It is becoming more and more difficult for businesses to get attention online. This is largely because every business, big or small, is becoming increasingly digitally engaged. This creates an incredible  amount of noise, making it  hard for organisations to be seen and heard online.

Consumers are growing more sceptical about brands and businesses who indulge in self-promotion, making it increasingly difficult to for businesses to build B2C relationships. This is why the demand for new, innovative digital marketing strategies is on the rise.

This demand for a new approach is compelling brands to appreciate the power of influencers and as such,  influencer marketing is becoming incredibly popular amongst digital marketers and business owners.

Many brands are now investing a significant amount of time and resources into executing successful influencer marketing campaigns. Let’s take a further look at the ins and outs of influencer marketing and why businesses should include the use of influencers in their marketing plan.

 

What exactly are influencers?

Influencers are a popular strategic tool that many businesses are using to promote their products and services. Influencers are used in a variety of ways across all social media platforms, for paid ads, collaborations, endorsements, and gifting.

Considered to be  trend experts in a certain field or niche category, they use their platforms to inspire or of course ‘influence’ their audience and following. Influencers mainly operate through social media channels, and they come with a large, engaged following..

An influencer’s following will turn to them for product recommendations, reviews of an item, place, or service, or other relatable content. Their audiences trust them as experts in specific categories, which makes their platforms favourable to brands that are trying to establish lasting customer relationships.

Influencers will work with brands to create mutually beneficial content, and review their product, service, or post. They will also mention the brand on their social media platforms. Many influencers are paid for their services based on their social media following and engagement. In many cases, paying an influencer can be more cost effective— with a great return on investment (ROI)— than running a paid advertisement on Google or other webpages.

 

Types of influencers

Influencers can be easily segmented based on their ‘niche’ whether this be fashion, lifestyle, food, beauty, outdoor adventure, pool cleaning, animal content, cars and so on, they can also be segmented based on their following.

As well as their ‘niche,’ influencers are also segmented based on their number of followers into the four categories of Mega, Macro, Micro and Nano.

Businesses must decide what type of influencer they will use for their campaign, based on their goals, budget, and which demographics they are targeting.

 

Mega Influencer

Mega-influencers are the highest-ranking category of social media influencer, with a typical following of more than one million people.

Macro

Macro-influencers are slightly below mega-influencers with their following falling somewhere between 100,000 and one million followers.

Micro influencer

A micro-influencer is someone who has between 1,000 to 100,000 followers. A micro-influencer focuses on a specific niche or area and is generally regarded as an industry expert or topic specialist.

Nano Influencer

Nano-influencers are a relatively new breed of influencer. They tend to have a smaller number of followers in comparison to micro-influencers, less than 1,000 followers.

 

What can influencers do for your business?

Influencers can do a lot more for a business than just generate buzz around a brand and drive more traffic to a website.

Below we will delve into the further positive impact influences have on businesses which explains why businesses are eager to implement the use of influencers into their marketing strategy.

 

Increase brand awareness.

Like any public-facing marketing campaign, influencers can help you generate brand awareness by talking about your product or service. Where your own efforts might fall short, influencers increase the buzz about your business by sharing it with their engaged and like-minded audience. Consumers may stumble across your brand months later and recognise it from something they saw or heard from their favourite influencer.

Expand your reach.

Using an influencer to push your brand to their audience unlocks a whole new list of consumers that you may not have reached otherwise. Tapping into their following expands your reach and gets more eyeballs on your offering for a fraction of the price.

Unlock more accurate targeting.

When using influencer marketing, businesses can work with an influencer who creates very specific content and who therefore have a very specific audience and following. So, if a business is looking to target a specific demographic, they would choose a specific influencer to target this demographic.

For example, a makeup company who are looking to promote their new eyeshadow pallet will look at working with influencers who are make-up artists themselves or influencers who regularly create videos where they are doing their makeup, talking about makeup products and who have a large female following.

Create brand credibility and trust.

An influencer’s audience follows them because they have grown to know and trust their content and recommendations. The relatability establishes more organic credibility between influencers and their followers, which means consumers will feel more confident in your brand and products rather than the confidence a regular ad would provide them with.

Give you relevant content to use on your own platforms.

Not only do influencers promote your product or service to their followers, but they will also create some sort of content to accompany their recommendation. This can be in the form of blog articles, photography or stylized videos, or testimonials— all of which you can repurpose to use on your own platforms and in your future marketing campaigns without having to hire internal designers or creatives.

Cost effective targeting.

While influencer marketing is not free, it is generally more cost effective than other forms of advertising or pay-to-play marketing. It is proven to have a higher ROI generating almost eleven times the revenue of regular banner ads. You get more value for your money and in many cases can get away with a trade-for-post partnership with influencers, which means they will create content in exchange for free products or a subscription to your service.

 

Influencer marketing is increasingly becoming a necessity for establishing online presence. Collaborating with influencers can help create online buzz about your brand and can strengthen its reputation, improve audience engagement, and increase conversions.

Now is a crucial time for businesses to recognise the importance of influencer marketing and use it to their advantage.

 

Working with influencers

At Rumour Mill Creative Communications we have worked a roster of influencers for both paid and unpaid campaigns and events. Our influencer database can matchmake your business with the right influencer to compliment your individual goals and brand image. Want to find out more? Get in Touch today.