Are Fashion Influencers Really Overrated ?

Many businesses today have jumped on the ban wagon of engaging the services of used social media influencers to help boost their brand. However, the debate remains open if this method delivers the best Return On Investment for businesses out there especially in the fashion department . Before this question is answered, here’s what you need to know about Influencer marketing . When most marketers think of a social media influencer, they are thinking of a person who has purportedly established credibility in a specific industry. These influencers generally have a large follower base, and it is believed that they can persuade others based on their authenticity and reach. Influencers come in all kinds too. Take for instance , an influencer with over ten million followers. Imagine the influence he/she  would have to their fans, or if they were to promote the product he/she  uses for their personal beauty regime?

Being an influencer means helping people, even when you are being paid

How can you help the client’s audience? How do you provide value? How can you show that you really just want achieve the best results from the brief you were given ? And how do you engage your audience to  purchase the client’s  product? As an influncer , these are some of the questions that need to be answered but for some, as long as they have been paid, they have seen another form of content . They rock the outfit – not taking into consideration – proper styling , sensitivity of the moment , proper poses – so the outfit can be seen and total loss of engagement .

Not all fashion brands are blue chip companies

Its just fashion . Even though fashion is serious business , some influencers feel the need to milk the brand for every naira and in some cases – dollar , just because you have reached out to them to help push your brand forward . No one ever said influencing was easy but rate cards should differ from individual to organization. If not, how do you explain an influencer charging N500,000 ( Five hundred thousand naira ) for just on outfit which costs – N30,000 ( Thirty thousand naira ) ? How ?

Reasons Why Online Influencer Outreach is Overrated

First , we tend to confuse audience with influence. Having a lot of Twitter followers or a “large” blog readership doesn’t inherently make a person influential in any way. It gives them an audience. True influence drives action, not just awareness, and very few online demi-celebrities have enough juice to drive action in droves.

I’m not suggesting that influencer outreach is useless or should be abandoned. But, it’s not magic beans. It needs to be looked at for what it actually is – the top of the funnel component of a larger program to generate awareness AND behavior using social media and content marketing.

Trying to convince online influencers to tweet, blog, instagram, or pin nice things about your company is the post-modern version of celebrity endorsement, but with less impact. In some cases , some influencers feel entitled – like they are doing you a huge favour in getting your brand noticed. in most cases, this lack of professionalism ends up in regret as the brand message is either misinterpreted or  executed wrongly .

Remember, followers don’t guarantee sales.

Here’s where most businesses fail. They don’t do their research about the influencer.Who are their audience ? Can they afford the product you are marketing or even have access to it ?  As a result, brands expect to see a large increase in their product sales because the picture uploaded on Instagram had 2000 likes.

Key Notice

1. Learn how to separate good influencers from amateurs.
2. Look at the amount of engagement his/her post receives.
3. With proper understanding, these influencers can help to boost your brand identity.