The Future Of Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has exponentially grown within the last few years in terms of both the amount of marketing dollars going toward influencers and the public interest for this new phenomenon. The amount of searches for “influencer marketing” alone has increased by over 1,500% over the past few years. It is quite clear that influencers are here to stay.
Influencer marketing involves leveraging a public figure with a strong reputation and thousands to millions of followers through the use of social media, having them advocate your brand.
Marketers are attempting to increase their budgets in order to use this digital marketing strategy to their advantage as influencer marketing is trending and delivering an ROI over 10x that of paid search within the beauty and fashion industries.
How Influencer Marketing Is Delivering Major ROI For Businesses
Authenticity is one of the reasons behind influencer marketing delivering major ROI. Customers look for authenticity when they are browsing for products and services and businesses are becoming aware of this, in turn, using part of their marketing budget on influencer posts— these Instagrammers serve as a credible source behind their posts.
Influencers speak on behalf of a brand and users trust these people. In response, consumers fall for the signs of sincerity within their posts and buy the products or services they promote.
With platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram noticing the potential of influencer marketing and how important it has become as a part of digital marketing today, we may begin to see innovations within each platform that make influencer marketing and outreach easier and more profitable.
However, within the last two years, social media marketing regulations have increased to ensure authenticity— a plus for users. As of 2017, the Federal Trade Commission regulated that relationships between influencers and brands must be disclosed; leaving zero room for dishonesty. Partnership agreements must be described in the post, making users aware that the influencer was paid— maintaining consumer trust and enforcing transparency.
Who Benefits The Most From Influencer Marketing?
Fashion and beauty go hand-in-hand with influencer marketing, more than half the brands within this sector utilize this strategy. The rise of social media has led companies to realize that influencer marketing has a lot to offer and a diverse group of people to choose from when deciding who you want to promote your brand: makeup gurus, artists, and bloggers that have become Insta-famous to name a few.
The goal of this “new” marketing technique is to initiate trends while promoting products simultaneously; social media has sparked influencer campaigns off the ground.
Travel, lifestyle, food; you name it. These are just a few more industries that benefit greatly from influencer marketing. When viewers see like-minded individuals posting user-generated content, the effect is powerful; they too become inclined to spend money and post their experience.
All in all, influencer marketing leaves lasting impressions because it creates a genuine experience, and this increased technology has led to social media influencers being the mediator of brand messages into everyday life.
How To Reach Out To Influencers?
With the incredible rise in popularity and demand for influencers to market for both regional and national brands, it is harder than ever for a business to open up a line of communication with even a micro-influencer. Although most influencers have their emails in their bios, email correspondences are almost never responded to unless you are a household brand, include an offer with 2 commas in it, or the message comes from a renowned agency that they are familiar with. It is always recommended to try to message potential influencers for your brand on social media directly if email doesn’t work, as most influencer are constantly checking their social media profiles (it is their job after all). If you don’t have any luck reaching out to them, find a company that manages multiple influencers or a marketing company that offers social media marketing services and they should be able to find you an influencer in no time that can help grow brand and your profits.
Smashed Media is a premier social media marketing agency, that can provide you with influencers to promote your products or services and can take your business to the next level with influencer marketing. Our social media marketing agency can also determine if your company will benefit from influencer marketing and which influencers will bring in the most ROI for your business. If we believe influencer marketing will benefit your company we will provide you with influencers and manage the influencer campaign or if we do not see it being a viable option we can provide you with another marketing strategy that we believe will be more profitable. Either case, we can facilitate an action plan that will get your products or services exposure and in front of your potential customers in no time.
