If you use social media for your business, perhaps you have already considered working with influencer, or you might be wondering to yourself if this is the right option for you. While some businesses thrive when they work with influencers, some businesses don’t benefit as much. So, before you decide to take a leap, it’s important that you get the low-down on social media influencers, how they help businesses, and if they’re the right decision for your business. Let’s get started!
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is when a business partners with a social media influencer to help their marketing and advertising efforts. A social media influencer is someone who uses their platform on their social media account to advertise a product or service. Most businesses believe that their page does the same thing, however, influencers impact people differently. These people usually already have a large following before you contact them. Influencers are usually someone who consumers trust. They serve as a way to reach potential customers and expand your brand awareness.
Why is influencer marketing beneficial for your business?
Influencer marketing can be useful in many ways. The influencer you pick for platforming your brand is usually someone their followers trust. This is a great asset to your brand. Even though they might be advertising a particular product or service, they are establishing a sense of trust in your brand. This will increase your brand’s credibility, which is always a positive thing.
When you consider the person or persons you are choosing to be the influencer, you will notice their current following. Most of the influencers have a significant amount of people that follow them on one or multiple platforms. The amount of people that follow them is most likely the number of people that will see something they have posted about your brand. You may see an increase in the number of people that follow your business’s social account because of the influencer’s post. Being tagged, located, or mentioned can help draw people toward your account.
Increasing your business’s credibility and the social following is not the only thing they are beneficial for – influencers can also increase the brand’s word of mouth. When people talk about your brand, it becomes engaged in word-of-mouth marketing. When people see something beneficial to them posted by someone they trust, they are most likely to tell the others that are around them. Word-of-mouth marketing is said to be very impactful in increasing a company’s conversion rate.
Who are you trying to influence?
The main point of using an influencer is to target their following. As a business, it is crucial to ask yourself who the target market is going to be. Several factors go into picking your influencer.
1. How many followers do they have?
This does not necessarily mean the larger the number the better the influencer. (That’s a huge mistake people make!) When we say look at how many followers they have, you want to look for a size your business can handle. Growing a business overnight is not always positive. Sticking with a size you can accommodate is going to help in the long run. Once your business learns to handle new orders, slowly climbing up the ladder of influencers can be a promising way to your goal.
2. Influencer personality
Every brand has an image and personality. It is so important that you pick an influencer that matches your business. A bad pair, for example, would be having Kanye West posting bright colorful products. You would normally never see that type of content on his page; therefore, it would throw people off and no one would trust it. A good example of the right pair would be, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson promoting something related to health and fitness. (Who doesn’t love The Rock?!)
3. Is the influencer influencing?
Many people get so distracted by the excitement of who they pick as their influencer that they do not pay attention to whether the influencer is influencing their product or service. Is that such a bad thing? Well, potential customers are more than capable of telling if the influencer truly believes in the product they are advertising. They want to buy from someone they trust. The clothing company Levi recently released a campaign ‘Buy Better, Wear Longer’ which promoted a sense of sustainability. Cleverly, the brand picked six Generation Z activists that in one form or another, promote sustainability. This made for an and impactful campaign in the United States.
Is influencer marketing the right fit for your business?
After all this information, it is time to get down to the crux of the matter. Not every business needs to use influencer marketing. For example, influencer marketing may not be the best for businesses that offer a service or offer something with an unpredictable target market. Unpredictable target markets and influencers who are just seen as spokespeople may hurt your company’s image.
So, think long and hard about what your business offers and if an influencer could help promote your brand. If you’re not sure, reach out to a professional (psst…that can be us!) to talk it over. You don’t want to invest a ton of money in something that isn’t going to work, so do your research before signing a contract. As always, businesses need to be smart with their advertising. If it is unnecessary, then it is just that, unnecessary.
Happy evolving, and remember, we’re always here if you need a helping hand!
