Making a Case for Influencer Marketing and Why It Is So Powerful

The first thing many people do when they wake up in the morning is to check their phones or computers. We are increasingly living online, with much of what we consume coming from online sources rather than traditional mediums like newspapers, televisions, and radios. We are increasingly looking for content from real people instead of content from bloodless corporations. Influencers fit very well into such a world, and we will be looking at why businesses should use them intertwined with why they have become so powerful.

Adverts are Annoying

The biggest pull for online streaming services and ad blockers is that people do not like seeing ads. No one likes commercials which is why we tune out when they come on. Instead of a business trying to buy an advert on TV, whose decline is already here, or post an ad on a platform, where ad blockers remove them anyway, they should reach people directly through influencers.

Hitting your target group with traditional mediums has become much harder in the age of social media and online content consumption, but it is possible with influencer marketing.

Millennials Have Become Harder to Reach

Millennials are getting to the age where they are becoming the primary consumer group in many industries. You must reach millennials if you want to keep making money or growing your business. The problem is that millennials are becoming much harder to reach. They watch less TV than past generations, instead opting for on-demand services and content. This means traditional means are out of the question, which is where influencers come in.

Many millennials and those in Gen Z follow their favorite YouTube personalities and channels, waiting for them to post videos weekly. They also follow many influencers on different social media accounts. This is where businesses that want to target them can find them.

The Rise of Numerous Platforms

It used to be that if you wanted to reach specific groups, you would use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Now, you have to think about other platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube. You also stay informed about the different trends that come and go on each platform, where in many cases each platform has different trends all the time.

Keeping up with everything that is going on via numerous platforms is almost impossible for businesses. Collaborating with the most popular and influential people on these platforms, those who understand how they work, and keep up with what is going on on these platforms, is your best bet for reaching your target audiences on them.

People Do Not Trust Brands as Much as They Used To

People have become less trusting of consumer brands. However, people are still open to hearing from people they trust – influencers. They see it as getting advice from a friend and a lot of millennials and Gen Zers trust the word of an influencer over the same words said through a traditional advert. 

The thinking is that someone you know, who you trust, or who is a specialist in a certain field is one you can identify with much better and easier than a business or large corporation. 

Investing in Influencer Marketing

Now that you have seen the arguments for influencer marketing, what benefits do you get when you engage in influencer marketing?

Increased Brand Awareness

Perhaps the biggest benefit of leveraging influencer marketing is increased brand awareness. Influencers have massive followings, typically in the millions. You can expect your message to reach a majority of these people with one mention or post from an influential influencer.

If you are looking for targeted messaging, you can always work with influencers who align with your brand and who have the target audience you are looking for locked in. For example, if you are a travel company, you can work with influencers who post travel-related content and who have sizable followings.

The good news is that you do not have to look for these influencers yourself as you can work with a global influencer agency that already has influencers in different industries. 

It Gives You Real-Time Results

For businesses that want consumers to take specific actions quickly such as purchasing a particular product or downloading an app, influencer marketing can give you real-time results and conversion tracking. All social media platforms have or allow analytics tools that show the reach and conversions of all content posted by an influencer so you know how well your marketing strategy is working.

Fast-moving products which have shorter decision-making cycles are perfect for this type of marketing. This is because people are more likely to purchase a specific product if it is advertised to them right before they go out to buy a similar product.

Considering that many people use social media a lot, the time between seeing the influencer messaging and purchasing the product — especially if you have a seamless purchase and checkout process — can be very short.

Influencers Set Trends You Can Take Advantage of

Influencers create trends all the time. You can combine a trend with an influencer’s review of your products to ensure the brand reaches more people. Influencers are typically the first source of information in many industries, especially where trust is key, with their audiences respecting and idolizing everything they have to say.

This is one of the reasons why influencer marketing is so powerful and successful as you can more or less guarantee the success of a marketing campaign by engaging with the right influencer with the right audience.

You Can Enter New Markets Faster

Every market has an influencer in different fields. This means you can more than likely find an influencer in a new market for the products you are trying to introduce into that market. Once you find the right influencer, they can help you reach a massive number of people in that market in a short period which can help you move quickly to effectively build your brand in it.

Influencer marketing is a long-term strategy that can yield great results for businesses that find the right influencers. An influencer can help you increase brand awareness, build people’s trust in your products, increase sales and even help you penetrate new markets.