Influencer marketing is much more than a buzzword. It is an $8 billion industry that is growing rapidly. There are tons of influencers in every niche and on every social media platform. But what is influencer marketing and why does it matter so much?
Marketing has changed over the years. From mass marketing to data-driven marketing, it is all about building relationships with your customers. Advertisements that don’t have any emotional appeal are least liked by consumers. Only 1% of millennials trust advertisements while 40% of people reported that they purchased a product after seeing an influencer using it.
This shows the trend, right?
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy where you partner with an influencer who has the potential to influence the buying decision of your target market. Followers take recommendations from people they follow seriously. And this is how businesses reach their audience via influencers.
Audible reached 132 million people with its influencer marketing campaign. It partnered with several influencers to target different audiences. Grace Helbig, for example, was one of the influencers in the campaign and she posted a video on her YouTube channel that has more than 428K views:
Why does Audible have to use Grace to reach its target audience?
This is because Grace has more than 2 million subscribers who follow her, inspired by her, and take her recommendations seriously. She controls their buying decisions.
This is what influencer marketing is about: Leveraging an influencer’s power to reach your target audience.
Why Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing has a lot of perks that you don’t usually get with other marketing types. And these perks make it a preferred choice of businesses. Here are the key benefits and reasons why you must consider it:
- Credible and trustworthy
- Extremely targeted
- Easy setup
- Cost-effective
- It delivers.
1. Credibility and Trust
The majority of people don’t trust advertising and marketing content. They’re of the view that advertisements don’t reflect reality. This is a reason why 42.7% of internet users use ad blockers. The mistrust in marketing and advertising compels businesses to switch to a trustworthy marketing channel.
And when it comes to trustworthy marketing, nothing beats influencer marketing.
As much as 92% of consumers trust recommendations from influencers and they’ll prefer recommendations from people they don’t know over branded content:
In fact, 63% of consumers trust influencers more than what the brand says about itself:
If you want to deliver your marketing messages to your target audience without getting ignored, you must use influencers. People trust what influencers say about a brand and this is the whole idea of using influencers: Making others do marketing for you.
2. Extremely Targeted
It is a highly targeted form of marketing. You know the influencer, type of people who follow him/her, expected reach, and several other variables that are mostly unknown in other marketing types.
Importantly, you can target a specific group of people. All you have to do is find the people your target audience follows.
For example, if you want to reach gamers, the best way is to hire a gaming influencer preferably on Twitch. You can find the right influencer for your campaign through a leading influencer marketing platform.
These platforms show you detailed statistics and insights of the influencers. Here is an example:
You’ll see the demographics of the audience of the influencers making it easier for you to precisely target the type of people you want to.
3. Easy Setup
The best thing about influencer marketing is that it is easy to set up. Finding the right influencer is a hard part but once you have the influencer, the rest is pretty much straightforward.
Here is how it works:
- Find an influencer
- Partner with the influencer
- Share campaign details
- The influencer shares your content, image, etc.
- Track and repeat.
Influencers mostly work on a per post basis and will charge you a fixed price per post. For example, nano-influencers charge between $10-$100 per Instagram post while mega-influencers charge $10K+ per Instagram post.
So, it is all about a post. No setup required. No need to use complicated tools.
4. Cost-Effective
Yes, it is cost-effective.
You’ll end up paying far less than what you are spending at your PPC network now. Importantly, you pay for results in the case of influencer marketing such as engagement, video views, or post views.
The best part: You can bargain.
There are no fixed rates. There is no bidding. You can discuss and negotiate the price. A study found that influencer marketing is the most cost-effective marketing channel:
There is something for everyone when it comes to influencer marketing. Even if you have a limited budget, you can still find several nano-influencers who will be ready to work with you.
5. It Delivers
Not only is it cost-effective but influencer marketing delivers big time.
Research shows that influencer marketing has a phenomenal ROI. Businesses, on average, earn $5.20 per $1 spent on influencer marketing:
This is far better than most of the other marketing channels. As much as 89% of marketers say that influencer marketing ROI is comparable or better than other marketing channels:
It delivers both in terms of quantity and quality. The engagement, trust, and conversions you generate are better or comparable to any other marketing channel.
Why?
Because you aren’t selling yourself rather someone else is pitching your products. And this is what makes the difference.
Final Words
More than half of the world’s population is using social media making it one of the most-used marketing channels in the world. There is no better time than now to use influencer marketing to reach and connect with your target audience.
You know what is influencer marketing and why your business desperately needs it. Take action. Hunt for a suitable influencer in your niche who controls the buying behavior of your target audience. Or, one whose recommendations are taken seriously by your ideal customers.
Reach out to him/her. Negotiate price per post. Place your order. And analyze results.
That’s how simple it is.
Featured Image: Pexels
