This guest post was written by NG Gordon of DearMishuDad

Social media influencers have dreams — many beautiful (for them) dreams. Something like “what will you do when grow up” kind of dreams, and they usually have to do with being able to express their trade and/or passion about something and finding a community to share it with that will acknowledge them for it.

There is one dream that they all have in common: being able cover the cost of their work hours, hopefully their rent and food too, and – how knows – make a living out of full-time social media work.

So… of all their dreams, that is the one big big dream that is monetarily related: getting paid for their content, influence and social media marketing consulting.

Influencers seem like they’ve prepared all their lives for that – to get brands to hire them to influence about something they are CRAZY about. That they will not only be asked to write something beautiful, original, and with a great point-of-view about something that is close to their hearts,* but that they will get paid (and it will help them pay their bills/loans)! That’s a dream come true — hello world!

*One certainly hopes so! It is not recommended to take on a product you don’t love!

Well, when they/you reach that stage, here are the four types of customers an influencer might encounter when doing influencer campaigns, and they are all unique in their own way:

Four Types of Customers for Influencers:

(1) The “Check” Lister

Those customers that have heard that hiring influencers is “a must must must,” and therefore added that as “a task” on their to-do list, a task to “check” off when completed (and no more). The task is … to “check off” the task!

Influencer: These might bring you business and, although they’re not serious in terms of long-term strategy, they (and anyone that sees the results of your influencer campaign for them) might invest even more in the future once they do see results. Be very professional here and bring excellent results for them.

Brand: Why bother if you are not making sure the results are successful? This can hurt and be damaging to your business and reputation, so you’d be better off not doing it at all if you’re not going to do it right and strategically.

(2) The “Admirer”

The Admirer will contact the influencer (usually via DM) and from day one they will show their excitement – they will admire the influencer’s photography, writing style, the fact that this person (or dog…) has a career as an influencer, their energy, their hair, their family members, their cities, their emails, everything!!! They trust the influencer MORE than 100% to do the influence job for them!

Influencer: These brands are really fun to work with. However, PLEASE live up to their admiration, PLEASE execute well — these are the ones you don’t want to disappoint. If you do, they may become disillusioned with influencers!

Brands: It’s ok to admire…just make sure you have everything clear with the goals and schedules for the campaign. Use a contract and don’t let your excitement make you lose focus.

(3) The Unrealistic Brand

Some brands are very, very unrealistic. Yes, we are all dreamers, and that’s fine, but being very unrealistic about the results you expect from someone you hire out of the blue, that’s something else…

For eg.: “I have 900 T-Shirts left (translation – I couldn’t sell…) in my NJ warehouse, please help me sell them immediately because you are famous.”

Influencer: Be warned never to work with this type of brand. It will hurt your reputation and will discourage the hell out of you. Instead, tell that customer that they are asking for something you cannot do, and then tell them what you CAN do instead (something related to moving the social media needle?).

Brand: Avoid behaving this way. That’s an unfair play… don’t expect instant sales from social media. Social media platforms were not built for that. See my 14 realistic goals below.

(4) The Realistic Brand

These brands expect realistic results, and thank you for that.

For eg, – “Jon, you are trusted by your community. Therefore, forward me new followers, as I manufacture red shoes and I want to create a community similar to yours on Insta.”

Or: “Create a LinkedIn post about our brand that will spark a powerful discussion in the comments section ahead of our upcoming event (the same way you did for xyz brand.”

Influencer: Compliment the brand for their knowledge about what makes a good influencer campaign. And then deliver MORE than promised, as there is a very good chance that you may have a long-term customer here.

Brand: Congrats, you have reached the highest level of influencer marketing knowledge and goals. If that influencer indeed brings you realistic results, why don’t you hire them on a retainer basis and even ask them to consult on your brand social media strategy. You may be surprised by their insight, gained through thousands of tests that they’ve done on your audience. This consulting might take your company to a level so much ahead of where your competitors are.

Those are the four… So now, tell us —

Influencer: Which customer type would you prefer working with? And do you see another type of customer that the author of this article hasn’t encountered yet?

Brand: Which of the customer types are YOU….? Which one do you WANT to be?

#SomethingToPlanAbout ….

About:

DearMishuDad

“N.G” Gordon writes, speaks, and advises on influence on social media and influencer marketing as DearMishuDad. He is also the creator of DearMishu, a social media influencer based on his dog. N.G. has over 15 years of B2B and B2C marketing experience and is a frequent conference speaker and panelist. Recent appearances include the NC IDEA 2019 Summer Series (Durham), Mobile Growth Summit (San Francisco and NYC), Influential Summit (San Diego), and the Influencer Marketing Awards (London).