Influencer marketing is a branch of marketing that hires individuals that are popular and highly respected among their specific niche to endorse their brands.
Influencer marketing is not a new phenomenon but has become very popular in the social media landscape over the last few years. Over 80% of brands are investing tremendously in this type of marketing in 2021.
Influencer marketing is a viable and relevant social media marketing strategy because influencers are not just individuals who post on social media, they are original content creators such as bloggers, celebrities, media personalities and journalists. With the use of influencers businesses can create unique promotions and social media campaigns to increase brand awareness and grow their businesses.
Here are 3 reasons why influencer marketing works:
It is well documented that word-of-mouth is the most effective marketing strategy for decades, since consumers trust the opinions of their friends, family and celebrities more than any other type of advertising. When influencers endorse brands among their target audience marketers can use this customer psychology strategy to leverage reach and convert leads to actual paying customers
Increase Brand Awareness – Since the advent of social media traditional advertising has become far less effective in generating leads and attracting new customers. Consumers, especially the 18-29 age group are the largest social media users, and more people use social media to fulfill their news, information and entertainment needs among social interaction with friends and family more than any other media.
When thought leaders give their opinions or encourage their audiences to use products or services that they use this is a major endorsement for companies. Since influencers are seen as experts among their niches and hence, there recommendations are highly regarded.
Influencers generally have large numbers of loyal and dedicated followers on social media that they enjoy exciting and meaningful engagement with. Therefore, brands that they endorse usually receive amazing results. Research shows that 60% of consumers make their purchase decisions due to recommendations made by influencers on social media.
The three main types of influencers are: micro – less than 10 thousand followers, macro-10 thousand – one million followers, and mega – one million followers. Hence, businesses that include influencer marketing as their main social media marketing strategy stand to grow their audience tremendously when they leverage audience feedback such as likes, comments and shares with effective content creation by influencers – since they understand their audiences and know what type of content they are interested in. These insights also help marketers to be more informed about their consumers so that they can implement better strategies to improve sales, marketing and product development, in order to convert leads to paying customers and maximize return on investment (RIO).
While the concept is not new, more and more businesses are investing in influencer marketing as an effective marketing strategy in the digital business environment.
Influencer marketing is the way to go because it uses strategies such as word-of-mouth advertising and social proof which are very critical to any social media marketing plan in the 21st century and beyond.
Additionally, Influencers provide innovative and effective approaches for brand awareness, advertising and product endorsement since they are not just regular social media users but celebrities and bloggers with large numbers of loyal followers who hold their recommendations in high regard.
Any investment in influencer marketing is an investment worth making as businesses stand to drastically increase brand awareness, customer base and realize their overall sales and marketing goals.
For more information on how to grow your small business on social media please leave comments below.
Caren Waugh is the CEO of CW Media Consultants, a proven communications and social media strategist, blogger, and print media contributor who helps small businesses to create brand awareness, strengthen customer relations, and shape their online marketing endeavors with winning social media strategies.
