What is Influencer Marketing Really All About?
Written by Samantha Ortiz, Social Media Intern
What is Influencer Marketing Really All About?
Have you ever spent money on a product or service because someone you admire promoted it? It could be your favorite athlete promoting an energy drink, your favorite blogger recommending skincare, or your favorite celebrity shouting out a restaurant. These promotions are examples of a tactic known as influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing utilizes well-known content creators to increase traffic, boost brand awareness, and deliver messages directly to your target audience. Influencers have become more popular amongst marketers because they have already established a relationship with your ideal audience. Additionally, they’re able to reach this audience across multiple channels.
Types of influencers
The influencer “umbrella” continues to grow as content creators expand into new platforms. The most common influencers are celebrity influencers, blog influencers, social media influencers, and micro-influencers.
Celebrity influencers are famous people such as actors, athletes, artists, and social media stars with large followings that are recognized across many audiences. Their diverse fan bases allow you to reach your target audience, with the possibility of reaching other audiences.
Blog influencers are well-known bloggers with loyal subscribers and readers in the thousands to millions. Their reach sets them apart from other bloggers.
Social media influencers are well-known on social platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and/or Twitter—their fan bases are in the thousands to millions. The type of content produced by social media influencers can range from health to fashion to cars.
Micro-influencers are similar to social media influencers, except they produce content relevant to a specific niche and their fan bases range from thousands to tens of thousands. Their smaller following is a positive as it’s easier for them to personally connect with their audience, often driving higher engagement.
The Benefits
Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) continues to be the most effective form of marketing. The Internet and social media have facilitated WOMM over the years, and this contributes to why influencer marketing has been so effective.
Influencers build strong relationships with their followers, subscribers, readers and fans. Audiences are more likely to trust the recommendations of their favorite influencers because of the feelings of connectedness and trust they have for them. “In a study, roughly 40 percent of respondents said they made a purchase after seeing a social media influencer use the product or service.”
It’s not a secret that every company wants to have excellent rankings on search engines. However, there is no easy way to get a good rank. This is where influencers can be of assistance. It’s been shown that building backlinks from other trusted websites with high Domain Authority, can boost your ranking, too. Influencers can be a great source for creating quality backlinks to your website. This will help your company boost traffic to your website as well as your SEO.
The Concerns
According to a study by Mediakix, the number one problem marketers have with influencer marketing is finding credible influencers for their campaigns. 61% of marketers agree that the process is difficult.
It’s becoming much easier to buy followers, likes, views, and clicks on social media. This puts pressure on marketers to exercise every measure to ensure the influencer(s) selected for a campaign can reach the expected audience and enough of them.
How We Can Help 
Social platforms are where consumers are and influencers offer one of the best means to speak to them. Whether or not influencers should be used for a campaign is dependent on the company and industry. That being said, if you think your company can benefit from using influencers, it might! The benefits of influencer marketing easily outweigh the concerns, so long as the right influencers are used and for the right campaign. We are excited to help you navigate the world of influencer marketing. Request a quote or call our main office in Tarrytown at (914) 909-5900. We look forward to working with you and your growing business.
Sources:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-work-with-influencers