We have been surrounded by marketing our whole lives. Every day we come across an advertisement on TV or huge billboards on the roadside. Their purpose is to advertise what they are capable of attracting people to their brand. TV ads, radio ads, and billboards have been the major marketing strategies for decades. However, just like a lot of aspects of the world changed with the ascension of the internet, marketing has evolved too. It has shifted over to online and brands now use different internet platforms to promote themselves. This is what’s known as Digital Marketing. It involves many strategies and many platforms. While it has been in existence for quite a long time, a new approach has slowly risen over the last few years. That approach is Influencer Marketing.
What Is An Influencer?
An influencer is an internet personality with a good and loyal fan following. They are not celebrities who shifted to the internet but internet users who rose to fame and reached celebrity status through it. As the name suggests, they are capable of influencing the opinions of their community. The opinions include purchase choices which is why brands are turning towards these social media personalities.
Benefits Of Influencer Marketing
1. Huge Audience
The very first benefit of this approach is the huge number of audiences. It has over 4 billion social media users worldwide reaching which is simple and easy. The chances of global exposure is a huge positive too. Small businesses have little to none chances of being known worldwide and influencer marketing boosts these chances by quite a mile. You can even use influence marketing campaign to get more engagement and reach for your business and it will also help you to increase sales ad overall wellbeing of your business.
2. Better Audience Connection
Another benefit is the direct connection between an influencer and their fanbase. They usually connect with their fans through live sessions, live chats, and Q n A sessions which makes for a stronger bond between the two parties. As a result, people are more likely to follow their advice and suggestions.
It has been proven statistically as well. Nearly 40% of Twitter users have admitted to making purchases based on an influencer’s suggestion. On YouTube, 6 out of 10 users buy a product suggested by someone they are subscribed to.
3. Cost-effective
When we talk about small businesses, not many can afford huge sponsorship deals with global superstars. But influencer marketing is cheap and cost-effective and thus gives small and middle businesses equal chances as to the commerce giants. There are many micro-influencers as options too who even endorse products for free in return for discounts or giveaways.
How To Choose An Influencer & A Platform?
This marketing strategy works as a collaboration between a brand and an influencer. So, the very first step is to find a perfect figure and a platform. There are many social media platforms and all of them can be useful but Instagram stands out as the best option when we talk about advertising. Not only do more people make shopping decisions through Instagram but it also has more influencers you can choose from.
As to which option to choose from many choices, relevancy and popularity are the most important factors. Whoever you select, should have a decent fan following and should be active. If they are related to the category of products you offer, their audience and the other audience will migrate faster to your side. For example, if you sell beauty products, a makeup related figure would be more influential for your sales. That is because people trust the opinions of professionals with knowledge regarding their fields.
Thanks to influencer marketing tools like Humanz, Grin, and Upfluence, searching for the right influencers is relatively easy since they offer various filters that help to cut off the time finding the specific niche or location. Humanz even allows businesses to filter based on what’s written in the creator’s bio.
For smaller businesses, macro-influencers are the ideal choice as they have good numbers and don’t have prices too high either
How To Use Influencer Marketing For Your Business?
Influencer marketing is not that different from the celebrity endorsements we have been seeing our whole lives. The only difference is the platform that is social media.
The venture into this world begins with partnering with an influencer. Different people have different prices as well as different terms and conditions. The deals can be of different types as well. Be it a one-time deal or a long-term partnership.
Whatever the case may be, the basic premise works just like regular advertising. You pay an amount and the other person would make one or more posts about it. These endorsements provide genuine results as the influencers only invest their efforts in products they trust. That is because their reputation can get hurt if the audience finds faults in their suggestions.
Conclusion
While the concept is pretty new, promotions through social media influencers have gotten really popular in a small time. These internet figures are capable of affecting the decisions of their fans and followers. That can be used to draw attention to your products.
Bigger brands are already making influencer marketing into their prime approach towards digital marketing. Smaller businesses should step up and take advantage of the many benefits this approach offers.
