What brands should be utilising influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing can be advantageous to the right brand, but it will not suit all. Influencer marketing has been growing in popularity for many years now and does not seem to be slowing down. From celebrity endorsements to ordinary people with a high following, influencer marketing grew with the use of photo-sharing social media platforms. Discover more on influencer marketing and understand if it is right for your brand. 

Why use influencer marketing?

With 80% of consumers reporting to have bought something recommended by an influencer, brands realise the ROI is high for influencer marketing. 89% of marketers say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels found in a study by MediaKix. While the IPA reported a 20% decline across advertising, influencers enjoyed a 46% increase. 

Influencers build relationships and a level of trust with their followers. Brands use this to their advantage by paying the creators to share pictures, videos, and even partnership give-aways to their audience. Micro-influencers (10+ thousand followers) are most popular with brands, for their authenticity over mega influencers (over 1 million followers). Their engagement level is much higher than a mega influencer who has over 1 million flowers. Whilst it may seem more advantageous to go for the influencers with the most followers research shows that micro influencers have better engagement as their lives seem more achievable and realistic. Creators with a smaller following often interact with followers a lot better and therefore the relationship is much stronger.

Followers look to influencers to test out and share their honest reviews on a product or service before buying online. A follower will trust an influencer who represents them best. So, when incorporating influencer marketing into your strategy ensure you are carefully selecting the influencers you take on, research their interests and follower demographics. 

How can I utilise influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing matters because it works. Hubspot says that 84% of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising so targeting them through trusted sources and reaching them directly is key to building a loyal customer base within millennials. 

Consumers are searching for recommendations and reviews on social media more often so having a digital platform is crucial to stay up to date. A digital platform also allows a brand to have a personal level of communication with their customers outside of the corporate website. A social media platform allows a brand to display its brand identity. 

Influencer marketing is simple. Provide the influencer with a brief outlining the product or service you wish them to advertise, they create said content and in return your brand pays them. Influencers are also known as content creators as they do not only create content for their platforms but also allow brands to buy the content so it can be reshared on their platform.

We have listed some do’s and don’ts to help you with influencer marketing in your digital campaigns;

• Do – give the influencer creative freedom but understand the content must still be representative of your brand so provide guidelines for them to create within.
• Don’t – tell the influencer what to post precisely their followers can tell! It will read as a script rather than authentic which is what consumers look for.
• Do – research influencers to see which ones best coincide with your brand; they are becoming a temporary face of your brand so they must fit.
• Don’t – choose your influencer based on followers alone. A micro-influencer may have better engagement than someone who has over 1 million followers.

Male and females follow different types of influencers, with 56% of women follow beauty influencers and 54% of men follow gaming influencers found Rakuten. Females’ top three categories to follow are beauty, entertainers, and a tie between celebrities and fashion. Men however most commonly follow gaming influencers, entertainer influencers, and influencers dealing with technology. 

Why influencer marketing will benefit your brand!

The pandemic boosted influencer marketing with consumers spending more time on social media. With the pandemic restricting events and socialising, the content created between influencers and brands changed. The change in content allowed new sectors/brands to expand into influencer marketing as it moved away from a heavily influenced fashion platform. In the past twelve months, more alternative sectors are allocating more resources towards influencer marketing, including legal, manufacturing, education, IT & telecoms, architecture, engineering & building, finance, arts & culture, healthcare, travel & transport. Last year alone, marketing spends on influencers grew 83%.

Influencer marketing proves to deliver a more authentic response and therefore more brands can use influencer marketing in their strategy. Influencers can promote products casually throughout their day creating transparency, but also show the consumer how they would use the product and why they need to purchase it. 

How GottaBe! can help with your influencer marketing!

GottaBe! offer digital marketing services including social media. If you are unsure how to incorporate influencer marketing into your business strategy, then our team is here to help. Book in a chat with one of our digital marketing experts today to start connecting with Influencers and boost your online presence. We have an extensive list of influencers with various followings that cover a variety of different industries and categories.