Whether you spend every spare moment on socialmedia or you can’t stand the sight of it, there’s no doubt that the onlinesocial experience has significantly impacted nearly every person alive at thispoint.
And no wonder. The images and information thatpeople so readily propagate across their social media channels significantly impacts others. It influencesthe thoughts, minds, and reactions of others within your digital space.
But what about social influencers? Is utilizing influencersactually an effective marketing tactic, or is it just another ploy that luresunsuspecting marketers in only to deliver subpar results?
In other words: does influencer marketingactually work?
Influencer Marketing Defined
Of course, the first place to start is bymaking sure everyone is on the same page. What, exactly, is an influencer?
At its very core, an influencer is a personthat influences someone else. Influencers have always been utilized inmarketing, from Uncle Sam to Michael Jordan and beyond. However, ever sinceFacebook launched the modern social media world into prominence back in 2006, the term“influencer” has come to represent something quite different.
An “influencer” is now a person who has afollowing, typically via a blog or a social media platform. They might be acelebrity, politician, or opinion leader with millions of followers. However,they don’t necessarily need a huge following. They might also be amicro-influencer, that is, someone with a following typically between 1,000 and 10,000 followers.
Specifics aside, influencer marketing has cometo represent a powerful part of the marketplace. And that’s not just an emptyclaim. When asked, 89% found the ROI from influencer marketingwas comparable or even better than other marketing options.
This sentiment is matched on the consumer sideas well. For instance, 34% of American daily Instagram users buythings that were recommended through an influencer.
How Influencer Marketing Can BeProfitable
Okay, so the reports claim that influencersare helpful, but how, exactly? Whatis it that sets influencer marketing apart? There are actually a few uniqueperks to using influencers :
- Influencers provide access to a highly-targeted group. Most influencers focus on a niche, and if that niche applies to yourcore target demographic, you have a captive audience already created for yourmessage.
- Influencers influence. Influencers establishthemselves by naturally influencing others. They are goodat creating content and convincing consumers to buy in on a message.
- Influencers positively reinforce your brand from a third partyperspective. While many influencers will balance outtheir reviews with personal preferences and “cons” for the “pros,” on thewhole, they provide an invaluable endorsement for your particular brand andmessage.
Factors like these allow influencers to gentlyand confidently promote a brand or product that they believe in, whichtypically leads to more conversions.
How to Find Influencers
Of course, the natural question that followsis how to find influencers for your particular company. After all, a clothingmodel isn’t necessarily going to be a natural fit for a gaming company. How doyou find the influencers that are right for your particular marketing strategy?Here are a few basic steps that should generally befollowed:
- Find the platforms where your consumers tend to congregate. For instance, a food company would do well on image-heavy Pinterest,whereas a news company might find more success on Twitter, where breakingstories are common and current.
- Look for influencers within your niche.Consider what your niche is — entertainment, construction, marketing, and so on— and then look for popular voices within that industry.
- Consider your marketing budget. Huge sums canbe invested into influencers if you’re not careful. If you have the budget, gofor the macro-influencers — that is, those with millions of followers. If youhave a restricted budget, aim for micro-influencers.
- Size up their content. Don’t just fall for thenumbers and the niche. Make sure an influencer is actually posting the kind ofcontent that you want to be associated with your brand.
- Make contact. Once you’ve identified apotential influencer, start up a conversation geared towards exploring thepossibility of working together. Remember to treat them as peers, notemployees, as respect goes a long way with an influencer. They will berepresenting you, after all.
- Get organized. Finally, make sure that youaddress contracts, payment, expectations, and so on before they start working on promotions.
If you can follow these steps, you can beginto cobble together an army of influencers all beating the drum for yourparticular products or services.
The Future of InfluencerMarketing
Influencer marketing has a bright if ever-evolving future. While most influencer advertising has taken place on Instagram up until now, that platform is currently in the process of removing the like button, which will likely push influencers and influencer marketing budgets out onto other platforms.
In addition, micro-influencers are having a greater impact, and more businesses continue to invest in long-term relationships with influencers as brand ambassadors, rather than simply investing in one-time events or campaigns.
All of this is promising and continues todemonstrate the powerful impact that influencer marketing can have on acompany’s marketing strategy, going forward.
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