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- Following the Influencer Trend
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Following the Influencer Trend

Over the last decade, social media platforms have seen a sharp rise in the number of people using them. This trend is only set to increase over the next three years with a projected figure for social media users at 58.64% for 2024.

With so many people now using social media, companies want to utilise their potential reach when forming advertising and marketing strategies. From paid social advertising to meticulously planned content calendars, we all know there a variety of ways to make the most of social media for your business. In recent years, big brands have put well established figures at the forefront of their social media efforts with celebrity endorsement. This technique has since been coined “influencer marketing”, and has proved to be immensely popular.

Is “influencer marketing” just for global brands? Or are there insights that could be useful for small businesses? Let’s find out.

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is a hybrid form of marketing where a brand or business forms a partnership – also known as a collaboration – with a well-known person to promote their products or services. In the past, this used to be limited to just A-list celebrities but now it’s open to anyone provided they have a decent following. What’s more, a paper published by Emeraldinsight revealed that today’s consumers have been found to trust “Instagram Influencers” more than traditional celebrities when it comes to purchases.

The aim of the collaboration is often to help increase brand awareness. Companies hope their collaborations will introduce them to a new audience, while helping them gain credibility with the influencer’s audience to drive sales and actions.

There are many ways you could define an influencer, but one way to think about them is someone with a well-known presence, through their knowledge and expertise, who has the ability to connect with their audience and harness their social power to affect their audience’s behaviour.

What are the Benefits of Influencer Marketing?

Many brands have found success with collaborations. Luxury brand Coach collaborated with singer Selena Gomez to not only promote their range of handbags and accessories but to also design some pieces herself. By teaming up with the singer (who had well over 100 million Instagram followers at the time of the collaboration) Coach was able to raise their brand awareness to a new and wider audience leading to increased sales.

Even if you don’t have the budget to get Daniel Craig on your Instagram story, there are perks to influencer marketing that could be explored in a “micro” way by interacting and partnering up with local businesses. Working with an influencer or collaborating with relevant, nearby companies can:

  • Help your brand reach a wider audience and boost your popularity.
  • Increase trust with your brand, as influencers have built up their own reputation and following over time they are seen as respectable.
  • Help you reach your intended audience – the influencer’s following – as they will get to know your brand, the sort of products and services you offer, as well as what issues you support.
  • Start a long-term relationship which opens up further possible opportunities for business.
  • Provide fresh content for your feed when you run out of ideas.
  • Drive conversions as more people will see your product/service and want to purchase it.
  • Shape trends. Whether influencers are prominent figures in fashion, beauty, tech or the local scene, their audience values their opinion and that’s what makes them the go-to for all new sources of information.
  • Make your advertising appear more genuine and not “salesy”. The influencer’s audience has chosen to follow them because they like their content, so it’s unlikely they would feel pushed into purchasing something.
  • Fit into all marketing budgets, no matter the size of your company, there are options to explore this model with little to no budget. It’s about who you know and how you can help each other.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, aspects of influencer marketing could be added to your marketing strategy, with the potential to boost brand awareness, increase trust, forge new business relationships, and drive more conversions and traffic to website.

If you’re looking to develop your marketing strategy but aren’t sure where to start, come say hi and contact us today.