Social media is essential to every successful entrepreneur, so take these three steps to keep engagement high and banish audience burnout! 

And just like that, as soon as we’ve embraced the era of influencer marketing, a troublesome counterpart comes rushing in hot on its designer-clad heels: influencer fatigue. A relatively new phenomenon, influencer fatigue refers to the tiresome response generated by overexposure, typically via social media, to a specific influencer or influencer campaign, thus negatively impacting – or altogether eliminating – its effectiveness.

In other words, influencer fatigue means that, unlike the gloriously head-turning shade of your new favorite jumpsuit, oversaturation isn’t always a good thing.

As underscored by the New York Times' coverage of Tarte's latest lavish influencer trip, the beauty brand’s followers had a “decidedly mixed” response, “…suggesting that they may be suffering from influencer fatigue, a weariness with content that has become the stuff of social media cliché.”

That said, for those who are building a brand, establishing influence is essential. But how do we keep burnout at bay?

“The more you discount the importance of your personal brand presence online, the more people will want discounts from YOU. For a woman entrepreneur seeking to grow her business and boost revenue, it’s absolutely imperative to have a strong social media presence,” says Briana Dai, Creative Director of eWomenNetwork and our go-to influencer marketing guru (pictured above). “That includes taking steps to prevent influencer fatigue as part of your overall social media marketing plan. With this list, it’s as easy as one, two, three.”

3 Steps to Preventing Social Media Influencer Fatigue

1. Incorporate Influencer Fatigue Checkpoints into Your Marketing Plan

“We’re dealing with a digital environment where people have disappearing attention spans,” says Tammy Valentine, President of LuckyTamm Digital Marketing and an expert in cultivating online audiences that stick. “There’s always a natural bell curve fall-off, so add points into your content marketing plan for refreshers.” Though audiences vary, a good rule of thumb is to refresh your content every 6 – 8 weeks to prevent social media influencer fatigue.

2. Create and Deploy Disruptive, Thumb-Stopping New Content

Next, it’s all about rolling out fresh content with your anti-fatigue checkpoints in mind. This alternate content should disrupt your account’s typical look and feel to create a ‘thumb-stopping’ effect as your audience scrolls their feeds. “As you’re shooting pictures, filming video or creating graphics, be mindful of creating that scroll-stopping diversity,” says Dai. “This could mean swapping your standard suit for a stunning sequined blazer or setting your next video at a beautiful park instead of in your living room. Whispering into the camera, instead of talking, or doing different actions such as playing with your cute pups or making a cocktail can also be fun. As always, though, remember to stay in line with your established brand standards.”

3. Monitor Social Media Engagement on a Daily Basis

Moving forward, keep in mind that pre-planned benchmarks and banked content don’t completely eliminate the threat of audience burnout. Influencer fatigue can sneak up when you least expect it, so don’t sleep on tracking your likes, comments, shares and DMs across all your social media accounts. When you see one or more of these key types of engagement take a significant dip, it may be time for a refresh – whether it’s scheduled, or not.

Want more tips to help boost revenue and grow your business? Plug into the power of the #1 Business Community for Women Entrepreneurs: Join eWomenNetwork today!