Whether we like it or not, we’re all influenced by something – or indeed, someone – when making purchasing decisions. Influencer marketing is the practice of brands collaborating with industry experts who have influence over communities of varying sizes through multiple channels. In the last two years alone, the influencer marketing industry grew from $9.7 billion to a projected $16.4 billion. It promises a return that goes beyond converting prospects alone. Data shows that on average businesses are making $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing whilst the top 13% of businesses are seeing a revenue of $20 or more per every $1 spent.
Influencer collaborations helps fill in the gaps of your current strategy with content that solves problems, educates, leans on industry credibility and inspires your intended audience by giving them a “face” they already feel some sort of connection with. Your content is placed in front of social users and target audience groups that are already interested in your niche – you don’t have to spend additional funds on testing and finding your audience when someone already has an established audience network for you
Influencers build trust and credibility with their fans and this goodwill can be transferred to brands who benefit from advertising to an already “warmed up” audience. They drive brand awareness by highlighting more than just the businesses’ products and services, but also their brand values. The key to success here is for brands to study which type of influencer will best project their messaging to the right “pool” of prospects. Here are the main types of influencers to consider:
Nano influencers
- <10,000 followers
- Typically unstructured feeds with more personal content
- More authentic interactions
Micro influencers
- 10,000-100,000 followers
- Typically create content about specific niche interests
- Command authority in their areas of interest
Macro influencers
- 100,000-1,000,000 followers
- Typically create content about topics which are of interest to most people
- Ability to reach a broad demographic
It would be remiss to leave out ‘mega’ influencers who are household names with an established credibility, who can be used within a multi-channel approach. But this type can tend to fall more into traditional advertising over influencer marketing – think Daniel Craig in the Belvedere campaign for instance.
Ultimately, it’s about doing what’s right by your brand and its audience. Be it ‘micro’ or ‘macro’ influencers – or a nice blend of them all – you need to make the call based on data and insight, to prove which will be the best way to connect with prospective customers and continue nurturing the relationship with current customers.