“A long-term influencer program will allow your brand to create true brand advocates, powerful brand evangelists, and raving fans.” – Tamara McCleary, CEO Thulium.
Sometimes, it’s an expression that matters to us, so we borrow quotations to say our heart out. Other times, it’s the impression. That’s when we need to borrow mouths and faces of people who can influence and impress others on our behalf.
Facebook and Instagram gave birth to social media influencers. Tiktok gave them wings. Today, TikTok marketing is a booming industry and even a nano-influencer has between 1K – 10K followers. If seen this way, influencer marketing seems to have huge potential.
But is it actually a rewarding growth strategy, or just something glittery that’s not gold? Let’s find out ahead.
What is Influencer Marketing
Digital marketing has evolved remarkably with the rise in internet users. But the fundamental concepts of marketing remain the same. Back in 1960’s, celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley were used to promote products. Today, we have social media influencers with followers spanning from thousands to millions, who are regularly hired by brands to promote their products.
That’s what we’re calling Influencer Marketing in the contemporary world. Some decades later, there might be CGI or another technology to reflect and promote influence. But the core concept of this marketing strategy will remain the same.
Is It Really Rewarding?
Influencer Marketing might feel like a knot in the stomach if you are tunnel-visioned on the ROI, conversion rates, and live analytics of your marketing campaigns.
That’s because one has to go through an arduous process of finding out the right influencers, reaching out to them with a fair offer, and breathing in the smog of unclear expectations until the results show up.
But here are some PROS of hiring an influencer that crush the CONS altogether:
1. Precise Targeting
Instead of promoting to a wider audience and increasing the digital cacophony, social media influencers let you promote to a precise audience who share common interests.
Suppose you have a tech hardware product. You can collaborate with a social influencer known for their quality reviews or their tech industry insights.
2. Quick Branding
Influencers, for their followers, are like celebrities who are hard to reach. By reaching out to influencers and getting them to promote your products, you convey the message that your brand lies within the same league.
This quickly establishes you as a brand and adds to your brand identity.
3. Boosted Engagement
No matter how hard a brand tries, it can barely beat the engagement rate of an influencer. That’s because influencers are real people, and brands are entities. People find it easier to communicate with other people than communicating with entities without a soul and a mind.
This said, influencers enjoy much higher engagement rates and can bring you the same results by promoting your products.
4. Improved Conversion Rates
If you had been waiting to read this section, here it comes. Influencer marketing improves your conversion rate marginally because people trust people.
In the words of Ty Heath – Global Lead of LinkedIn, “People can break through the noise. People trust people. Influence is about relationships”
The average rate of conversion when an influencer posts on your behalf is 2.55%, which is a fair ROI for letting someone else promote your product.
A shocking fact, however, is that nano-influencers with 1K – 5K followers enjoy the highest engagement rate of 5%, compared to the 1.6% of celebrity-level influencers.
5. Increased Trust and Credibility
Businesses leverage the trust influencers have gained from their followers, and utilize it to promote their products and reinforce their credibility.
Influencers, too, abide by the ethical principles of marketing and deliver honest feedback about your product. They don’t want to hurt their own credibility by false promotions or a feedback that is entirely fake.
When you take a look at all these PROS, the CONS of this marketing strategy diminish. However, a brand must be careful while choosing an influencer. Some key points to analyze before you get into a contract with an influencer include their audience analysis, value of influence, quality factors, and impact factors. A rigorous selection process will ensure that the influencer’s values align with your brand values, and the traffic that comes through them will be the kind of audience you want to serve.
Wrapping it Up
Branding is not a facile endeavour. It is a 360 degrees circle that you have to trace around your audience, and influencer marketing covers a prominent portion of it.
Whether you are in the tech industry, retail, eCommerce, real estate, or food and beverages – you will need to attach influencers or brand ambassadors with your brand identity to rank up in your industry vertical. So, to close with the final answer – yes, it is a rewarding growth strategy with barely any risks involved, backed by huge returns on investments in both tangible and intangible forms.
