Team AdfluenceMapping a strategy for your social media career is not that difficult. But for newly established influencers, making mistakes is a part of the learning curve. However, make too many of them, and that can leave a bad, bad impression on the clients or the agency you’re dealing with.
As the wise once said, “You don’t have enough time to make all the mistakes in the world.” The smart thing to do would be to watch out for some oft-repeated mistakes that influencers around you tend to make. Then you make sure that you don’t make them. Once the little things are taken care of, you can enjoy most days regaling in the warm glow of a job well done.
1. Not Being Professional Enough
No individual can walk the road to success without certain values and ethics. As an influencer, your competence is judged by the way you work, and a high degree of professionalism goes a long way.
- Communicating with brands
Communication is the key to establishing transparent ties with the brands. But a lot of times, influencers slip up when it comes to keeping brands in the loop about various developments. To avoid that, reply to important business emails and messages in a timely manner. Make it a habit to give regular progress updates about an ongoing campaign. If you need more information about the product that you are endorsing, don’t hesitate to reach out to the brand or agency you’re dealing with. In case of technical difficulties that are affecting a campaign, take them into confidence immediately. Communicate, reschedule, and always, ALWAYS keep the brand in the loop. Prompt and open lines of communication will go a long way in establishing your good name in the industry.
- Set deadlines and keep up with them
The word deadline always sends people into a bit of a frenzy, but that’s not how it’s supposed to be. Setting deadlines is an amazing way to prioritize work. This will help you strategically plan all the tasks you have at hand and avoid any unnecessary delays. Once you have your work schedule planned according to your deadlines, it’ll be easy for you to figure out what projects you can commit to and the ones that you should pass up on. After all, over-committing and not delivering on what you promised is never a good thing.
But remember, once you’ve committed to a deadline, follow through at all costs. The occasional delays are fine, but if you keep missing delivery dates time and again, your reliability will be called into question. When giving deadlines to your client, always include a buffer for potential roadblocks. Even if you can comfortably do something in 3 days, ask for 4 or 5 days, allowing yourself an extra 2 days to review your work or deal with last minute snags. If all goes well and without a hitch, send them the work in advance, on the 3rd day itself. Under-commit and over-deliver, we say. It’s a wise business move for a creative mind such as yourself.
2. Lacking the Personal Touch
You are the influencer that brands hire. The keyword here is ‘YOU’. And that’s who people want to see. Sacrificing your unique voice for some run-of-the-mill communication can greatly hamper your USP.
- Add the personality filter
Imagine coming across a picture of a woman looking uncomfortable and unnatural in a sequined dress. What would you do? Scroll past such a bland and insipid image, right? But what if you saw a bright, young woman dancing to the best song ever in the same dress? What would you do? You’d double tap it!
Never shy away from being in your element. What sells is you! You are the influence(r). You make your audience want to try new brands and the nice things you endorse. So, be yourself, you amazing influencer! Because honestly, people are tired of looking at posts that look clearly sponsored.
- Stay true to your audience
Don’t play it safe. Don’t sacrifice your specific style, tone or story, because it was your witty, edgy-sarcastic tone that got you your followers. That sarcasm and wit are what they came for. Don’t deprive them of what got them hooked onto you in the first place.
3. Not Having a Strategy in Place
Your social media profile looks like a happy burst of chaos, but behind all that madness, you’ve got to have order, a process that restores method to the madness. Without it, your social media strategy will always be a series of hits and misses.
- Relevance is Key
Keep your posts relevant at all times. If you’ve been reviewing premium leather cases covers for phones and laptops on your page thus far, don’t suddenly spring an iPhone X review in there just because you’re getting paid for it. Once you’ve won the trust of your audience, it’s your responsibility to deliver with utmost sincerity. Nothing is more important than relevant content.
- Interaction is a Two Way Street
Social media engagement is more than just acquiring followers and likes. It’s about making your followers feel like they are an important part of your life. While it is clearly impossible for you to maintain a close relationship with each and every single one of them, you should try to engage in any way possible. Giveaways and contests are one of the best ways to interact over social media. You can even ask for content suggestions. Remember, a happy audience will only improve your standing in the industry.
Social media is a platform that is ever changing, and in this ever changing turf, your influence is greatly dependent on how much of you is out there on the internet. A lot of influencers tend to become complacent, but passiveness will cost you your audience.
Don’t rest on your laurels. You may have launched an amazing campaign, but the public tends to have a short memory. If you don’t keep posting consistently, it will be a matter of time before you lose your appeal. So, keep at it. No matter how famous you are, you will have to be kept at your efforts religiously. Because in the social media world, out of sight is out of mind. Very fast.
And remember- everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has bad days and not all your ideas will take off brilliantly. There will be hits and there will be misses; but don’t dwell on the latter for too long. Learn from them and make your next campaign even better! The end game depends on you, dear influencer! Now go out there and give it your better-than-best shot!
