions and sponsors. However, the people paying them, the companies paying them to promote their products, are making a net loss. Apart from in very rare cases, the people doing the sponsoring can only hope for brand recognition. Very few are making direct sales from influencer promotional content. On a similar note, influencers themselves have a very hard time selling their own stuff and setting up businesses. Almost all influencer businesses fail after two years (sooner if the influencer falls out of favor or is canceled).
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What if Instagram Existed in 1991?
Back in the olden days, there was a show called “Home Improvement.” It ran from 1991 to 1999. Instagram came along in 2010. Back in those days, one of the co-stars of the show was called “Al Borden” and his actor Richard Karn struck a deal with the producers of the show. He was paid a middling wage for his time on the show, but he was allowed to use his Al Borden character in advertisments.
If Instagram existed in 1991, Al Borden would make a big splash in Instagram. He could easily sell himself as a tool expert (it was part of his character’s job in the show), and he could easily start his own line of hardware services or tools and he would do very well selling his stuff on Instagram.
Influencers Who Fake Going “On” Brand
Given the previous paragraphs, you would figure that people who have experience in certain fields may do better selling on Instagram. For example, a swimmer selling swimming costumes will probably work well.
This is true, but most influencers on Instagram are influencers because they have been selling themselves or their looks. Ergo, even when they “Fake” loving or using a brand, people are smart enough to see through it.
Entertainment Tonight offered up some workout courses approved by Beyoncé and Kevin Hart. If such adverts were run on Instagram, they would tank harder than a Ukrainian defensive line. This is because people are smart enough to see through this stuff. People know that Kylie Jenner’s lips were surgically plumped up and that it isn’t her line of lipsticks that plumps up lips. People know that Logan Paul doesn’t get more done with his caffeinated drink, people are not stupid.
If Influencers Fail, Why is The Future Bright of Influencer Marketing?
The world works in peaks and dips. Millions upon millions of dollars have been poured into influencer marketing. Influencer after influencer has set up an online business, promoted through Instagram, and have failed. However, marketing gets better and smarter every year.
Savvy people find ways to make marketing work, and the first thing they have to do is work their way around the Instagram promotions algorithm. They have to find ways to get their influencer adverts out there and still have them gain the right amount of coverage without paying for Instagram advert marketing.
They then have to find ways to connect their influencer with their audience, and the process is always ongoing. Tomorrow, there will be marketing teams trying to figure out how to make money from influencers. They will not collectively give up tomorrow.
Instagram is a Tough Nut to Crack
As most marketers will tell you, the money you pour into Instagram influencer marketing has a far lower return than if you pour it into TikTok, YouTube, Rumble or Twitter. This is because the influencer marketplace is mostly set up for clothing and makeup.
If a brand wants to sell its new T-shirt design, it can pay models to wear it on Instagram and there is a better-than-average chance that some sales will be made. But, if you want to sell lawnmowers, you will do better promoting them on YouTube. If you want to sell insurance, then Rumble. Gadgets on TikTok, and gaming on anything from Twitch to YouTube. There is a chance that you could pay Beyoncé, Kevin Hart and Dwayne the Tooth Fairy Johnson to promote your line of car seat covers, and followers on Instagram simply won’t buy them.
Companies Should Build Their Own Influence
In the short term, you can pour money into influencers and hope you get enough brand recognition to then help bolster your efforts in other online areas. However, the most cost-effective and long-term option is to become an influencer yourself. These days, you can look for Instagram accounts for sale and buy them from Fame Swap.
You can re-brand them and promote your products or services, or you can promote to their followers and get them to defect over to your primary Instagram accounts. Doing this allows you to build your own influence, become an influencer, and promote your products yourself.
The best thing about this method, besides it being a good long-term approach, is that you get to curate your followers. You can actively attract people who are more likely to buy from you, especially if you are open and transparent with your posts (aka, if you sell lawnmowers, you are posting about lawnmowers and not posting funny comics about dogs). With some clever targeting, you can build an audience of people who are likely to buy from you and support your brand for years to come.
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