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Friday, 15 December 2017 06:18

Why Influencer Marketing On Social Media Works

In any given minute, social media explodes with new content. There are 66,000 Instagram photos posted, 500,000 tweets, and 3.3 million Facebook posts created every 60 seconds. It is safe to say that social media presents users with a content overload. Competing with thousands, even millions, of other posts makes it difficult to get the right message in front of the ideal consumer.

More importantly, when one of these posts does manage to catch the attention of a consumer, how do you ensure that there is trust communicated in that message? As a business profile, you often won't be able to. More than 90 percent of consumers are going to turn to people they know for a product or service referral over any other source. That's not to say that some brands haven't excelled at building relationships on social media, take Wendy's for example, but there is an inherent amount of skepticism from users reading content about products that come from the brands themselves.

A New Way To Sell

As trust between consumers and brands dwindled, the idea of influencers started to edge its way into the marketing mix.

According to Merriam-Webster, influence means “the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force...or command.” An influencer in the marketing space is someone who is able to engage consumers and help them to form specific opinions about a brand or product.

Through social media, influencers are able to build a relationship, however distant, with their following. Users find themselves following the lives of perfect strangers and trusting the things that they say. This is where brands can benefit. Whether on a blog, through Instagram, or another platform entirely, influencers can be used to humanize a brand.

The Success of Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing works for a number of reasons. Influencers build up their following prior to making a profit from their social profiles, so there is a symbiotic relationship between the two. This leads to more genuine and reliable reviews of products. If an influencer is giving false reviews, it's only a matter of time until their followers find that out for themselves and lose trust in the influencer altogether.

This authenticity provides an additional benefit for brands that use influencer marketing. More often than not, the right influencer for a brand is someone who fits into the ideal buyer persona for that product, so brands are able to discern more in-depth information about their target audience by working with an influencer.

Why Does Influencer Marketing Work on Social Media?

Influencer marketing has proven to be so successful because it reintroduces the transparency that is missing from a lot of marketing efforts. The strategy combines the best of social media and word-of-mouth marketing for a serious return on investment. Statistics show that for every dollar invested in influencer marketing, brands see an average of $6.50 returned in sales.

Influencer marketing is not only showing value in sales efforts but also in building long-term relationships with consumers who become loyal advocates for the brands, as well, proving itself to be an effective strategy that will most certainly be sticking around for a while.


 

If you're interested in building a trusted relationship with your ideal consumer, contact FiG Advertising + Marketing to see how influencer marketing can enhance your communication strategy.

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