Published Internship Piece- Benefits of Influencer Marketing: 6 Important Things You Should Know

Influencer marketing is the outcome of what it means to be liked by many, to be famous, well-known, and followed. When a woman sees her favorite actress advertising a certain coat, she goes out and buys the exact one. When a man sees his favorite politician eating at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, he has to go try it too. Then, the next thing you know, the coat sales have gone up and the restaurant is no longer a hole-in-the-wall.

Every business needs a great marketing strategy and with all of the different methods out there it can start to feel a little overwhelming when deciding what your company’s should be. In a way, influencer marketing allows the products and services to speak for themselves. Let’s explain in a little more detail why it is beneficial to implement this strategy into your current plan.

1. Fastest-Growing Online Tool

Nobody likes pop-up ads. In fact, it has become more and more common that web surfers are starting to block pop-ups and avoid sites with too many advertisements altogether. For this reason, influencer marketing is on the rise. With this strategy, the target audience is already following the thought-leaders, so the likelihood of them going with a brand recommended by them versus a pop-up, is much higher.

2. Ability to Reach a Large Audience

Not only can these well-known figures reach a large audience, they can do so using several different platforms that single-handedly possess the capability of reaching masses of people with the click a button. This means that the audience is being reached quicker, thus motivated to look up what you’re selling or persuaded to buy, so turnaround time for sales on a product or usage of services can be near instantaneous. As of 2018, studies show that 75% of the market are more likely to purchase products and services based on a recommendation from social media. The best part is that the guessing game is taken out of the equation. If you have chosen the right leader to advocate for your product or service, their following won’t have to question whether or not they are making the right choice in their decisions. This in turn ensures that your target audience is being reached above and beyond what was already happening.

3. Credibility

Using influencer marketing builds trust with the target market. Those of high clout are viewed as credible sources to their followers. Therefore, they trust in their recommendations for products and services. Not to mention, majority of the strong voices don’t collaborate with just anyone. Their name has to back the product, so they’re not going to start recommending just anything that comes their way. This is another way that influencer marketing allows for amazing products and services to speak for themselves.

4. Budget Friendly- Great ROI

Influencer marketing isn’t as expensive as you might think. Sure, mega-influencers charge more than micro-influencers… But to start, micro-influencers are really all you need. Micro-influencers can have up to ten-thousand followers, and charge anywhere from $137 to $258 per post. That’s a lot of views on products for only a couple hundred bucks! With those prices, the return on investment has high potential. On average, companies using influencer marketing received $6.85 on every dollar spent.

5. Clever Addition to Content Strategy

If the need to pull content from somewhere arises and a company is out of ideas, they can just pull in the photos, social media posts, or interviews of those that are involving their brand and post them on their marketing sites. This influencer generated content is great for audiences to see. Consumers like to see what their favorite people are into, and as a company, it is beneficial for them to know these influencers are supportive of certain brands or missions.

6. Brand Awareness

Influencers help showcase or start trends and movements. Through their work, they naturally promote brands. If a national or local celebrity is ahead of a trend, interest can be garnered in their use of a product or service related to the original trend. The brand of whatever product or service is being used is then quickly put in the spotlight as well. This creates a good amount of attention for both the brand and the influencer, a true win-win situation.

Influencer marketing is becoming the hot topic in the marketing industry. Be sure to research the influencer before pitching a collaborative idea to them, as you want to make sure they are actually interested in your business category. After that, you will be delighted to watch your company reap the benefits. Sometimes old sayings are true and in this case, “It pays to know people.”