Influencers have quickly become among the most effective ways for a brand to highlight itself to potential customers and reel in the profits in a creative new way. Where we once saw a celebrity touting the newest headphones on a billboard, we now see popular Youtubers and Instagrammers sporting the newest tech and talking about why they love the product, to a vast social media following. Influencer audiences range in size, but an influencer’s reach is often vast.
In 2020, this market boasted a worth of $2.3 million. It is also worth noting that roughly 49% of consumers look to influencers for the most innovative, high-quality products on the market.
Still not yet completely convinced? Let’s talk about some of the many benefits of using influencers to promote your brand:
Reaching the Eyes and Ears of Potential Buyers
When using traditional advertising, you do not always reach the target audience you are looking for. That is not to say that traditional methods do not have their place; however, they might not be the most ideal advertising solution for every situation. When you post an advertisement on a billboard, you may have an idea of what kind of people live in that area and if they might be inclined to use your product or service, but that is all you really know about the people who might see your ad as they drive through busy traffic. Now consider your target audience when enlisting the help of an influencer. Let’s say you are preparing to launch a new makeup brand and are ready to advertise. You could hire a model, a photographer and advertising agency to post a gigantic ad to hover over a certain stretch of road. Or you could save all the trouble, and reach your target audience directly.
Many beauty influencers already introduce new brands on their channels regularly, boosting sales for small companies to the point of the product selling out. If you’re into beauty, you might remember the small Etsy shop that sold out of their rainbow highlighter, after a persistent buzz about it across the major social media outlets, including Reddit and YouTube. Every time the product was restocked, it quickly sold out again. Influencers can speak directly to like-minded people who are already interested in beauty, and may be searching for a product like yours already. This eliminates the headache of trying to figure out where and who to advertise to. Through the use of social media influencers, small businesses can really win big.
Gaining Trust
Trust is an important part of every type of relationship. This includes the relationship you build with your customers. When you run an ad in a magazine, people have no reason to trust you beyond the promises you make in that advertisement. Through the use of influencer marketing, consumer doubt is squashed by the trust they already have instilled in the influencer who will be talking about your product. Many subscribers, followers, and even other brands have likely followed the influencer for quite a while, possibly even years. They’ve created a sort of bond with that person, because they like them, look up to them, or perhaps even want to be more like them. The trust is already established for much of the influencer’s fanbase. This means that the trust in your product will ultimately already have a much better faring amongst an influencer’s audience than it might in other traditional advertising mediums. Many youtubers even state before speaking about a brand deal, that the opinions they share are truly their own and that they would not promote a product that they did not like or would not use themselves.
This allows the potential buyer to feel like the product is truly worthwhile, increasing their chances of making a purchase. In the overwhelming majority of cases––as high as 93%––online reviews of a product affect how likely customers are to purchase it. More specifically, an astounding 86% of women prefer to look to social media for purchasing advice.
What better way for the consumer to know the product is trustworthy, than hearing an in-depth review of it from someone they already watch and trust?
Looking Forward
At the end of the day, using influencers to help promote your products is the way of the future. Influencer marketing has already outweighed print marketing. This year alone, 66% of brands have plans to increase their influencer marketing budgets. They understand that modern consumers respond to influencer marketing more positively than ever.
As online audiences grow, it makes sense that influencer marketing will only continue to grow as one of the most dominant forms of advertising in coming years. When it comes to selling your next product, what will you do? Are you ready to hit subscribe?