Influencer Marketing: What Is It and Why Is It Taking Over Digital Marketing?
By: Heleyna PentukWhat is Influencer Marketing?
With the rise of social media, the term “influencer marketing” has become a popular term in the marketing world. But what is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing refers to the practice of partnering with influencers to promote a brand’s product or service on social media. The chosen influencer will increase brand exposure on social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, by including the product or service into their regular content, which can increase conversion rates for the brand. Influencers have a reputation of being the most trustworthy and notable figures on social media, therefore it is important that brands work with these individuals to ensure their brand is perceived as credible.
What is an Influencer?
But what is an influencer? Influencers are people with a large social media following who have the ability to influence people to make purchases because of their credibility and relationship with their audience. Influencers are different from celebrities in the sense that anyone can be an influencer. The only requirement to be an influencer is to be an expert in a particular niche and have a large active following. An influencer’s role is to create engaging social media content and answer questions pertaining to their niche.
Things To Keep In Mind:
When a brand decides to utilize influencer marketing, there are some important things to keep in mind. First, it is essential to select an influencer who is in the same niche as the product or service the brand is selling. This way, the influencer will attract an audience who is most likely to be interested and convert to a customer. Also, when selecting an influencer to partner with, it is important for the brand to not only look at how many followers the influencer has, but how engaged those followers are. The number of followers alone is not dependable enough to determine how successful the partnership will be. Instead, look for an influencer who has an actively engaged audience, meaning they are receiving high views, and plentiful likes and comments. The more engaged an audience is, the more likely they are to be persuaded to make a purchase. Lastly, it is important for brands to keep in mind that the audience are fans of the influencer, not the brand. This means that it is the influencer’s role to increase brand awareness, but ultimately the brand’s role to win the customers over. It is essential for brands to select an influencer who is trustworthy and has a strong relationship with their audience. These positive aspects of influencers will organically bring in new consumers, making it an authentic way to increase sales.
Is Influencer Marketing Successful?
Although influencer marketing is a relatively new social media marketing technique, it has already proven itself to be highly successful and even booming in the marketing industry. First of all, it is highly effective with 90% of marketers being in favor of this marketing technique. Secondly, it is financially beneficial for brands. According to The Influencer Marketing Hub, influencer marketing had an estimated industry value of $21.1 billion in 2023 and will likely increase to an estimated $84.89 billion in 2028. In addition to that, most brands earn $5.20 for each dollar invested in influencer marketing, making it very profitable for brands. Brands have been seeing such great results from influencer marketing that, as of 2023, 67% of companies planned on increasing their budget for influencer marketing.
Are There Downsides to Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is very successful, but what are the downsides? While partnering with an influencer can be very successful, if a brand does not carefully select the right influencer, it can have detrimental effects on the brand. Firstly, if a brand does not select an influencer in the fitting niche, viewers will be uninterested, and the promotion will fall flat, making it difficult to attract customers. Likewise, brands must carefully choose influencers to ensure they uphold similar values as the brand. Because the chosen influencer reflects the brand, if a brand partners with a problematic influencer with a negative reputation, it will tarnish the reputation of the brand as well. That is why it is absolutely essential that brands are very careful when choosing which influencers to represent their brand.
Summary:
Influencer marketing is an impactful way to reach new audiences, establish credibility and increase sales. Although this marketing technique has only recently emerged, it has already shown itself to be the future of social media marketing.
Sources:https://mailchimp.com/resources/what-is-influencer-marketing/