Influencer marketing is definitely one of the newest players in the marketing game. Our digital marketing consulting firm has helped lots of clients incorporate influencers into their marketing strategies, and many of our clients don’t really understand what influencers do.
So, here’s a short guide that explains what they are, and the benefits they can bring:
What are influencers?
Influencers are people who can influence someone else’s decision to do things. This is usually because they’re looked up to by many people, so they’ll follow whatever the influencer says. In marketing terms, we’re mainly talking about social media influencers. These are people with a strong social presence, meaning they can direct traffic to your website, get people to buy your products, or even help you grow your follower count. You pay them to do things, and they usually set the fee themselves.
There are typically two types of influencer; micro and mega. Each one serves the same purpose, but there is a difference between the two.
Mega influencers
These are the people with hundreds of thousands of online followers – sometimes even with an audience in the millions. They tend to consist of celebrities and household names, meaning they have a lot of power. The flipside of this is that they’re costly to hire.
Micro influencers
These are people with slightly less of a following. Generally speaking, they’ll have anywhere between 1,000 – 100,000 followers. They’re not deemed to be ‘celebrities’ as they’ve mainly gained a following through being an authoritative source. People go to them for information on specific topics, making them perfect for businesses. You can call upon their popularity and authority to help promote your business to a targeted audience.
What are the benefits of influencers?
Right away, you can probably see one of the clear benefits; you suddenly have access to a much more substantial audience. Even a micro influencer with 10,000 followers can promote things to an audience that could be ten times the size of your own – or more! Naturally, this means more people know about you, increasing brand awareness.
But, influencers can also directly influence leads and sales. If you paid a mega influencer to promote a product, then you will see an influx of new sales. Their following is so big, and people care about their opinion so much, that it means some people are bound to buy.
Additionally, associating with influencers gives your brand image a boost as well. Heck, if an influencer is willing to work with you, then you must be a good brand!
Furthermore, influence marketing is great for targeting your ideal consumer market. Work with influencers that have the same target audience as you, meaning all the benefits are now heightened. Not only are they promoting your company to a broader audience, but they’re promoting you to your target market.
The only issue with influencer marketing is that it can be expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing. You must find the ideal influencers that align with your brand identity and values. At Pivotal New Media, we can help you make the right decisions and learn how to add influencers to your campaign. Get in touch with us today if you want to unlock the power of the influencer!
