The challenges of scaling an influencer marketing program
Internal stalemates can stunt influencer marketing programs from growing beyond the initial phases and delivering groundbreaking results. These are some of the most common challenges when scaling up:
- Budget can be a major stumbling block. Despite 65% of marketers saying they’re very confident in their ability to convey the value of influencer marketing and that their leaders understand the business impact (Q1 2025 Sprout Pulse Survey), they still struggle to secure more resources. Influencer ROI can be more challenging to articulate than other forms of ROI, including organic social—especially if campaigns are focused on brand awareness or loyalty instead of leads, conversions or revenue.
- Inefficient processes slow teams down. According to the Q1 2025 Sprout Pulse Survey, 39% of teams still rely on manual research to find the right influencers for their business. Relying on manual research and campaign management can be tedious and tends to bring momentum to a screeching halt.
- Most brands don’t have a dedicated influencer marketing team. The responsibility of managing influencer relationships and campaigns falls on the shoulders of already overtaxed social teams (or in some cases, paid and digital teams). Even when you unify marketing teams around influencer marketing, it can introduce new collaborative challenges, like disparate influencer communication, and siloed planning and reporting.
It’s imperative to empower meaningful collaboration between teams and external stakeholders by clarifying roles and responsibilities, and using the right processes and tools to reduce manual tasks, promote visibility and unearth meaningful data and insights upon which you can take action.
