Digital marketing in the age of social media influencer has changed a lot. As social media has become a more intimate aspect of our lives, a massive boom in influencer marketing has been noted.
It allows common people to become a full-time blogger or influencer and transform their image into their own brand. In fact, social media influencers have become the norm of digital marketing.
Here are some surprising statistics that are enough to show you the power of influencers.
- The influencer marketing worth $9.7 billion as of 2020.
- More than 70% of teenagers trust internet influencers than traditional celebrities.
- 45% of American women agree that they take advice for purchasing from influencer posts.
- Overall, 49% of consumer purchases are affected by influencer recommendations.
- The speediest strategy for online customer acquisition is influencer marketing, according to 22% of marketers.
- An overwhelming 57% of beauty brands are dependent on influencer marketing.
Q: Who is an influencer?
A: It’s the person you can trust.
By definition, an influencer is an individual who posts content that gets shared within their networks. This person has the power to move ideas to their own followers and beyond.
If you already know how a single tweet from Kardashian half-sister wiped out $1.3 million from Snapchat’s market value, then you probably know what I am talking about.
Moral of the story: social media influencers can put your business high in the sky or can make your brand drop in value overnight.
How social media influencers can make digital marketing campaigns attractive
Here are some interesting factors that perfectly explain why you should be choosing influencers for your next digital marketing campaign and how this strategy will work for engaging more target audience.
1. Helps in reaching out to the right audience
Basically, influencers are famous celebrities, public figures, and industry leaders who have the capability to influence the behavior or change the perception of masses. Because of their popularity, influencers have millions of followers in real life and on social media accounts.
Marketers already have a robust understanding of the people they should be targeting for their brand. To tap the ideal segment, you need to dig deeper and research about the types of blogs they are interested in, tweeters they follow, and even memes the share.
So, what’s in it for you?
Influencers know their audience exactly. They truly relate to common and keep it real as much as they can so that they can earn their trust organically.
When brands co-create content with influencers, it gets shared with their fan community.
Through influencers, you can reach out to the people you’re looking for instantly.
2. Build trust and credibility instantly
There’s no better marketing tactic that drives high sales than positive word-of-mouth. However, word-of-mouth marketing in the current digital world is quite different than it was a decade ago.
Do you know that only 1% of millennials trust TV advertisements? The reason is simple. Today’s educated consumers mistrust advertising and cast doubt upon business transparency and honesty.
Consumers trust people!
Young generation trust influencers more than branded ads of a company. They are easy to access social media and part of a tightly-knit community.
Guess what? Their lack of fame and this is something that makes them more influential. They are normal people who your target audience can relate to on a personal level.
To put it simply, companies can win over the trust of their consumers by collaborating with influencers. When their followers see an influencer post mentioning your brand, it automatically improves your brand recall value and builds social trust.
3. Drives better ROI
Do you know that influencer marketing can drive a stunning return on investment?
Better reach = better ROI
If you’re looking for the most direct way to reach millions of online users, then try influencer marketing.
Last year, 57% of marketing experts announced that they’d increase their influencer marketing budgets by 2020.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, for every $1 expenditure on influencers, the brands receive an ROI if $5.78. Moreover, blogs posted by influencers are proven to drive 11 times higher ROI than banner ads.
This is the solid proof behind the growing confidence in influencer marketing.
4. The power of video
Where do you think the most commanding influencers to the business?
A survey of influencers shows that Instagram is the supreme choice of platform for influencer marketing, followed by Facebook and YouTube.
The principal factor behind choosing Instagram is ‘VIDEO’. And that is why more and more brands are using Instagram stories for business growth.
It has been noted that the most effective content types used by influencers are the Instagram story, YouTube and Instagram video (Mediakix).
On the flip side, consumers like video content more than static images. Almost 54% of customers expect video content from brands they support.
Why should brands add video in their digital-influencer marketing strategy?
With influencers, the main product you are trading is trust.
Because masses trust their truthfulness, they are often known as tastemakers or thought leaders. Their authentic endorsements can boost your brand credibility, especially when people can actually see your product used by them in the video.
In addition to this, 97% of marketers say that they use video because it enables brands to ensure that consumers understand their products. Plus, 83% of people agree that they share educational videos within their social network.
Ever watched smartphone unboxing video?
Lewis Hilsenteger is a top Canadian tech Instagram influencer with 2100000 Instagram followers. On his YouTube account ‘Unbox Therapy’ he posts videos where he unboxes latest smart gadgets, phone, and tech gear and provides genuine feedback. A lot of new influencers are using Google trends to make their YouTube videos.
So, Yes, I am a loyal Apple customer, but I still watch his videos.
5. Boost search ranking
The algorithm of digital marketing has upgraded multiple times. Keyword optimization alone isn’t enough for boosting search ranking. One of the biggest myths is that the first page of Google is reserved for multinational businesses.
This isn’t true. AI-enabled search engines like prioritize user intent and upload the relevant results on the first page. So, it is possible for small website owners to boot search ranking and generate high site traffic by creating valuable content, keeping in mind user intent.
How to achieve this with influencer marketing?
When businesses partner with influencers for reviews and feedback about their products, it helps them earn high-quality links which improve search ranking and drive traffic to their site and social media pages.
6. Pump up your content strategy
We all know that better content means higher user engagement and favorable outcomes. But do you know that you can do this all with influencer marketing?
Yes, it’s true.
Take some inspiration from Hallmark that sells greeting cards and ornament gifts. The company used influencer marketing for the first time for its 2016 Christmas season to promote its new line of keepsake ornaments.
The company targeted family-friendly Instagrammers who like to share their holiday moments with the outside world. The influencers posted candidate glimpses with their kids using the hashtag #keepsakeIt with a link to purchase the Hallmark’s products.
Here’s an Instagram post shared by a micro-influencer:
Following are the ways in which you can improve your digital content marketing strategy by working closely with influencers:
- It increases the content’s reach.
- Co-creating content with influencers enhances brand credibility. It also enhances the participation of influencers in your brand-specific content.
- Live branded campaigns enhance user engagement through live questions, comments, and shares. For example, collaborate with influencers to announce a special deal or new product variant by going live on Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat.
Take some inspiration from the beauty brand Benefit Cosmetics. The brand runs a weekly live session every Thursday with the name ‘Tipsy Tricks’. You expect to see many beauty bloggers and vloggers that share makeup techniques and beauty tips to online commenters.
7. High-quality leads
With influencer marketing, you can drive quality leads. Here’s how.
By integrating the influencer marketing strategy in your social-digital marketing strategy, you can flip the funnel of influence.
A traditional influencer creates a funnel that has a wide top meaning that he can provide you with numerous leads and slowly filter down to few sales opportunities. For example, a social media star with a large following can share your brand with their followers.
But, it is possible that few or majority of them would not be interested in the brand. Your brand will get exposure, but you’ll make very few sales.
But if you see the influencer marketing funnel, the exact opposite will happen.
8. Helps you build an emotional connection
Creating an everlasting an emotional bond with the target audience is one of the hardest things for marketers, especially in the existing competitive business environment where everyone is freaking out over likes and shares.
According to a report writing service UK, brands that successfully build an emotional connection with their target audience are more likely to experience high brand loyalty. When people feel emotionally connected to a brand, they are not there just for the product. Plus, marketing emotions makes brand memorable even when you no longer buy it.
Do you still remember those days when you watch funny m&ms advertisements on TV?
Emotions: A critical factor in purchase decision making
According to a marketing study, 56% of the final decisions that a human brain makes are based on emotional factors. The emotional likeability is critical for driving sales.
If your target audience views your company’s ad and experiences positive emotions, the chances are high that they’ll buy the product.
See the following example. An influencer mom posted a cute review for Joe Fresh that clearly shows that she’s been buying the same brand since her boy was born.
9. Streamlining emotional marketing with influencer marketing
Here are some effective tips that you can use to build emotional engagement with the right influencers.
· Don’t contact big influencers
It’s not because you are a start-up, but because high exposure doesn’t necessarily help you build emotional ties. Tapping beaming personality is a great idea if you just want your brand to become vital, but for building emotional engagement, it is a big NO from me.
· Create adorable content
Create content that is relevant to the audience and evoke emotions. Let’s talk about using pets in influencer marketing.
According to the National Pet Owners Survey (2015-2016), almost 65% of US homeowners own a pet. The web is filled with funny pet-theme social media content.
A post like this will instantly create an emotional bond.
10. Good influencer marketing drive action
If you learn only one thing from this post, try to retain this very important guidance from the American writer Jay Baer: ‘true influence drives action, not just awareness’.
If your target audience is not taking the desired action, there’s something missing.
To ensure that your audience takes action, you first need to understand actionability. In simple words, it is the ability of the influence to cause action by their followers.
The key to drive actionability is to develop a deeper understanding of the target audience. This will help brands to pick blog titles, topics, and insta captions that the audience will like. This comes naturally when your chosen influencer is contextually aligned with your target individuals and your brand.
Some tips to help you with this:
- Create an influencer persona: Imagining a picture of your desired influencer in your mind will help you choose the right one. Answer this: who are you looking for? A socialite, an industry expert, a change agent, a fitness freak, or someone with a great sense of humor?
Do you think that the charming celebrity next to a potato peeler or a washing machine actually uses these products?
Imagine beauty brand Dove (promoter of real beauty) casting Rodrigo, also known as real Ken Doll for their upcoming advertisement. Please note that he has undergone 103 cosmetic surgeries worth $512,784.
It’s a total mismatch.
- Contextual fit: A software company using Kardashians with their millions of followers is unlikely to drive sales. So, both reach and contextual fit are important. If you run a health and fitness brand, then you can reach out to celebrities and people with a healthy lifestyle.
11. Beware of Irrelevant influencers
Why am I discussing it here?
Influencer marketing is a top-selling strategy, but working with wrong influencers can do more harm than good. When I say ‘irrelevant influencers’, I don’t mean only micro-influencers, but also superstars as well if they’re not fit for the brand or passionate about this job.
If you genuinely follow celebrity influencer marketing, then you must have an idea about Scott Disick Instagram post about Bootea Shake.
Bootea, a UK based fitness and detox products brand, partnered with small and big influencers to promote its products. Established in 2012, the brand’s goal was to create products that help people achieve their health fitness goals naturally.
It can be clearly seen that the brand partnered with Disick and asked him to make a post promoting the brand at 4 pm (US time). How do I know that? Check his Instagram caption. He mistakenly copied the whole content as it is.
It is evidently a bad influencer marketing example.
How to find the right social media influencer?
Here are some important details that’ll help you find the right influencer and develop good relations with them.
· Check influencer authenticity
Do they have loyal followers?
You need to understand that every famous social media person is not an influencer. You need to recognize expert people in your niche who have authentic followers and high engagement rates.
By this, I mean that that the follower accounts shouldn’t be fake. Plus, you can check the engagement rates by checking the number of likes, shares, comments, and retweets.
· Consistency in partnership
Make sure that you create a long-term relationship with your influencers because it’ll strengthen the trust in your brand. The audience will also realize that the influencer is loyal to the brand because the brand is valuable.
Moreover, the consistent collaboration also makes marketing less like a paid campaign and more like something real. Isn’t it genius?
· Compensate Influencers
If your influencers are spreading good things about your brand, they need to be compensated well. If it is not in terms of financially, then there are other things you can do for them in return.
Here are some ways to compensate them:
- Shout outs
- Giveaway
- Discounts and coupons
- Commission
The key takeaway
Without a doubt, influencer marketing is a winning strategy for all concerned marketers. Influencers have the approval of millions of social media followers.
The latest studies and survey results included in this posts are a proof that today’s consumers are more likely to buy a certain product if it recommended by a non-celebrity influencer with high engagement rates and organic followers.
Author bio
Samantha Kaylee is the Head of Digital Marketing Team at Dissertation Assistance. She has multiple years of experience in content creation and digital strategy execution. She is passionate about home plants, pets, and travelling with her kids. Get in touch with her on LinkedIn for special advice.
