We’ve talked a lot about best practices for creating engaging content. Those were for the influencers tuning in. As you know, REP is not just for influencers—it’s for brands, too. We built the app in order to create a free market for both influencers and brands to find one another and collaborate on great campaigns. But here in our blog, we’ve yet to really address the brand. So let’s make up for that here and now.

There are pros and cons to influencer marketing. We broke them down in a way that should help put ease your mind with regards to the task in front of you. We get it, the marketing and advertising world is evolving and most of us are playing catch up while trying to do our jobs. But fear not—we wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t address the cons (not just list them for you, but try to turn them into pros).


Pros:

1) Very Cost Effective – Influencer marketing is extremely cost effective. The reason why is because you don’t need to spend 100K+ on an ad in Vogue in order to make a splash. Through REP, you set the price; you find the partner and negotiate the terms. Whether you want to spend more on one influencer with a large fan-base, or a bunch of influencers with more modest ones—that’s up to you! (You might want to read our blog about micro influencers.)

2) Highly Engaged Users – The whole thing about marketing and advertising is that you’re trying to rope people in …and you’re not sure who is paying attention. Think of a billboard put up on a busy street. It could be the snazziest one in the world, but people are driving, or listening to the radio, or swiping on their phones; you have no idea if they’re paying attention. The reason why influencer marketing is so incredibly powerful is because you’re creating content for a captive audience. These users are highly engaged and ready to consume what you’re putting in front of them.

3) Niche Targeting – This is more of an addendum to the first to on this list. Yes, the users are engaged—but with the data (especially the ones broken down by REP) you can locate that specific sect of people meant to you use your product or brand. Whether is in the beauty or fashion categories—or athletics, it doesn’t matter. REP breaks it down for you.

4) Burst Effects – This is just a matter of fact. You, brand, will know the effects of your campaign almost immediately. As social media apps tend to revel in the ephemeral, engagement is measured in real time. If there was a misstep (perhaps the wrong selection of an influencer), you’ll know right away through poor engagement. Conversely, your campaign could go gangbusters and begin trending immediately.

5) Scale – This goes back to point one (and even our blog post about Micro Influencers). You can grow your campaign as you wish. Work within your budget and scale this without increasing CPIs (Cost Per Impression).

Now let’s get to the cons.

Cons:

1) Measurement – Remember that analogy we gave you involving that billboard? Through that campaign, it’d be impossible to measure its reach. i.e. How many people bought the product after seeing that billboard? God only knows. Through REP, this point is no longer a con. We provide you with the data to analyze your campaigns reach. Problem solved. Move this point up to the Pros list.

2) Difficult Getting Started – This one is on you, brands. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink. We’ve built the tools for you; made it so it shouldn’t be so ominous. Take a deep breath, make yourself some calming tea, open up our app, and get going.

3) Creative Control – When looking for an influencer, hopefully, you’re looking at more than their respective numbers. If not, PLEASE take a moment to browse their content. Do you vibe with their sensibilities? Make sure you do before you get going because at a certain point you’re going to have to let them do their job. You can wear that Creative Director’s hat, but like we just said—these influencers have to make their post feel authentic to themselves. If not, there’s no point in collaborating. Authenticity is key.

4) Reliability – If you’re a bit worried about being able to trust these influencers, download REP and get to work. We’ve included the ability for brands to rate influencers and influencers to rate brands. This will effectively do away with excuses like “My dog ate it.” Con eradicated.

5) Timing – Social Media doesn’t go to sleep. It’s open all hours and brakes for no man. Keep this in mind when running your campaign. This isn’t really a con, we admit—just something of which to be reminded. Do some research, figure out the best time to post, and share your findings with the influencer (or influencers) you’ve selected. Happy hunting!

(CHARTS! Yours will go up if you listen to what we just wrote)