7 reasons why influencer marketing is a game-changer

If you’re a brand that keeps its customers at arm’s length then it’s difficult to learn more about them and build trust. Brand loyalty is a hot idea for most businesses and one way to improve loyalty with customers is to try and be authentic and trust-worthy.

This is where influencer marketing comes in *drumroll*…

Influencer marketing harnesses the reach, authenticity and personality of individuals who have built up their own following in a specific niche with a particular target audience. Twitter revealed that 49% of consumers look to social media for advice on purchases. Getting influencers on board with your brand is well-worth checking out…

Here are 7 reasons why:

1. Influencers have their own ready-made following

Successful influencers have built up their own loyal fan base that they’ve built and nurtured over time. They usually chat to their followers a lot and they’ve shaped their content with their audience in mind, so they know what does and doesn’t work.

Remember, it’s quality not quantity. You don’t have to get a big-gun in like Zoella – work with a micro-influencer who has a strong, core audience with a proven track-record of high influence.

Asking an influencer to collaborate with your brand and raise awareness means that their following will (fingers crossed) come along too and be more interested in your product, by association.

You can piggyback off an influencer’s follower base.

2. They’re a walking, talking endorsement

Brands struggle sometimes because they’re just that, a brand. An influencer puts a face to a product and more importantly, a personality too. Adding the weight of an influencer’s opinion into a marketable testimonial/review gives your products some much-needed kudos.

3. Influencers have their own tried and tested ideas

Influencers have worked hard to build their following and credibility, so they’ll have their own marketing ideas and creative prowess. Getting advice from influencers about how to market to millennials or other emerging groups can help to shape your content and find out which social media platforms deserve more of your budget with certain demographics.

Asking influencers to do take-overs of your social media accounts is a great way to harness their creativity too e.g letting them run wild on your Instagram account.

4. The new word-of-mouth

Word-of-mouth is a powerful force in consumer decision-making and it’s estimated that 20 – 50% of all decisions are influenced by it. Influencers are increasingly seen as equally trust-worthy as a friend or acquaintance who might recommend a product/service. This is because of the quality relationships they’ve built up with their followers.

5. Reaching different groups

When brands try to target specific demographics they can sometimes get it really wrong, or cheesy and treat groups like one big homogenous blob that all think the same and enjoy the same things, like ‘mums’ for example.

Influencers who are part of certain demographics or have a strong follower base in that area will have a lot of insight into the different viewpoints and issues that affect specific niches – mainly because they talk and engage with them and have an ear to the ground.

So, influencers can help you to run campaigns that are inclusive, interesting and crucially – not patronising. They can help you access and engage with niches that are tricky to access.

6. Choosing your Platforms

It’s worth thinking hard about the platforms you want to use with your influencer. Successful influencers usually use a range of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram, but they probably have a favoured platform that they’re best at using too.

If you want to create a lot of story-based campaigns then getting an influencer who’s great at doing Instagram/Snapchat stories is a good idea. Or if you’re looking to access the tech community then an influencer who’s confident with that niche and making informative/instructional Youtube videos.

The costs involved with influencers can vary because of the range of platforms you want them to work with and the amount of products. Make sure you do your research and find out where they get most traction and what they do best.

7. SEO knowledge

Influencers can tell you about types of issues and keywords that are frequently used in questions and interactions with their followers. And let you know about their most successful content and what it featured too. This can inform your own SEO strategy and content.

You can link build by asking your influencers to link to your content and products on their own platforms and use UTM codes to find out things like where most of your traffic is coming from and adjust your budget accordingly.

Add a UTM code to the links used by your influencers on their platforms and use them in conjunction with an assessment tool like Google Analytics to track your marketing campaigns involving your influencers.

As always – constantly track, measure and analyse your campaigns.

Final thing

Remember to do your research with influencer marketing to make the most of your budget. Choose an influencer that’s relevant to your brand, has a strong following, lots of reach and who will create valuable, relatable content.