5 Reasons Why Influencers Struggle with Growth
The Influencer Marketing industry is on track to be worth $13.8 billion in 2021. Along with the rising value of the industry on the brand and agency side, comes the desire for new influencers to step into the game, as well as current influencers to up their game. This proves to be a challenge for influencers in various ways, and as a result, we notice influencers struggle with growth.
Whether they are trying to grow on social media and stay on top of popular platforms and trends, they’re trying to get their foot in the door with their favorite brand, or they’re trying to create multiple streams of income, there always seems to be a roadblock to encounter.
Then, you have those creators and influencers who makes it look easy peasy.
How? What are they doing differently?
Well, we can answer that. Here are 5 reasons why influencers struggle with growth.
Influencers Struggle with Growth Because…
They don’t have an established influencer brand
One of the first rules you should learn when it comes to being a creator or influencer is that your content needs to provide value. To be able to understand what value you are providing to your audience, you must first establish your brand.
Ask yourself,
- WHO am I?
- WHAT value do I provide?
- HOW do I want to showcase that value?
These are but a few of the questions you will answer when establishing your brand. Once you are able to successfully establish your brand, will you be able to work on growing it.
They are not actively & consistently seeing social media and/or website growth
You’re posting consistently on your social media profiles because it’s what you were told to do. By your industry peers, by industry leaders, by your audience, etc.
It’s true.
You should be active and consistent on your social media, as well as your website if you have one.
But, are you actively and consistently seeing growth?
Influencers struggle with growth because they are following the advice only halfway through. If you’re consistent with your posting but you’re not consistently seeing growth, there’s a deeper issue to explore. With a solid foundation of branding, strategy, implementation, and review, you will then be able to actively grow your following, income, and brand.
Influencers struggle with growth b/c they are following advice only halfway. If you're consistent w/ your posting but not consistently seeing growth, there's a deeper issue to explore. W/ a solid foundation, you will be able to… Click To TweetThey have not leveraged important relationships
Relationships are key in the Influencer Marketing industry. Relationships with your audience, relationships with brands and agencies, AND relationships with platforms.
56% of brands and agencies prefer to work with the same influencers. Working with the same influencers allows the brand to build relationships with their influencers, and allows the influencer to build their brand loyalty and establish brand expertise with their followers. Additionally, it’s more likely for an influencer to secure a multi-month partnership with a brand if they have already worked with them in the past.
Think back to Reason #1 and how we discussed establishing your brand. Once you have established your brand, you will begin building relationships with your audience. Relationships that will span across platforms – thus building a multi-platform audience.
The relationships that you build will take you far.
They do not understand the influencer marketing industry
The Influencer Marketing industry has parallels to the advertising, journalism, and marketing industries.
Whether you are drafting a pitch (journalism), participating in a campaign (marketing), or creating content to post (advertising), you are a part of this industry.
Where influencers go wrong is that they do not understand the Influencer Marketing industry, and as a result, don’t act accordingly.
Their pitch process is non-existent, their content is missing the mark (for themselves, brands, and their audience), and their knowledge of how brands and agencies manage campaigns is lacking.
Once you learn how to successfully navigate these avenues, you can move forward with creating a brand that is built for longevity.
They have not created a foundation for longevity
And that leads us to our last point – longevity.
After implementing the 4 steps above, you will have created the foundation for longevity.
You will have:
- Established your brand
- Learned how to consistently grow your following and/or website/blog
- Built (and leveraged) important relationships
- Understood how to industry works – and used it to your advantage
Once you have done that, you will have built that foundation for longevity.
You can look up and comfortably say, “Here’s where I’ll be 5+ years from now,” and then create the plan that will get you there.
Whether you choose to become a part-time influencer or a full-time influencer, the goal is to create a brand (and stream of income) that can keep you going.
These 5 reasons why influencers struggle with growth will help separate yourself from those who continue to struggle and join the ranks of those who begin to see consistent growth.
If you’re struggling with growth and you’re ready to get over that hump, check out our admissions page and get started on an actionable, accountable game plan today.
