Nowadays, consumers are surrounded by digital advertisements, and thus, are exposed to so many marketing messages. The audience is usually not convinced by the old advertising methods, and the way to break through the noise is not an easy one. Influencer marketing is now the weapon of choice to make a real connection with your target audience and to make your brand stand out in a meaningful way. Through the use of the credibility and social influence of online personalities, firms can boost their brand message, earn brand loyalty, and achieve huge growth. In this blog post, I will be talking about how influencer marketing can affect your brand, the advantages of using this strategy, what to take into consideration for successful execution, and finally, the influencer marketing for small businesses.
Enhanced Brand Awareness and Credibility
- Reaching New Audiences: By going through the route of influencers, you can get into the audience that the influencers already have, thus extending your brand reach and introducing your products or services to a larger group of people. This is above all significant for small businesses wishing to enter new markets or to target specific customer segments.
- Boosting Brand Credibility: Persuasive people who use your brand in their social media posts are assured of an extra layer of social backing and genuineness. It is because the people they follow are the ones who recommend them, and hence they are more likely to trust them than traditional advertising. Endorsements by influencers look more like a real-life recommendation from a friend or a trustworthy person rather than a marketing campaign.
- Data on Brand Awareness: A study by Influencer Marketing Hub has shown that 94% of marketers think that influencer marketing companies are an efficient way of enhancing brand awareness. This emphasizes the ability of influencers to drum up new audiences for your brand and hence, the scope gets expanded immensely.
Driving Targeted Engagement and Sales
- Building Brand Affinity: Influencers can come up with engaging content which highlights your brand and its features in a way that the audience can easily relate to. Thus, the brand is well-perceived and the audience feels special to them. For instance, a fashion influencer might make a blog post or a video with varying outfit combinations using your clothing line. Such content can put viewers in the mood and make them feel like they are a part of your brand.
- Increased Purchase Intent: Influencer endorsements can in fact directly influence the decision to buy a product. A Socialbakers survey found that 86% of consumers are quite likely to trust the advice of influencers. People who are genuine and use your products can be the ones to convince their audience to try them as well.
- Sales & Conversion Potential: Influencer Marketing Hub finds out that 65% of the marketers say that influencer marketing gives a good ROI, showing its promise to boost sales and conversions. Nevertheless, the main to success is in the case of you aligning your influencer marketing strategy to your whole marketing goals.
Building Brand Advocacy and Community:
- Organic Content Creation: Influencers, through their engaging content promote your brand, thus expanding your content marketing strategy and giving you user-generated content (UGC) which is also very valuable. The authentic content can be used to promote your brand on your social media platforms and website and thus, the brand message becomes even more powerful.
- Community Building: Such influencers who are in sync with your brand will become your brand ambassadors, thus, they will create a community around your brand and will attract customers to your brand, which will be an enduring customer loyalty. This loyal community can be a powerful tool for your brand, giving you insightful comments and naturally promoting your products or services.
Also Read: SEO For Business Growth: Turn Your Website Into A Revenue Machine
Finding the Right Influencer for Your Brand
- Alignment with Brand Values: Paper out the influencers whose values and target audience match with your brand. One way to illustrate it is to say that an eco-friendly brand would collaborate with an influencer that in fact, protects and promotes the environment. The deception in such collaborations can turn out badly and ruin the reputation of your brand.
- Engagement Rate over Follower Count: The major thing is to concentrate on the influencers with a high engagement rate rather than the ones with a big follower base. A smaller audience that is very active and attached to a message is usually more beneficial. High engagement is a proof that the influencer has a faithful following who is well connected with his/her content.
- Consider Micro-Influencers: Micro-influencers (10k to 50k followers) usually have higher engagement rates and hence are more affordable in comparison to the mega-influencers. Micro-influencer marketing is a great opportunity for small businesses to connect with their niche audience which is the exact target of the business.
Also Read: How To Promote Your Business Online: A Comprehensive Guide?
Influencer marketing, if done properly, can be a great means to affect your brand in a favorable way. It provides the opportunity to contact new customers, enhance brand credibility, generate sales, and develop a customer community. Nonetheless, the planning and the selection of the right influencers are the keys for success.
OptMum Digital, one of the leading influencer marketing agencies, can assist you in creating and carrying out a data-based influencer marketing campaign that goes hand in hand with your brand’s objectives and in turn, gives measurable results. Our network of renowned personalities in diverse fields can assist you in identifying the perfect influencer who can help your brand message reach the masses.
