Let’s be real, the influencer marketing game changes faster than a trending TikTok sound, but too many marketers are still stuck in the past. In some cases, we see outdated tactics being applied in a changing environment, but most often these errors stem from unrealistic expectations and widespread misconceptions about influencer marketing in general. But don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Let’s break down the top mistakes we see brands making so you can steer clear of them and start crushing your influencer marketing goals. Whether you’re a marketer, influencer, or business owner, this list will serve up the insights you need to level up your strategy and stay ahead of the pack.

10. Giving up if it doesn’t “work” on the first try

An enormous amount of first-time users of influencer marketing seem to expect immediate and spectacular results when their first creator post goes live. They often end up disappointed when the results don’t materialize. This is a common mistake in the creator space, and it can cause brands to give up before discovering a formula that truly works for them. 

It’s quite rare for brands to find success in a new marketing channel on their first attempt, and a lot of winning strategies end up being the result of many trials and errors over a series of projects. Instead of viewing influencer marketing as a one-time ‘pass or fail’ test, we recommend taking a long-term approach. Be prepared to work with multiple creators across several campaigns and pivot your approach based on recent learnings before drawing conclusions. 

It can take many touchpoints before a user moves down the marketing funnel and makes a purchase, so it’s essential to give your influencer activation or program the time and budget required to succeed. 

9. Forgetting to amplify with paid media

A common mistake we still see is expecting organic reach to carry an entire influencer campaign by itself. Going viral is a rare (and often random) occurrence, and having a post “blow up” on TikTok’s recommendation algorithm doesn’t guarantee that you’ll reach your intended audience or achieve your campaign objectives. 

A better approach is to amplify your influencer content with paid media to guarantee delivery to your intended audience. Platforms like Meta and TikTok offer targeting abilities that are still unparalleled when it comes to criteria like demographics, geographies, and psychographics, while organic influencer audiences are often scattered across many locations and won’t overlap perfectly with your brand’s core audience profile. Putting paid amplification behind an influencer’s social media handle is the best way to ensure full delivery against your core audience in these situations.

If an influencer you are working with happens to go viral and reach a massive audience, that’s a great bonus, but the success of your campaign won’t depend on it. As a side note, amplifying influencer content with paid media can also help to lower the average cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) of your campaign. Many influencers are compensated for content creation as much as the organic impressions they generate, whereas every dollar you spend on paid media directly increases your impression count.

TLDR: amplify with paid media!

8. Cheaping out on talent

The famous saying, “You get what you pay for,” definitely rings true for influencer marketing activations. In our experience, it can take more time to manage ‘bottom of the barrel’ creators than it’s worth. The ones that do accept the lowest rates rarely give their best work. 

Pinching pennies tends to attract influencers who do not take timelines seriously and/or lack the ability to produce video content that will break through. The end result is low-quality content that gets ignored by social media algorithms and doesn’t stand out in paid ads.

In a dynamic environment where massive amounts of social media content compete for limited opportunities, choosing to work with the lowest-price influencer is often worse than doing nothing at all. Take our word for it. It’s better to find strong creators and give them a reason to prioritize your brand partnership, both now and in the future.

7. Expecting every creator will treat influencer marketing as a full-time job

Contrary to popular belief, many creators do not produce content on a full-time basis. It often ends up being a part-time gig, a side hustle, or a passion project fit in between other responsibilities and aspects of life. Unlike many marketing professionals, this usually isn’t their nine-to-five job.

When brands are not aware of this ahead of time, it can lead to a lot of frustration and surprises around project timelines, speed of delivery, and response times. Some influencers are notorious for informing their brand partners about upcoming travel plans only after they are out of office, and others may struggle to hit deadlines or incorporate feedback in a timely manner. Factors like this can sometimes make influencer marketing feel like herding cats.

Despite some of the challenges of working with creators, influencer marketing remains a massive and highly influential part of modern culture, and many creators are fantastic at what they do. This means it’s important to have realistic expectations when working with influencers and understand that many of them are doing their best to fit your project in between other responsibilities. 

6. Not creating platform-specific content

Every social media platform is different and has its own rules to play by. If you want to expand your campaign’s organic reach, it’s critical to send each platform the signals that its recommendation algorithms want to reward. 

Here are a few examples:

• TikTok thrives on fast, emotional, and fun content designed for a “sound-on” environment, while Meta is all about sharable and watchable content designed for a “sound-off” environment.
   
  
• TikTok likes it when you make use of platform-native trends and editing techniques, while Instagram wants you to meet the aesthetic and quality standards specific to Reels, Feed, or Story placements—think animations, captions, and voiceovers. 
  
  
• Platforms like YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn have their own best practices to follow, but no platform likes it when your captions and overlays are blocking core elements of their in-app interfaces. 
  
  
• Your Instagram Reels shouldn’t contain a TikTok end screen, your TikTok content shouldn’t contain music from the Meta Sound Collection, and you shouldn’t run landscape video content in vertical placements (duh!).

Some platforms let you get away with breaking these platform best practices, at least some of the time, but we always recommend approaching each platform like an expert and creating platform-native content if you are serious about breaking through the clutter.

5. Being rigid or inflexible during campaign execution

It’s been said that plans anchor us but waves don’t care, and this couldn’t be more true for working with influencers. Sometimes creators get sick and have to drop out of a campaign at the last minute. Sometimes a new trend forces a rethink of the entire campaign strategy, or your preferred talent options won’t agree to the terms being offered. Whatever the reason, mid-campaign pivots are a normal aspect of working with influencers and happen all the time. 

We find that successful brands tend to be open to possibilities at all times and embrace an attitude of thinking on their feet. We like to have a roster of alternative influencers ready and will sometimes prepare contingency content to fill gaps left by late deliveries. There are plenty of opportunities in the influencer marketing world, and everything is fixable as long as you are flexible.

4. Not applying enough human element to campaign management

Successful influencer campaigns require more than just automation—they need personalized, thoughtful engagement. While software and AI can help streamline some processes, they can’t replace many critical human tasks involved in properly qualifying creators, managing relationships, or figuring out how to achieve a rushed timeline. Creators themselves often express the need for human interaction, telling us, “I want to talk to a human being,” which speaks to the need to avoid robotic or canned responses where possible. A personal touch is crucial for building trust, fostering collaboration, and ensuring that creators feel valued and understood throughout the partnership.

It’s hard to escape the fact that influencer marketing is labor-intensive, with the typical influencer requiring an average of 17 or more unique points of contact for a 4-8 week campaign. This level of engagement cannot be effectively managed by platforms or AI alone and demands consistent human oversight and communication. Brands that rely too heavily on automation can experience lower response rates because they miss out on the nuances of human interaction that build strong creator relationships. 

Ultimately, influencer marketing is about people, not just data points. Brands that take a human-centric approach tend to see higher engagement and more successful collaborations, while those that rely too much on automation risk appearing detached, which can lead to lower performance and missed opportunities. 

3. Not keeping an open mind with your creator talent pool

The influencer landscape is diverse, with creators of all backgrounds, sizes, and niches offering unique perspectives and the ability to connect with different audiences. When brands narrow their focus to certain types of creators—such as only those with large followings or only those that produce very specific types of content—they can miss out on a lot of potential.

When brands work with a variety of creators—spanning different interests, cultural backgrounds, and content styles—they’re more likely to stand out in crowded social media environments. Unique creators offer distinct storytelling styles and perspectives, which can give campaigns an edge and help brands remain culturally relevant.

Moreover, an open-minded approach to creator talent leads to more innovative, fresh campaigns. In a world where consumers value authenticity and representation, keeping an open mind with your creator talent pool not only allows a brand to better reflect its diverse audience, but also fosters creativity, authenticity, and stronger connections that result in more meaningful engagement.

2. Not keeping up with the speed and nuance of culture

In today’s fast-paced and connected world, popular culture evolves at lightning speed and can change directions suddenly. Digitally native consumers expect brands to be relevant, socially aware, and quick to respond to current trends and issues. Failing to keep up is a major mistake, and brands that lag behind risk being perceived as out-of-touch or worse.

Staying on top of cultural shifts is one of the most prominent challenges with effective influencer marketing, with 28% of brands reporting this as the biggest challenge. When done well, it allows brands to engage in real-time conversations, create viral moments, or build stronger connections with their target audiences and communities. Whether it’s participating in trending challenges on TikTok, using the most up-to-date language around social issues, or adapting to new lifestyle preferences, speed and accuracy matter. 

In short, failing to keep pace with the current cultural zeitgeist is more than a missed opportunity—it can result in long-term damage to brand perception, alienation of key demographics, and missed revenue potential. To stay relevant, brands must remain agile, culturally aware, and consistently plugged into the pulse of their audience.

1. Abandoning social media platforms too soon

The most common mistake we’re seeing brands make lately is not sticking with platforms that are delivering results today out of fear of being on the wrong side of change tomorrow. Leaving a major social media platform too soon, particularly in the face of political uncertainty or social panic, can be shortsighted as it underestimates the lasting cultural and commercial value these platforms can offer.

TikTok, for instance, has faced massive political scrutiny and legal pressures recently. Yet, it remains a powerhouse of influence in American culture with millions of daily active users and nearly as much average monthly time spent per user as Instagram. Walking away from a platform that incubates major cultural trends, shapes conversations, and connects brands with highly engaged audiences before this all plays out may be thinking too many steps ahead.

Facebook, for its part, has managed to weather various political and cultural backlashes that emerged in the late 2010s and now finds itself as the top platform in the US in 2024 by average monthly time spent per user (see eMarketer chart). Many brands looking to connect with established, mainstream audiences would have done well by betting on Facebook instead of worrying about the future of social media.

Don’t leave influencer marketing to chance

Here’s the bottom line: uncertainty? It’s not a roadblock—it’s an open door for brands ready to make bold moves. The influencer marketing industry is a massive space and is set to grow to approximately $24 Billion by the end of 2024. The average US adult is spending over 12 hours per day on media devices, with digital media representing 63.7% of that time, so it’s definitely not too late to jump into the game and start building a long-term influencer marketing strategy. Your audience is on these platforms now, so you should be too.

About the Author

Dan joined AdParlor in 2024 as a Senior Manager and is currently on the Creator team, working with brands like Campbell’s, Slim Chickens, among others. When he’s not planning new influencer activations or advising on growth initiatives, Dan’s more than likely planning his next trip–in fact, he’s been to over 30 countries and counting!