Influencers transformed the world of marketing. Previously one person couldn’t have enough power to destroy or bring to the stars a product. But now we have these people on the internet.
The reason influencer marketing is so effective lies in the essence of this phenomenon. For the first time in the history of business, we put our trust in the people who are strangers to us, but it feels like we know them. We trust their opinion because, thanks to social media, we are in a parasocial relationship with them.
This huge power allows influencers to start collaborating with companies and promote their products to their audiences for a fee. Sometimes a pretty big one. And they do it so well that influencer marketing became the next big thing in the industry. If you want to know how you can use it for your company, keep reading.
The Deep Meaning of Influencer Marketing and What It Means for Brands.
The whole “influencer marketing” term means that you as a company collaborate with, for example, a TikTok influencer to promote your products. You can just send them your product for review or hire an influencer to do a dedicated post on Instagram or a video on YouTube.
Before the influencer era, celebrities were the only ones who got advertising contracts from brands because fans would love to buy the product their idol may use and love. Nowadays, influencers got a huge piece of this cake, and their contribution can be even more effective.
For example, the brand Makeup Geek, created back in 2011 by YouTube influencer Marlena Stell, was one of the first who understand the importance of influencer marketing. They sent their products to influencers and gave them codes for their audience. When someone from the audience used code, the influencer got a small commission from the purchase.
Shortly enough, the brand started receiving tons of new customers, especially from aspiring influencer Jaclyn Hill. For the longest time, Makeup Geek thrived thanks to influencer marketing and was the thing on beauty YouTube. In 2018, after a long hiatus of the brand, Marlena Stell announced that she couldn’t afford to pay big influencers their fees anymore, and that’s why her brand is now forgotten on YouTube and lost money in sales.
How to Find an Influencer that Is Exactly Right for You
This example shows how influencers can bring a brand to the stars or completely bury it if they are no longer interested in promoting the brand. To avoid the unfortunate side of this, we advise you to collaborate with different types of influencers and not only count on the biggest names.
Depending on the number of followers, influencers can be:
- Nano influencers with less than 10,000 followers
- Micro-influencers from 10,000 to 100,000 followers
- Macro influencers with up to 1 million followers
- Mega influencers with 1 million and more followers
Of course, you should consider the fact that one million on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram means different things. Also, niche influencers will always have fewer subscribers but a more seasoned and trusting audience. Please do your research and choose collaborations with influencers who got their audience organically or through a sudden blow up, but not because of the bought likes and views.
A Little Bit of the Statistics
To illustrate better how big of a deal influencer marketing is, let’s look at some influencer marketing stats.
- In 2019 brands spent around $2,42 billion on influencers, in 2021 $3,69, and it is estimated that this budget will reach $4,62 billion in 2023. And all of this, despite the pandemic.
- Instagram is the second most popular social media platform for influencer marketing, and it only gives up to YouTube.
- Nano or micro Instagram influencers, on average, earn from $1,5-3K every month thanks to influencer marketing.
- The majority of big companies spend about 75% of their marketing budget on influencers.
How to Decide if It Is the Right Marketing Strategy for Your Brand?
You have built your reputation and had an image of your branding in your mind for years, and now it can be scary to entrust your baby into the hands of some internet personality.
So influencer marketing will work for you if you are ready to give up entrepreneurial freedom to an influencer. If a person you chose for advertisement will decide to create a video “How to become an Instagram influencer” in the form of a skit, because they know that their audience will love it, you must let them.
Also, keep in mind that such creative freedom should be in line with the legal aspects of your brand.
How to Make this Collaboration Worth Your Money
First of all, you need to make influencer ads a part of your marketing strategy. Maybe even build a strategy around the ads if you want to give it the majority of your budget.
Secondly, choose the right type of influencers. Decide whether your product needs a video or an Instagram story for an ad. You can use one video for a couple of platforms, but you will need video conversion software to convert it to the proper format. The correct format will bring the best results for your ad, so do not ignore it.
Thirdly, determine your goals and explain them to the influencer to come up with the best ad. They know their audience, and only influencers know how to send the right message.
And lastly, promote your collaboration on your social media, website, use Facebook ads, etc. Try to reach as many people as you can to make more profit from this collaboration.
Final Thoughts
Constant collaborations with influencers are the new-age method of marketing. Influencers created a new world of approachable and close-to-you celebrities who recommend products, not just sell them.
This market will only grow bigger in the future, so it is time for you, too, to hop on this train and start using influencer marketing in your strategy.
