5 mistakes to avoid when launching a TikTok influencer campaign

On the social network TikTok, influencer marketing is proving to be an extremely effective marketing technique for brands.

With overa billion monthlyactive users, TikTok is the place where every marketer wants and needs to be.

In other words, the platform represents incredible opportunities for growth. You're probably thinking of successful brands that have gone viral through a collaboration with a TikTok influencer or multiple content creators.

One of the reasons why the TikTok app is a platform to leverage for your influencer strategies is that 65% of TikTok users like it when a creator posts about a brand or product.

It's also important to know that Generation Z represents almost half (42% aged 18-24) of TikTok users. This demographic, also trusts influencers more than traditional ads. So, if you're looking to target Generation Z, influencer marketing on TikTok is the way to go.

But it's important to understand the mechanics of influence, and collaborations with influencers to succeed in your campaigns on TikTok .

Some mistakes can cost you!

But don't worry! By the end of this article, you'll know exactly what mistakes not to make when launching an influencer campaign on TikTok.

Do not define campaign objectives

We start with the first unforgivable mistake in your influencer marketing strategy on TikTok is not defining strategic goals.

Although it may seem obvious, many marketers forget this crucial step, especially for a launch on the TikTok social network. As a result, they end up spending a lot of money for mediocre performance without even knowing what they really wanted to achieve and therefore without being able to analyze their results effectively.

The goal is for your ROI (return on investment) to be as high as possible. And for that, of course, you need to define precise objectives to reach for your influencer marketing campaign.

Here are the main goals related to influencer marketing that you can consider:

→ Increase its visibility

One of the reasons to use a TikTok influencer is simply to get the word out about your brand, services or products. The influencer will be able to create a video to post on their account to tell their audience about your brand, and link back to your TikTok account or website.

→ Increase your conversion rate

A campaign on TikTok whose objective is to have a good conversion rate generally means increasing its sales. The goal is to acquire customers, via a spontaneous speech carried by the creators. In this case, it is not only about redirecting to your site, but rather about talking about a product, and referring to the product page to facilitate the purchase. You can integrate a promotional code system to convert a maximum.

→ Gain notoriety

If your goal is simply to make yourself known, so that a maximum of users subscribe to your TikTok account, your objective is notoriety. This is often a particularly long term strategy, since the idea is to position yourself as a reference in your sector with a maximum of audience.

→ Improve its brand image

Influencing is also a way to give another image to your brand. If you want to talk about certain values specific to your brand, influence can also be a way to convey strong messages.

Once you have clearly determined the reasons why you want to set up an influencer marketing campaign on TikTok, you will be able to more easily start the different activations necessary to carry them out and measure their performance. Once you've set the goals you want to achieve, you'll be able to define key performance indicators (KPIs), and thus know how successful your campaign is.

Do not make original content in TikTok

If you've made the choice to be on the TikTok platform as a brand, it's because you're ready to unleash your quirkiness, humor and creativity. An influencer strategy with videos that don 't look like TikTok content has no chance of performing. The whole point of using influencers is to produce content that will blend into the famous Pour Toi feed. If the videos don't follow the TikTok codes, the performance will suffer.

Do not activate the right TikTok influencers

A third equally important, and probably the most common for an influencer marketing strategy, is not to activate the right influencers. A key element because in many cases it determines the results of the campaign.

To do this, you must carefully identify the KOL (Key Opinion Leader) you choose to activate. He must be related to your brand, to your values or, at least, involved in the same sector as you. Also take into account his interaction with his community and his engagement on his content.

You can imagine, certainly, but choosing the wrong influencer can lead your brand to very low performance on the TikTok platform, but also damage your reputation on the platform.

When choosing an influencer for a collaboration, be sure to open their TikTok profile to dive into their world and previously shared content. And ask yourself this question: is this the right person to represent my brand?

Our expert advice for choosing the right KOL (Key Opinion Leader) is to create an "ideal influencer" checklist and follow it.

For example:

→ Designer values, to match your brand values.

→ Influencer's relationship with your brand - for example, if they are a long-term user/consumer.

→ Subscriber demographics (gender, age, location) - to match your brand's target audience.

→ Quality of their content and its commitment.

Focus only on macro-influencers

No doubt you'll be tempted to seek out TikTok's biggest celebrities and influencers for your next influencer marketing campaign. Imagining your product in the hands of Charlie d'Amelio (who has 147 million subscribers on TikTok) and presenting it to such a large audience is bound to make you dream.

But you would be wrong to assume that a larger audience always equals a better result. Very large influencers are bound to be very expensive. Moreover, their audience being large, it does not guarantee that your target is there. It will in any case be diluted among people who are definitely not your target. 

This strategy is only really coherent if you have a goal of notoriety.

Do not use nano and micro-influencers

Micro-influencers are an incredibly smart choice for marketing campaigns with a niche target audience. Their smaller audiences (less than 200k-500k subscribers maximum) often result in higher engagement rates than macro or mega-influencers. This is because they will be more likely to interact with their community, establishing a closer bond. 

Micro-influencers have an average engagement rate of nearly 18%. TikTok is therefore the best platform to create a community and an engaged audience around your brand. And micro-influencers are not to be overlooked for the best possible ROI, since their audience is often highly engaged.

Do not trust influencers

In a TikTok influencer campaign, it's important to give influencers creative freedom.

Don't impose too strict instructions or guidelines on designers, or an overly promotional message. You risk limiting what makes them strong. But above all, you will reduce the impact of your campaign, because their community will suspect that it is a sponsored message, and will therefore consume it with distrust.

After all, influencers know their community much better. They know best how to tell them about your product or brand.

To avoid this mistake in your TikTok influencer campaign, share a clear brief about your collaboration . But avoid defining rules that could constrain them in their content creation.

If you have taken care to select one content creator rather than another, it is certainly because you prefer his universe and his aura. So trust him!

To avoid a collaboration that lacks authenticity, give him creative freedom in the realization of the campaign and the content. His publications will bein line with what he usually produces on his TikTok account.

Do not think long term

Finally, it is important to keep in mind that an influence campaign should not be a "one-shot".

As part of an Influence Marketing collaboration , it is necessary to create a special relationship with the content creators you have activated.

Build a relationship between them and your brand based on authenticity, transparency and meaning: they will be more likely to create engaging and authentic content.

Share with them why you chose them and convey your motivation for this collaboration. You will see that their involvement in your campaign will multiply and they will find it easier to communicate about your brand to their community.

Not taking advantage of the opportunity that influencer marketing offers

All in all, influencer campaigns can be an incredible marketing opportunity if you know how to set it up on the platform. But you have to keep in mind that it can be double-edged.

The purpose of influence is to reach larger or smaller audiences, and if your campaign is not well thought out, it can really hurt you.

Take the time to set up your influence strategy before launching yourself, and if you have any doubts, or need a helping hand, do not hesitate to contact an influence agency like Sleeq!