What is the appeal of influencer marketing?
It doesn’t take long to realize that influencer marketing is becoming increasingly popular. Influencer marketing is being used by everyone from travel brands to department shops to startups to replace traditional forms of promotion.
But why is this the case?
Because, for a variety of reasons, influencer marketing has become a more successful way to spend advertising dollars:
Consumers have lost faith in brands, and display advertising is no longer successful.
Consumers are losing faith in brands, especially those that rely on traditional marketing methods.
Ads have essentially lost their influence, given that the average consumer is exposed to 4,000-10,000 advertising messages every day. Traditional web advertising’s CTR, for example, has been halved every year for the past ten years – people simply don’t click on sponsored links any longer.
Meanwhile, when our emails, Twitter accounts, or television stations are bombarded with advertisements, we quickly unfollow, unsubscribe, and ignore them. The trust of a brand is swiftly eroded by content that does not deliver value to readers.
Brands are learning that inbound marketing provides them with more value than typical outbound marketing. And influencers are one of the most efficient ways to organically attract potential clients. The benefits of inbound marketing is demonstrated in this excerpt from Mashable’s infographic.
Although the social media sector is established, it is still changing.
For creative brand marketers, the world of social media is currently perfectly aligned. Even though the market is mature, new apps and networks are always being developed. Meanwhile, new bloggers and thought leaders appear on a daily basis in practically every industry.
Despite the fact that there are 2.3 billion active social media users worldwide and that number is growing, Facebook and Twitter usage has stayed steady since 2014.
What does this imply for companies? It implies that new platforms for a company or someone to become a thought leader are always emerging. Consumers no longer rely just on a few TV channels and radio stations for information; instead, they turn to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Vimeo, Periscope, Vine, and other new platforms and networks.
This mix of maturity and innovation enables brands to expand their marketing strategy through social media influencers in an effective and cost-effective manner — without breaking the bank.
The new thought leaders are bloggers and online influencers.
Bloggers and other online influencers, particularly among Millennials, are assuming new positions as thought leaders and decision makers.
Influencers can influence sales and decisions as a friend rather than a marketer because they have highly engaged communities that trust their thoughts.
However, social media influencers aren’t often bloggers with enormous followings; they’re frequently our pals. Anyone who has a large or little following is an influencer. While paying for a prominent television station or magazine to mention a business might be costly, engaging a local celebrity or community leader to mention a brand can be much less expensive.
Meanwhile, bloggers and other internet influencers are overtaking traditional celebrities in terms of influence! According to a collaborative survey by Twitter and Annalect, 40% of respondents bought something online after seeing it used by an influencer on Instagram, Twitter, Vine, or YouTube.
When a brand’s message is mentioned by influencers, it resonates better with consumers – and encourages a purchase without sounding overly promotional or spammy.
The following are some of the reasons why you should include influencer marketing in your marketing strategy.
Influencer marketing isn’t a passing fad; it’s here to stay, and it’s a fantastic addition to any brand’s marketing plan. Many industry professionals think that influencer marketing is critical to future success in the field of internet marketing, from Adweek to Act-On to ConvinceAndConvert.
Here are seven reasons why we feel you should embrace influencer marketing, according to Upfluence…
Influencer marketing successfully addresses a market need.
Brands profit from advertising that targets the appropriate people, and influencer marketing makes it simple to see who your ads are reaching. Influencer marketing is seen by those who are genuinely interested and involved with your unique specialty, as opposed to paid advertising, which is generally seen by uninterested viewers.
Here’s a bubble chart showing click-through rates (CTR) and prices per click (CPC) by industry that we saw in our own ads over the previous six months. CTRs are significantly greater than those of other channels.
Furthermore, because influencers frequently have a high-ranking website, getting links from them can help you improve your SEO.
Meanwhile, consumers gain from influencer marketing since the product or service has already been evaluated by a reliable source, allowing them to conduct a more thorough assessment of the product rather than attempting to ascertain its legitimacy on their own.
Influencer marketing has a high return on investment.
Influencer content generates four times the return on investment of traditional advertising. That means that for every 250 clients brought in by other forms of advertising, your business can reach 1000 new customers.
Marketers who used influencer marketing in 2014 received an average of $6.85 in earned media value for every $1 spent on paid media.
