Breaking Down Walls: The Importance of Influencer Marketing

By on 05/11/2017


influencer marketing blog black bear design

Word of mouth is a powerful thing. People are prone to do things, buy things, and alternatively, reject things, just by listening to popular opinion. Take Yelp for instance, you might refer to the opinions of others who have tried a restaurant before you try it yourself. Their experience influences your decision to act or go somewhere else. How powerful one little rating can be.

Many of the marketing genius’ of our time, such as self-made billionaire Neil Patel, can vouch, influencer marketing is the next big thing. In fact, it’s already here. Let’s dissect what influencer marketing is, how brands can utilize it, who already has, and why it’s so important.

What Exactly IS Influencer Marketing?

Simply put, influencer marketing is the publicity brands enjoy when a celebrity or key leader in an industry shares their opinion about a product or experience. They can raise awareness, change opinions, and help businesses gain traction all by their public support.

Influencers are thought leaders, celebrities—whether local or global and anyone with a big following that has pull. Kylie Jenner, for instance, is the world’s biggest Snapchat and Instagram influencer. She merely has to mention in passing a brand she likes and it gets broadcasted to millions of people instantly. It’s this type of funneled exposure that companies pay for when looking for an influencer to market their brand.

It’s not just a-list celebrities like Kylie Jenner or Kim Kardashian who have magnificent pull over their fans either. Companies in every industry can find use in influencer marketing if they find the right person to saddle up with. It’s quite literally anyone with a targeted approach to brand awareness, whatever their brand might be, and a large following.

Why You Need Influencer Marketing

As of 2016, it was reported that over 47% of digital consumers are employing the use of ad blockers. To circumvent this, businesses can use influencers to cleverly make sure their message gets into people’s feeds and is received. Think of influencer marketing as an advertisement that’s not officially labeled as such, thus negating many of the walls typical advertisements receive.

People trust their peers. Often, if they’re following someone for a long time, they’ll trust their opinion and want to buy what they buy. Gaining trust from consumers is by far the most vital component of worthwhile marketing. Without consumer trust, all your other marketing efforts will go to waste. Influencers provide you with consumer trust immediately.

Breaking Down Walls. A poll conducted by Tomson found that for every dollar a marketer spends on influencer marketing they see a return of $6.50. This is the same with paid vs. organic reach – for every dollar of paid marketing, the business receives $6.85 of earned marketing. Investing in influencers the way companies invest in ad space is not only economically sound, it breaks traditional barriers that advertisers typically face. Additionally, companies see an 11% annual ROI as opposed to using traditional marketing techniques just by finding someone to mention their brand.

How to Become an Influencer

There can be only one. The online world of social platforms can seem daunting, especially when you consider the fact over half the world’s population is on some channel of social media. So, decide on one platform to focus on, and grow a loyal following there.

Post quality content every day. The goal is to not go overboard with posting every 5 minutes. You’ll come across as spammy and will lose followers. Keep it high quality and on brand!

Cross-promoting won’t kill you. It might seem counter-intuitive to promote someone else’s content or brand, but if they’re not a direct competitor to you it could be a fruitful relationship! You’ll gain broader reach by having them share your material to their fan base. This is especially useful if their fan base is bigger than yours.

Be Consistent. Posting quality content on a schedule that your fans can expect will help to create cohesion and influence. If your fans expect to see your posts over their morning cup of coffee, great. If it’s their 15-second escape during the work day, keep going. It’s all about giving what your fans expect from you.

Whether you choose to build your brand such that you become an influencer yourself, or hire the influence of an established leader, the benefits reach far and wide. Influencer marketing creates a discussion rather than an advertisement at an audience. It’s a voice people trust and will follow. Businesses can grow their partnerships with other companies through the exposure influencers give to their brand.

Black Bear Design is keenly poised to help you find the influencer right for your brand. Contact us today to discuss how we can take your business one step further and help you stand out in the forest.

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