Although it may seem like influencer marketing has only risen in popularity in recent times, the truth is that influencer marketing has been around for decades. Companies and brands have used famous people like celebrities to promote their products for ages. In essence, when you see a celebrity holding or using a particular product from a brand in print ads or TV commercials, that is a form of influencer marketing.
However, as we are moving further into the digital era, brands have to now come up with new ways to market and promote their products. This means that there has been a massive shift in influencer marketing as well. Having celebrities promote your products is not enough anymore as it’s quite evident that they have been hired by the companies to do so. Rather, people will be more interested to check a particular product out if it comes from a source that they trust or follow. They want unbiased reviews and testimonials from people that they know have similar tastes as them. For instance, if you are looking to buy a new smartphone, instead of just believing what you see in a TV ad, you are more likely to check out some reviews of it on YouTube before you finalize your purchase. This is where the new era of influencer marketing comes into play.
What is Influencer Marketing?
How Can Influencer Marketing Help Your Business?
Influencer marketing can be a great way to expand your reach and promote your product to a new audience. And influencers can help you achieve this. There are several ways in which an influencer can help market your business. Here are a few notable ones to consider:
- An influencer can create a dedicated article, blog post, or video of themselves endorsing your product. That way their followers can see what your product is all about before purchasing it.
- An influencer can share information about your product or business on their social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. They can also post pictures or make small clips of them using your product for promotion.
- An influencer can improve the overall brand value and acceptance rate of your products and services. A credible influencer can not only increase your total sales but can also make your brand look more trustworthy in the eyes of its audience.
There is one important thing to keep in mind before you engage with an influencer. Don’t expect the influencer to only praise your product if it’s not good. Influencers hold a certain reputation among their peers, so they are expected to provide authentic information and recommendations to their followers. So, if you are trying to promote a shady business or a half-baked product using influencer marketing, then chances are high that they will never work with you.
Current Landscape of Influencer Marketing
Just like the rise of content creators, influencers have risen in numbers as well on a variety of different social sites like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc. So, it should come as no surprise that influencer marketing has become one of the most effective forms of marketing in recent times. This form of marketing has overtaken traditional and even some forms of digital marketing within the last few years. It has been also found that 89% say that the ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels.
How to Know Which Influencer to Select?
Before approaching an influencer to promote your products or service, it’s important that you take a few things into consideration.
- Relevance: The first thing to check when selecting an influencer is how relevant they are to your brand or product. For instance, you would not want a tech influencer to promote beauty products.
- Reach: Simply put, you should go for influencers with the highest number of followers or subscribers. That way you can promote your product to the maximum number of people. However, just because an influencer has a lot of followers, it does not necessarily mean that you will get more sales.
- Resonance: This brings us to our next point – resonance. Resonance refers to how strong of a relationship the influencer has with their audience base. Sometimes micro-influencers, who have 500 to 10,000 followers, can better promote your product than an influencer with millions of followers. That is because micro-influencers typically have a stronger bond with their audience base.
How Much Do Influencers Charge?
Although a lot of people would want a definitive answer to this question, the truth is that it depends on the influencer. Some influencers can charge a few hundred dollars, whereas others can charge millions. For example, Kylie Jenner, one of the biggest Instagram influencers, can charge over a million dollars per post.
In addition, there are a few other things to note. Will the influencer post on only one platform or all of them? How many followers do they have? How much does their audience engage with them on a regular basis? Lastly, what is your budget? These are just some of the most important factors you need to consider to understand the marketing cost.
How to Approach an Influencer?
Building a relationship with an influencer is the best way to approach them. You can start by following them on their social media sites, signing up for their newsletters, and engaging with their content. That way you can have a deep understanding of who the influencer is and what they are all about. Once you have established a connection, then you can try emailing or messaging them directly about promoting your product.
Expected Return from Influencer Marketing
It has been estimated that the return on investment for influencer marketing is 11 times higher than that of banner ads. This goes to show how effective influencer marketing is compared to traditional marketing tactics. According to a survey conducted back in 2019, it was found that businesses earn $6.50 in revenue for every dollar they invest in influencer marketing.
Final Verdict
Influencer marketing provides an excellent opportunity for both small and established brands to get the general audience to talk about or discuss their products. Brands use the leverage and influence of popular online personalities to showcase their product to a large audience base. And the reason why this method of promotion is so popular nowadays is because people believe the words of influencers more than they do when it’s presented by a celebrity or on a billboard.
