Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has revolutionized the way companies now market to their audiences. Influencers, like their name suggests, have a powerful pull with their audience, who are invested in the products they use, as well as their opinions of new products and services. Influencer marketing is a growing platform and will only get larger and more lucrative. For most marketing managers in 2020, influencer marketing is one of the most important aspects of their overall marketing strategy.
Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photography-of-a-woman-listening-to-music-783243/
What Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is when you team up with a relevant influencer, which allows you to connect to your audience in a way that wasn’t possible in the past. Most companies are now turning to influencer marketing because it is effective and a great way to increase your audience engagement.
What Kinds of Businesses Utilize Influencer Marketing?
Most businesses utilize influencer marketing, with nearly three-quarters of all marketers asserting that they allocate funds specifically for influencer marketing. The most difficult part of influencer marketing is finding the correct partner; if you can find a relevant influencer, the marketing is extremely effective.
3 Things You Should Know About Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing Vs. Traditional Marketing
Influencer marketing is usually used in conjunction with traditional marketing. Many agencies dedicated solely to influencer marketing have been popping up, to the tune of nearly 10 new agencies a month!
Influencer marketing is more effective at communicating directly to your audience, in a more effective way than traditional marketing. Influencer marketing improves visibility in a way that doesn’t make people feel like they are being “bought,” whereas with traditional marketing, your audience is keenly aware that they are viewing an ad. 92% of consumers trust people they follow on social media more than a direct advertisement from a brand.
Influencer Marketing is Cost-Effective
Influencer marketing is cost-effective, with most influencers charging less than $1,000 for a sponsored blog post. Since influencers are so persuasive to their audiences, this amount usually breaks down to be much less per conversion when compared to traditional advertisements. For every $1 spent on influencer marketing, businesses are making an average of $6.50. That is a great investment!
More Followers isn’t Always Better
While some influencers have millions of followers, their engagement rate is shockingly low. This means that instead of engaging, their audience simply follows their story. For the best engagement (and profitability), you want to look for relevant influencers with 10,000 to 100,000 followers. This gives you both a large audience and a great engagement rate, which is the perfect combination of effective marketing.
Can My Business Benefit from Influencer Marketing?
Nearly any business can benefit from influencer marketing. Some of the industries that tend to favor influencer marketing more than others include:
- Fashion – clothing, jewelry, and accessories are some of the top industries for influencer marketing. This is because they rely heavily on Instagram and other visual forms of marketing already, so it is a natural evolution.
- Beauty – Cosmetics, skincare, and other types of beauty brands use influencer marketing as one of their main techniques to communicate directly with their audience.
- Food – If you have a food or beverage company and you are not using influencer marketing, you are truly missing out. Just a single influencer could impact your business in a revolutionary way.
- Health – Fitness companies, as well as companies focusing on overall health and wellness, such as supplement companies, love influencer marketing because it keeps their brands current and on-trend. YouTube and Instagram are the most popular platforms for health and fitness brands to recruit influencers from.
- Travel – Travel brands utilize influencer marketing because, besides the obvious benefits, they often can tempt an influencer with only a trip.
- Tech and Electronics – Tech and electronics companies are on the cutting edge of influencer marketing, because they know better than most the statistics and return on investment that influencer marketing offers.
How Do You Get Started with Influencer Marketing?
Getting started with influencer marketing begins with finding the influencers that are the most relevant to your brand, with the correct number of followers and engagement rate. From there, it is as simple as agreeing on the type of marketing (a blog post, tweet, Instagram photo, etc.), and a price. Some micro-influencers will even promote your brand for free products or services.
