Gone are the days when we trusted everything we saw on television, read in the pages of a magazine or a billboard.
Consumers have evolved just as much as the marketing and advertising landscape.
As such, the drastic changes have opened many doors for marketers.
However, they have also brought about some challenges.
One of these challenges is trust.
For example, in a recent survey, more than ⅔ of the 43,000 participants identified misuse of personal data as the main reason for distrusting tech companies.
Additionally, there’s the multitude of ads now constantly bombarding consumers across platforms.
With the endless stream of content and ads online, people have become more discerning when it comes to purchasing a product or service.
In fact, according to statistics, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from other people — even someone they don’t know — over brand content.
But, digital marketers shouldn’t lose hope.
To attest to this, stats also reveal that 49% of people rely on the product or service recommendations from social influencers.
So, if your recent marketing efforts are not producing the results you want, turning to influencer marketing just might provide a solution.
Let’s first answer the question of “what is influencer marketing?”
Then, we can explore how to do influencer marketing and the steps needed to implement this strategy for your own business.
What is Social Influencer Marketing?
First off, let’s define what exactly is an influencer.
Influencers are individuals who have garnered massive followings on social media by sharing their expertise on a topic and offering tips, advice, and product recommendations to their audience.
To further clarify, they are “regular” people who amassed “loyalty points” from social media communities that share their interests.
The platforms they commonly use are Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
By collaborating with an influencer on a marketing strategy, you are exposing your product or service to his or her established network of social media followers who trust what he or she has to say.
Let’s say an influencer recommends your product or gives it a positive review.
Essentially, it’s the equivalent of word of mouth in the digital age.
So, selecting the right influencer is the foundation of any social influencer marketing strategy.
To help you with this, here are a few tips for doing just that in the world of micro-influencers.
Top 3 Influencer Marketing Goals Businesses Should Focus on
As with any digital marketing strategy, it is essential to have clear goals and KPIs in mind to measure your success.
So, here are three key pieces to focus on as you consider how to do influencer marketing the right way.
1. Brand Advocacy
A brand advocate is someone who loves your product.
As a proud @BGCA_Clubs , I’m excited to help @OldNavy in their goal to donate $1 MILLION to Boys & Girls Clubs this holiday season.
— Alex Rodriguez (@AROD) November 19, 2018
This Fri only, for every $1 pair of Cozy Socks you buy in-store, @Oldnavy donate $1 to @BGCA_Clubs — up to 1M! https://t.co/wEKhASEmuc #Ad
It could be your employees, friends, satisfied customers, or influencers and you could contact them to share via text or WhatsApp.
You can enjoy the benefits of influencer marketing by building a stable, collaborative relationship with them.
Also, give them enough creative freedom to promote your brand.
With this approach, you can effectively tap into their network.
2. Brand Awareness
As already mentioned, an influencer marketing strategy is so effective because these users have huge followings.
With your business or brand already introduced to their loyal network, an influencer can do what they do best to further increase brand awareness.
They can accomplish this through things like brand mentions, product reviews, and contests and giveaways.
3. New Target Audience
You can widen your audience reach and ultimately increase conversions by working with micro-influencers.
They only have between 2,000 to 50,000 followers.
However, according to research, they deliver a 60% higher engagement level than those with more significant followings.
Additionally, micro-influencer campaigns are 6.7 times more efficient.
Final Things to Consider for Your Influencer Marketing Strategy
Still unsure if influencer marketing aligns with your business?
Take a look at the influencer marketing statistics below.
Or, you can check out the facts below regarding the benefits of influencer marketing as compiled by the folks at SmallBizGenius:
- 40% of consumers purchased a product online after seeing it used by an influencer.
- 25% will purchase an item if someone with more than a million followers recommends it.
- Influencer marketing delivers 11 times higher return on investment than traditional marketing.
- In 2017, brands saw an ROI of $6.78 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.
- Statistics from 2018 show that 58% of businesses that implemented social influencer marketing saw an improvement in brand awareness. Additionally, 54% saw an increase in leads and revenue.
