As consumers move towards ad blockers and other forms of media avoidance, the pressure is on marketers to find new ways to reach their target audiences. Increasingly, companies are migrating towards the use of social influencers to market their products.
The concept is simple – instead of producing a typical ad, businesses pay celebrities or well-known social media users to promote their products in a natural way. In theory, a recommendation from a famous and trusted source would accomplish what conventional advertising cannot – a seemingly organic way to make products look cool, relevant and useful.
But does it work? Here’s a look at social influencers in marketing and why an influencer may be the right move for your next campaign.
- An Organic Approach. Through ad blockers, DVRs and trained eyes, modern consumers are highly skilled in avoiding advertising. The ads they do see, they generally don’t trust. However, they don’t want to miss out on anything their favorite celebrities post on social media. Sponsored messages from influencers appear right in the feeds of your desired audience – and better yet, those consumers will be paying close attention to what your chosen influencer has to say.
- Keeping Up with the Times. According to Forbes, 84 percent of marketers planned to use influencer marketing in 2017. Needless to say, if you don’t take advantage of this advertising medium, your competition will. You don’t want to be caught on the sidelines when a major influencer endorses a competing product over yours.
- Storytelling. Modern marketing is all about telling authentic stories to your audience. 87 percent of businesses that have used social influencers feel that they were able to create authentic marketing pieces that helped to tell the brand’s story. It’s a great way to introduce your company to a larger audience. Whether or not people have heard of your business, they’ll come away feeling like they know you.
- Cost-Effective. The cost of using social influencers might seem excessive at first – especially when you hear stories about companies paying Kim Kardashian $250,000 for a single post. But you don’t have to break the bank. The average company that utilized influencer marketing in 2016 spent between $25,000 and $50,000 on their campaigns. On Instagram, a rule of thumb is to pay $1,000 for every 100,000 followers. These costs are relatively minor in comparison with the cost of shooting a commercial that people are trained to ignore or skip entirely.
- It Works. A study conducted by TapInfluence shows that businesses that used social influencers in 2016 experienced a return on investment eleven times greater than that of conventional digital marketing. No matter what type of industry you’re in, that type of ROI is hard to turn down – especially when you’re presenting an organic type of marketing that garners trust and loyalty.
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