You heard that influencers don't like to be micromanaged?
Well, they also don't love having zero clue what you want from them and being the head-honcho of your failing campaign. Call me a control freak, but I micromanage. Every influencer I've ever worked with (and I have worked with dozens of top influencers at every tier and now have a loyal influencer network) has been grateful for the help and clear expectations.
Influencers like to be helped — they want you to succeed with them.
What they don't like is getting bossed around by marketing managers who don't actually have a plan, or understand their audience, and are just a general ball of frustration — or don't communicate. If you want your influencer campaigns to be successful, you can't just send over a product, decide on where the post is happening, and take the laissez-faire approach — or what I call the lazy-faire approach.
Give the influencer direction, set goals, set expectations, let them do what they do best, but understand that they aren't going to be the one who knows how to sell your product. You are. If you want success with the influencers you work with, you're going to have to roll up your sleeves and contribute some mental muscle.
These three steps seem so simple, but are major contributors to how well your sales do this holiday season (and beyond) with influencers. Stop making excuses for why your campaigns don't work, stop being okay with mediocre results, and please stop blaming the influencers you hire.
Influencer marketing will never be a strategy that you can just throw money at and hope it works out, but with the right strategy, long-term plan, loyal influencers, and killer content, the amount of sales you can leverage from influencer marketing is literally second to none.
Jenny Beres is the cofounder and president of Pink Shark PR and Pink Shark Studios. An influencer outreach powerhouse, Jenny helps her clients get rich, famous, or both by leveraging the power of influencer marketing to create engaging and exciting campaigns that help talented founders, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and brands create fame, brand authority, and — of course — increased sales. Follow her on Instagram.