Social media has made it possible to build large networks. People of repute have emerged as influencers with a large number of followers and reach. This has given rise to Influencer Marketing, where the persons influential in specific fields are engaged in promoting brands.
For instance, if you are in operating B2B segment, you can conduct primary research, write a paper and send its link to the relevant influencers. If they love the content, they will use the statistics in their blog and provide a link to your research. It helps not only in expanding the outreach but also in building the credibility of your brand.
Since influencers do not endorse the solutions in the form of advertisements and as they are considered highly knowledgeable in their respective fields, influencer marketing enables brands to grow their consumer base organically. If you haven’t already started using influencer marketing, here are four reasons why you must do it now.
1. High ROI
The most crucial determinant of the success of a marketing campaign is the Return on Investment. Social media marketing used to deliver excellent results a few years ago. But now advertising on Facebook and LinkedIn has become pretty expensive. Alternately, influencer marketing has emerged as a more efficient choice.
Successful influencer marketing campaigns yield US$6.5 as ROI for every $1 spent on it. An ROI of 650% proves the power of influencer marketing. Your competitors know of this fact and are engaging influencers.
It is, therefore, necessary that you must act quickly to adopt influencer marketing before it gets too saturated like the social media marketing. An immediate action will ensure that you get a good share of the market before your rivals.
2. Conventional digital ads have been rendered ineffectual
Digital advertisements that pop-up uninvited on the screen are now getting blocked by the users. Around 15% of all mobile users and 26% desktop users use ad blockers. Even those who don’t find it irritating. This is leading to a loss of revenue for the digital ad publishers as they are unable to reach their target audiences. The number of users installing ad blockers is growing fast and even the internet service providers are using the services of ad blockers to offer their customers a way to save data.
Influencer marketing, on the other hand, is not an advertisement. It’s an endorsement of a brand or its products or services by people that are considered an authority in their respective fields. Hence, such persons would not endorse something unless they find it really useful and efficient. Influencers are careful about their reputation and therefore, lend their support to only authentic solutions. Hence, while the power of conventional ads is decreasing that of influencer marketing is increasing.
3. It builds higher level of trust
Influencer marketing enables brands to build a higher level of trust. It’s an undeniable fact that word of mouth publicity has always scored way above any other form of advertisement. It is because when people see the people they know using a product or service and appreciate its performance, they are more likely to purchase the product.
Around 92% consumers have stated that they prefer recommendations from friends, relatives, or people they trust over any other form of advertisement. The influencers belong to the category of the people they trust. Hence, influencer marketing is fast becoming one of the most popular digital marketing trends.
4. It engages active audiences
Advertisements and digital marketing engage audiences when they are passive or not actively looking for a solution. At the most, digital marketing involves tracking the online activity of the users and displaying ads that are similar to their searches. Such ads might or might not be relevant to the users.
In contrast, when users follow influencers, they are actively seeking knowledge or information. That’s why the consumers are most active in this case which results in the increase in the sale conversion rate of the product or service endorsed by the Influencer.
Conclusion
The above four facts tell you why influencer marketing is better than their traditional counterpart. It is the best time for you to adopt it and give your business the traction that you want and increase the brand’s reach and equity.