Influencer marketing is a relationship between a brand and an influencer. The influencer promotes the brand’s products or services through various media outlets such as Instagram and YouTube. Not to be confused with celebrity endorsements, influencer marketing does more than just attach a well-known celebrity to a brand. Influencers must be trusted figures within a niche community and retain a loyal following. In addition, they typically possess knowledge or experience about what they are advertising (Forbes).
With the escalating growth in social media, Influencer Marketing has become one of the most used and successful marketing strategies in the world. Social media has given the common people a chance to create their own brand through appealing content and direct engagement with their audience. According to the Digital Marketing Institute: “86% of Women Use Social Media for Purchasing Advice.” This proves the theory that social media is no longer used only as entertainment platforms but it also more and more used for influencing customers shopping behaviors. This strategy is proven effective since “49% of Consumers Depend on Influencer Recommendations.” Additional reasons why marketers are using influencers to reach their target audience is because the return on investment is significant: “businesses earn $6.50 for each dollar spent on influencers” Nevertheless, when you consider that 40% of consumers are removing traditional ads from their online experience by using ad-blocking technology, influencer marketing is the easiest and successful strategy to reach those customers that are no longer reachable by online advertising.
The way our society buys nowadays is based on opinion leaders, group of experts and ambassadors. A customer will more likely buy something that has been used and proven successful by an expert of the industry. This strategy is not ready to leave just yet: “As an industry, influencer marketing has expanded exponentially over the past two years. Worth just $2 billion in 2017, the industry is set to reach $10 billion by 2020 as the industry witnesses more growth and becomes a more effective marketplace.”
Sources:
https://hbr.org/2019/04/how-brands-can-build-successful-relationships-with-influencers
