Author: Sara Celso
Date of Publication: 24/08/2022
The digital age and countless technologies we own today affect every aspect of a company’s life. This fact brings open the door to new ways of doing marketing. Actually, life runs fast through a screen. Human relationships are based on "likes" and comments, people tight friendships by clicking a button. In this scenario, social media is the master. As the statistics company Statista suggests, the average time spent by an individual on social media is more than two hours a day. It means about 6 years and 8 months in a lifetime. Therefore it is undeniable that social networks are a substantial part of everyone’s life.
In this context, new digital marketing strategies have been developed to make the most of social media opportunities. One of these is influencer marketing, a strategy that involves a collaboration between the brand and an influencer. An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of their (real or perceived) authority, knowledge, position, or relationship. In 2021 the influencer marketing market was worth 13.8 billion dollars, with an estimated growth up to 16.4 billion dollars in the coming years. These data show how this marketing strategy is becoming a real business sector due to its success. This strategy has some advantages that make it one of the most effective in the history of the digital age. Here are 5 reasons why influencer marketing is what can be what a brand needs.
1. Influencer marketing is based on trust
One of the main objectives of a marketing strategy is to create a relationship of trust with consumers. This, in fact, pushes potential buyers to proceed with the purchase decision, as they trust the brand. Influencer have the ability to influence their followers, thanks to "digital trust" relationships and their role on social media platforms. Therefore, for a brand, choosing as a spokesperson a person who has this power can be a key factor for success. This is because the influencer can help bring new customers. The opinion of a trusted person has always been what drives a person to purchase. So, the influencer marketing is version 4.0 of the WOM.
2. Influencer marketing makes it easy to reach your target audience
People follow influencers with whom they share the same interests, passions, and ways of communicating. The brand that can understand which target it wants to reach can easily find in an influencer a powerful means to reach it effectively and immediately. People who follow their favourite influencer are involved and interested in the proposed content. Therefore, they are more likely to receive promotional messages from a brand.
3. Influencer marketing can be economical
Influencer marketing does not require such expensive investments in addition to the remuneration for the subject chosen as the spokesperson. Moreover, the compensation can be made in different forms, from traditional payment to the offer of products or services of your business. Therefore, this strategy can be indicated for brands born recently that don’t have the economic capacity to make large investments in promotion.
4. Influencer marketing is based on user-generated contents
Social media users are attracted to interesting, quality, and engaging content. The production of this type of material often requires skills that are not present in a company. On the other hand, influencers are people who work on social media. They create content as a job, so they can be a real resource for the company. They can take care of a part of the communication that would otherwise be neglected. User-generated content is what consumers appreciate most on digital platforms when it comes to finding information in the purchase decision-making process.
5. Influencer marketing results can be easily measured
Feedback is what allows goats if our strategy is bringing the expected results or if changes in the project are needed. Being able to get feedback quickly can be an advantage to constantly and effectively monitor the marketing strategy chosen. With different tools offered by digital platforms you can keep an eye on metrics. For example, you can check the reach. It is the number of different persons or households exposed to a particular advertising media vehicle or a media schedule during a specified period of time. Another important metric is the conversion rate, which is the percentage of visitors that complete your desired action compared to the total number of people that could have converted. Metrics of this type are very useful to understand the progress of the campaign and how users respond to the content proposed by the influencer.
These are just some of the advantages that make influencer marketing a powerful means of communication and a source of competitive advantage. Last but not least: you need to understand the target audience you want to turn to make sure you choose the most suitable influencer.