How influencer marketing actually grows your brand. (It’s not about instant sales)
- SZN Social
- Jul 14
- 4 min read
If you’ve ever said “We tried influencer marketing and it didn’t work. We didn’t get any sales,”
This article is for you.
Because chances are?
It did work.
You just didn’t understand what it was actually doing.
What you'll learn in this article:
The roles influencer marketing plays in the marketing funnel
Why influencer marketing isn't really for instant sales
How to leverage influencer marketing to grow your brand.
The Marketing Funnel explained (and what brand's get wrong)
A common misconception is that you pay an influencer, they post once, and boom, instant sales.
But that’s not how marketing (or human behaviour) works.
“There is no time where someone sees one piece of content and buys immediately.”
Every customer goes through the 'Buyer's Journey' which requires a Marketing Funnel:
Top of funnel (TOF): discovery and brand awareness
Middle of funnel (MOF): consideration, learning, evaluating options
Bottom of funnel (BOF): trust content, final nudges to convert
If you expect influencer content to do all three at once, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
How influencers fit into The Marketing Funnel
Despite popular belief, influencer marketing is actually most commonly a top of funnel strategy.
It’s about getting your brand seen by new potential customers, who fit your target audience and trust that influencer's recommendations.
These are people who didn't know you existed before and who would be very hard for you to reach organically on your own.
You need to reach them, influencers are a very effective method to do that.
“If you’re a new brand, your influencer campaigns are all Top of Funnel. The goal is awareness, not immediate sales.”
Sometimes it also acts as middle of funnel content, helping warm up people who’ve heard of you but aren’t sure yet.
And very occasionally it’s bottom of funnel, nudging people already on the edge to finally buy.
But expecting a single influencer post to do all of that at once?
Highly unrealistic.
Why your influencer campaign isn't generating sales
You might think influencer marketing doesn’t work because your last campaign didn’t instantly generate orders.But here’s what’s more likely happening.
It drove awareness, not direct conversions. They're fulfilling the Top of Funnel (making people aware of you) which is absolutely vital to ultimately generating sales but is only the first touch point. The consumer still needs to be guided through the rest of the funnel, which requires more content.
Your own channels didn’t finish the job. the influencer is fulfilling the Top of Funnel and bringing traffic to your socials/website but that means channels need to cover Middle of Funnel and Bottom of Funnel. If you're not doing that effectively? You won't get the conversions.
“If your influencer nailed their part but you’re still not getting sales, it’s likely your own channels aren’t fulfilling the funnel.”
A lot of brands fail to recognise the role their own channels and content play in the success or failure of their influencer campaigns.
The influencer content is only one part of the broader Marketing Funnel that the consumer will go through.
After seeing the influencer content, people will then go to your socials and website looking for additional detailed info and trust signals.
If it's not there?
They'll drop off
The Buyer's Journey also isnt instant. It can take days, weeks, months or years depending on where they're at in their need/desire and the type of product.
If you fail to keep them engaged and continue re-targeting them over time?
They'll never become customers.
The responsibility to complete The Marketing Funnel and get the conversions lies with the brand, not the influencer.
How to Actually Drive Sales with Influencer Marketing
Use influencers strategically:
New brand? Focus on top of funnel.
Established brand with warm audiences? Use influencers for middle or bottom of funnel trust content.
Make sure your house is in order:
Have your website, social profiles, FAQs, reviews, and UGC ready to do the heavy lifting.
Ensure your content answers questions, builds trust, and nudges them to convert.
Make sure you're re-targeting and nurturing warm leads over time and keeping them engaged.
Understand it’s a journey:
“Early on, the funnel needs more content, more touch points, and more time because people don’t trust you yet.”
It might take days, weeks or even months, and dozens of touch points before someone buys.
That’s absolutely normal.
Marketing and growth is a machine with lots of moving parts.
It takes time to get it up and running but once it's going, the momentum will help to keep it humming along
(so long as you continue to create strategic marketing and fulfil The Marketing Funnel)
Influencer Marketing is Brand Growth, Not Just Sales
If you’re searching “how to grow my brand on social media”
Or “why influencer marketing isn’t driving sales,”
Know this:
Influencer marketing builds awareness and trust.
It gets people into your funnel so you can sell to them.
Your content and website then have to finish the job.
Want a done-for-you influencer strategy that actually drives results?
Or a social media & growth strategy that turns followers into customers?
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