What is influencer marketing?
It’s a form of digital marketing that has sky-rocketed in popularity amongst businesses. It’s all about influencers promoting a brand’s product or service to their followers on social media. Tech-YouTubers, Instagram fashion models, makeup gurus, and so on, are all influencers, who are regarded as experts or figures of authority within their field.
Influencer-marketing is intended to raise awareness of a brand’s product or service in the influencer’s niche audience. It comes in many forms; sponsored camera reviews posted on Youtube, a beauty guru tagging the brand of their favourite foundation on Insta, and affiliate links on Facebook. Figures of fame on social media use their influence to market a brand’s products. This works great because it gives the brand a variety of possible points of reach, which would otherwise be cost-prohibitive to try to do independently.
What makes influencer-marketing so effective?
Along with the rise of social media usage, influencer-marketing has proven to be a profitable strategy for B2C businesses to gain visibility.
Based on my personal observations as an avid social media user and consumer, here are the benefits that make influencer-marketing the go-to strategy for more and more businesses.
1. A brand’s reach can be targeted towards distinct niches
Whenever I’m looking for a product or service that will align with my needs and desires, I’m much more likely to find the perfect solution through an influencer I follow on Youtube, rather than from TV ads. This is because the influencers I follow share similar values, needs and desires, so the products they choose to promote are ones I’m likely to resonate with. Given the diversity of social media users, brands are sure to find influencers in very specific niches. James Charles and Pony Park, whilst both makeup gurus, each have quite a distinct following. James Charles’ audience rock the bold, dramatic, Western-style makeup, whilst Pony Park’s prefer Asian-style looks that are less intense and more natural. By choosing the right influencer, brands can effectively market towards their ideal niche, no matter how specific.
Each influencer makes content about varying makeup looks and techniques. As a result, they attract rather different audiences.
2. Brands can get in front of more people with social media than c traditional marketing
Billboards, posters, and TV ads are location-restricted, so they can only reach so many people. Whereas, influencer-marketing, which happens on digital platforms, can reach people almost anywhere around the world. Your target niche is also more exposed to your brand since everyone and their mum always carries their phone, and the algorithms are designed to keep them scrolling through their feeds. Sometimes I suspect that my phone and laptop are creepily listening to me. For example, I’d casually mention to a friend that I want new coats for the upcoming winter season. Next hour, Facebook *coincidentally* introduces me to ten models showing off their chic warm coats.
3. Followers are highly inclined to purchase the promoted product or service
The trust followers place on influencers when taking up brand sponsorships and reviewing PR packages is substantial. Influencers are always under the public eye and one wrong move can completely ruin their reputation. For fear of being ‘cancelled’ or losing followers, influencers are unlikely to accept sponsorships from sketchy brands or make false claims about a product. Brands can profit from the loyalty and trust followers have for influencers.
4. Generally much more cost-effective than traditional offline marketing
The barrier to entry with influencer-marketing is so much lower than traditional techniques. Unless they’re trying to convince the Kardashians to back up their product, brands don’t necessarily need to pay nearly as much as traditional advertising for influencers (depending on the size of following). Brands also don’t have to focus on getting their name in front of people, because influencers have already done all the work to build a loyal fan-base that’s keeping up with them.
Key Takeaways
Given the explosive growth of social media and individuals gaining fame on those platforms, influencer-marketing is not going elsewhere, anytime soon. More and more businesses are taking advantage of the fame and following of these individuals to get their product out there, and it’s serving their pocket well. Not a single purchase in my skincare stash wasn’t recommended by my favourite skincare junkies, which says a lot about how effective the influencer marketing strategy is!
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