Did you know over 63% of business owners are planning to use influencer marketing this year? Marketing your product via influencers is a modern, cost-effective way to greet new audiences.
The parasocial relationship formed between audiences and influencers is an interesting one. Those who follow the influencer view them as a friend and, therefore, trust their recommendations.
If you want a dramatic boost in your engagement and customer base, consider influencer marketing.
What Is Influencer Marketing?
An influencer is a person on social media with a large number of followers. They may have earned their audience via blogging, Instagram content, or Twitter jokes. Essentially, influencers are micro-celebrities with a wide following. Influencer marketing is pairing with influencers to advertise your product. It’s simple enough in theory but a little vague in practice. Influencer marketing can take many forms. You can send an influencer free products and have them review it on their socials. You can give them an affiliate link where they earn some money every time somebody makes a purchase from their recommendation. You can pay them to only say nice things about your brand online! There are many approaches to influencer marketing. But why are they worth looking into?Why You Should Utilize Influencers
As we mentioned before, influencers form parasocial relationships with their followers. Modern audiences are skeptical of large brands and corporations and see through many advertising tricks. But they trust influencers as much as they trust a close friend or coworker. Influencer marketing is the future of advertising. Customers tune out commercials and branded tweets. They’re looking to each other more than ever. Using an influencer to market your product or service makes it seem more human to customers. They are better able to imagine themselves also using your product or service.Finding Influencers to Partner With
‘Influencer’ is such a vaguely-defined term because, well, there are a lot of influencers. You can find an influencer in almost every niche: martial arts, fashion, artisan coffee, St. Louis restaurant blogging. Scroll through popular hashtags and tagged places to find an influencer perfect for you. We suggest starting your search on Instagram and YouTube. These networks birthed the modern influencer and are still wildly popular. Pair with an influencer that matches your branding. If you’re offering an all-natural organic product, team up with influencers who push green living. If you make high-speed rollerskates, team up with online thrill-chasers. To avoid any disagreements, make sure you and your influencer follow these influencer best practices!Benefits of Influencer Marketing
There are plenty of benefits to using influencers as marketing. Here are a few.- Guaranteed Audience: you will automatically gain access to thousands of people through the influencer
- Builds Trust: human-led marketing makes audiences more likely to trust your business
- Cutting-Edge Advertising: since everyone’s getting into the influencer content game, you have a chance to make yourself stand out
- Unlimited Sharing Potential: the internet is forever; your product and your cooperative marketing technique will last much longer than a standard commercial or billboard.
