Have you ever wondered why you see all these funny people pop up on your news feed or YouTube searches with hilarious content?
Content that starts off with periodical moments but end up directing you to a particular product or service? Also, have you ever been intrigued with a person with amazing persuading powers teach you how to operate a certain software? On top of these, in both cases, you notice significant “likes” and engagement on the videos but the “performer” in the video is NOT a celeb!
Well, welcome to the world of Influencer Marketing!
The term “influencer” may sometimes carry a negative connotation to it. But when added to “marketing”, it opens a world of positive opportunities for brands and marketers alike.
So, what is influencer marketing? If we were to describe it in a simple manner, it would denote “a form of marketing that uses an influencer to promote, educate, entertain or engage audiences with a brand, product, or service.”
But then again, who actually is an “influencer”? Simply put, an influencer is any person from any niche or industry who has a significant number of followers that can change a purchasing scenario or market condition of a brand.
The influencer may be just a food blogger, a video content creator, a travel blogger, a makeup artist, or a popular actor or sportsman. An influencer in this case is usually a person who can influence a target group of a specific niche or market. Thus, more often, they are typically non-celebrities who have influencing power of online or social media platforms.
For example, in a country like ours, where people like to be more entertained than anything else, influencers like Kareena Kaiser, Iftekhar Rafsan (aka Rafsan the Chhoto Bhai) and Rakin Absar have garnered a strong audience via influencer marketing. Also, the founder of 10 Minute School, Ayman Sadique and Ghulam Sumdany Don, founder of Don Sumdany Facilitation and Consultancy, are well-known influencers in the education and management niches of the country.
Numbers that Speak for Influencer Marketing
As they say, statistics tell compelling stories that gives one the true picture of what has happened, is happening and may happen. Following are some notable statistical highlights reflecting the immaculate growth of influential marketing:
- Influencer Marketing Industry may skyrocket to a whopping $16.4 Billion in revenue by the end of 2022.
- Influencer Marketing managed around $800M in funding in 2021, a significant step toward solidifying its authority in the market.
- The number of Influencer Marketing and related firms grew by 26% in 2021 globally, hitting a staggering 18,900 firms worldwide
- Fraudulent Instagram influencers have decreased significantly over the last few years, amounting to less than 49%.
- Globally, more than 75% of marketers plan to set an exclusive influencer marketing budget in 2022.
- a significant increase in influencer sourcing was noticed in 2021 where brands where highly interested to pay influencers for services. An equal split between financial payment and free products to influencers now exists which is highly notable.
- Majority of brands prefer the same influencers across different campaigns
- Apparently, around 68% marketers are strategizing to enhance their influencer marketing expenditure in 2022
- Instagram is the most popular platform for influencer marketing currently where nearly 80% of the brands engaged with influencers.
- Influencer marketing success is most commonly measured via conversions rate per sales.
Reasons Why Influencer Marketing is the “Thing”
As the above stats show, influencer marketing is THE thing in marketing now and does not look to slow down any time soon. But what makes it click? Let’s look at seven reasons of its success:
Content is king, and influencers know how
Influencers possess the magical skills to attract their audience toward their “promotion”. So, don’t even need to think of how it would be better to present your product, service, or event to the audience. Content creators create luring content for the target group on their own based on life experiences and events, and help brands present their products in the most fruitful way possible.
Engagement rates fly high
Influencer marketing campaigns boost not only RO but increase engagement as well as more people realize your brand exists, by visiting your site or social media pages; signing up for your newsletters; and most importantly, following your social media pages and channels. All these help brands grow, yielding business growth and happy management. On top of this, association and working with different Influencers will help in finding new, effective approaches for advertising as an additional benefit.
Customers trust influencers more than they “distrust” ads
Undoubtedly, as many surveys report, a vast number of online users use Ad blockers, for perceived safety reasons. However, when it comes to a blogger’s post or influencer’s content, people usually don’t prefer ad blocking. As the posts are interesting to them, they don’t even care if the post is promotional in nature. They get fully engaged into it, helping brands get good reach. A tremendous advantage, no doubt!
Influencers connect more than the brands themselves
Emotional connections can turn lives upside down. It is quite apparent that influencers can connect emotionally with audiences more than brands themselves. Brands can set strategies to increase revenue or enhance reach; but influencers can fathom deeper issues and human thoughts that appeal stronger to target audiences. Only a human will posses the emotional intelligence to connect deeply with other humans. Also, influencers provide more authenticity to a promotion rather than the brand promoting itself. It’s one thing to claim you are good; its another thing when someone else says you are good. As simple as that!
Loyalty of a “few” works more than interest of “many”
Influencers don’t need millions of followers to persuade the purchase of a product or service. Instead, a strong group of niche followers, even just ten thousand followers, can change the
game altogether. A particular product or brand does not need millions of buyers to be
considered profitable. Instead, ensuring long-term relationship and value creation between the brand and consumer creates better reputation and stronger market survival. And this can best be ascertained by the emotional connect and influence that an influencer generates.
Influencers are always excited to interact
Unlike established celebrities, who are usually busier promoting their own career or working, influencers interact frequently with their followers. It creates a sense of belongingness among the followers. It obviously creates a soft corner for the influencer, thinking of that person as “someone among us”.
New ideas, new solutions
Influencers bank on the fact that customers want and appreciate innovative solutions to existing problems. Even more intriguing are the ideas that create a new perception with a new offering. Consumers get inclined toward different services and products across the online platforms, allowing influencers to stimulate interest and awareness of brands.
To sum it up…
Influencer Marketing is becoming the “go-to” marketing for brands nowadays, especially on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, etc. This popularity has led to new agencies and firms offering this service to their valued clients.
In the local arena, Bizcope, is providing game changing influencer marketing services and campaigns to client brands. With the assistance of data analysis garnered from influencer marketing records, brands are provided reports that help them identify and peruse past conditions that may be used to predict future performance.
Bizcope helps brands connect with appropriate influencers to help them connect with the brand’s target customers. With rising opportunities and competition in this field, the future looks bright for influencer marketing.
