Recently, bombarding brands with targeted ads has become tiring for consumers even though the ads are based on their interests. This is not a surprise because the sheer amount of ads consumers encounter online on a daily basis is extremely high and has created a sense of ad fatigue. As a result, many businesses are now considering different options for engaging consumers without suffocating them with too many ads.
For example, you can engage your audience and reach your desired goals through influencer marketing. It is now the mainstream of online marketing, even though many people still don’t know what it is all about. When people hear about influencer marketing, they may be quick to think about celebrities; while this might be correct, it isn’t all it entails.
Influencer marketing revolves around influencers who may not even be famous offline. So in this article, we will discuss who an influencer is, influencer marketing and its numerous benefits for businesses.
Who is an Influencer?
An influencer is simply a person that has the power to affect other people’s decisions on purchases. They can do this effectively because of their knowledge, authority, position or relationship with their audience. Many of these influencers first take time to actively engage and build a relationship with people following a distinct niche, which is why it is very easy for celebrities to become influencers at will.
These days, it is challenging to see the difference between regular online influencers and celebrities because they both have the same influence on their audience. It is also important to note that most people would rather follow influencers than a brand because, over time, most influencers have built an enthusiastic and keen audience that care less about your brands and more about the opinions of their favorite influencers.
So now you can see the exceptional role influencers play in online marketing. Moving forward, let’s see what influencer marketing really entails before we learn about its benefits.
What is Influencer Marketing, and How Does it Work?
Influencer marketing is a form of online marketing where a brand collaborates with an influencer, organization, or individual to market its products or services. These influencers are opinion leaders with a commendable degree of impact in their field, so people trust them as experts or reliable sources of information.
Influencer marketing will help you drive brand awareness to a broader audience; it is similar to word-of-mouth marketing but does not depend on specific recommendations. The influencers you chose for your brand can come from anywhere as long as they can effectively engage the audience and advertise your brand across social networks.
Benefits of Influencer Marketing
Now that you know the meaning of influencer marketing and who an influencer is, you still need to learn how this marketing strategy can project your business to the next level in a short time. It is highly beneficial, and when properly utilized, you will witness tremendous brand growth because people are more influenced by social media and the various opinions they get online.
Many people would buy a product they would naturally not buy simply because a person they trust online has testified that the product works. So you see that the importance of influencer marketing in business cannot be over-emphasized. However, let’s look at some of the numerous benefits of influencer marketing.
Enriched Content Strategy
As a business owner, you might have little or no experience with content creation, especially when your business is unrelated to such activities. However, influencers, on the hand, have taken time to develop their skills and strategies in this particular field; they can create valuable, engaging and creative content consistently without running out of ideas or boring their audience.
If you decide to create content for your brand independently, you might run out of ideas at some point or find it difficult to be consistent because you need to focus on other aspects of your business. Hence, influencer marketing can help you fill the gaps and inconsistencies in your content schedule. When you work with influencers, you will notice a tremendous increase in the richness and quality of your brand content, which is essential in online marketing.
Cost-effective & Saves Time
Before considering influencer marketing as the best method for promoting your business, you must have had many other options in mind, but while there are several ways to promote a business, it may be challenging to enforce them due to the high cost of such services. However, influencer marketing can help you cut costs and give you your desired result or even better.
In comparison with other methods of advertising and promotion, influencers offer a relatively reasonable price for their services. Of course, this price will depend on the size of their audience and the niche your business falls into, but regardless the positive effect and benefits of influencer marketing outweigh the cost spent on it. So think of it as an excellent way to boost sales, save money and still earn huge ROIs.
Increase Brand Awareness and Reach
There is hardly any famous influencer that cannot boast of millions to billions of followers on social networks, so influencer marketing allows you to partner with an influencer whose niche suits the products and services you offer. By doing this, you will automatically be reaching out to millions of potential customers for your business.
Although many businesses still rely on other traditional methods of advertising their brand, influencer marketing is the new trend for companies to combine style and expression into their brand campaigns seamlessly.
Influencers can make your brand adverts more engaging, natural and genuine for a specific audience. After building a relationship with their audience, they tend to gain their trust and respect, so when such a person recommends your product or service, you will surely gain visibility and brand awareness without doing anything yourself.
Unlimited Sharing Potential On Social Platforms
It is difficult for anyone to compete with the number of attention influencers give their audience daily; they spend a lot of time interacting with their fans, and they are proficient in what they do. Influencers are simply exceptional when it comes to sharing content about brands, products and services online.
So one of the many benefits influencer marketing will offer you is the ability to share information about your business without limits. It is very easy for an influencer to promote your business on Facebook, blogs, and other platforms, but you can’t say the same for yourself. This is because an influencer utilizes many ways to spread brand message and awareness; it could be a review video, store links, Facebook posts, promotion codes, inspiring storylines, etc. This is what they know how to do best, and not only are they always active, they do their best to keep their fans active as well.
Drive Purchase Decisions
If you have been looking for the best way to influence people’s purchase decision-making process to benefit your business, influencer marketing is the answer you seek. This is one of the most significant benefits of influencer marketing for your business. An Influencer can drive the purchase decisions of a targeted audience and make them have a positive reception of your brand. This is due to people’s trust and respect for their favorite influencers.
Numerous studies have also been done to prove the exceptional ability of an influencer to affect the purchase decision-making process of their audience at all levels. For example, the DMI blog statistics show that 49% of customers reported that they decided on their purchases based on influencer referrals.
This percentage is also very high in teenagers who are more accustomed to social media and online purchases. About 70% of teenagers have made several purchases after seeing the products or services on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram etc.
Hence, influencer marketing can grant you the opportunity to influence the purchase decision-making process of a targeted audience. But, more importantly, you can do this effortlessly and at your convenience.
Build Credibility and Trust
Influencers can come from a wide range of fields and specializations. However, they are considered experts in their various niches, so their audience trusts their opinions on issues related to their niche.
For example, if an influencer has consistently created content about mobile phones over the years, people will trust their knowledge and credibility of mobile phones.
Now imagine when such a person recommends a mobile phone from your company. The audience will be more than willing to lend your brand some trust and the benefit of doubt. So you see, influencer marketing is a process that can yield mouth-watering and astounding benefits for your business.
Read also: How to Market a Logistics Company: 5 Low-cost Strategies
Influencer marketing is an efficient and cost-effective way to strengthen your brand’s online presence, generate quality leads, and boost brand awareness. However, if you want to see better results in your business, you should combine this strategy with other effective methods like SEO campaigns, social media promotions, sales promotion campaigns, etc.
There is so much more to influencer marketing than what we have discussed in this guide; however, since you now understand what it means and how it can benefit your business, you should follow up on our future articles to learn more about how to implement it in your business. Also, if you enjoyed reading this guide, leave a comment below.
