From starting as a fledgling guerilla marketing tactic to a key strategic move, influencer marketing has come far over the years. It is poised to become one of the most valuable methods of advertising for business and brand growth. But why?
One of the primary reasons is because of its anticipated growth. Influencer marketing is forecasted to grow by approximately $16.4 billion in 2022, according to Influencer Marketing Hub.
In this blog, we’re exploring the top reasons why influencer marketing is an important strategic move for your business and branding.
What is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing involves brands working with content creators to promote a product or service. It’s a popular element of the modern marketing mix that should not be ignored, especially for small businesses.
More than 75% of brand marketers say that they plan to dedicate a portion of their marketing budget to influencer marketing in 2022.
It stands to reason that influencer marketing for small or medium-sized businesses and large corporations alike is a necessary part of marketing and advertising strategies. Read on to learn why.
The Importance of Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is important for brands and businesses because it helps to achieve a variety of business goals. With the right marketing mix and influencer marketing positioned as a key component, brands can expand their reach and achieve greater sales growth.
Here are a few ways that influencer marketing helps businesses:
- Influencer marketing increases brand awareness
- Content creators build credibility and trust
- Influencer-generated content amplifies social media engagement
- High-quality content improves search engine rankings
- Influencer marketing boosts your sales conversions
Why Is Influencer Marketing Important For Branding & Business?
Connecting with a wider target audience helps your brand become a household name among potential consumers. The more a consumer relates your brand to their needs, the more likely they will remember you — and recommend you to their acquaintances.
The more influencer partnerships you solidify, the more your audience and engagement are poised to grow. And with growing engagement across your brand’s social media channels comes a higher amount of website traffic and resulting sales.
With influencer marketing linked to better conversions, marketers should prioritize and build it into a brand’s overall marketing strategy.
Influencer Marketing Amplifies Brand Awareness
Ideally, your brand should work with influencers who create content within a similar niche or vertical as your product or service. The connection is more believable and authentic when brands work with creators who share a similar content vision.
That said, you still have a greater chance of reaching new consumers by working with influencers or content creators, who will help you increase brand awareness by sharing your brand with their followers.
Influencer Partnerships Improve Credibility and Trust
When brands partner with creators who have a proven track record of valued advice, have a revered standing among their peers, or have strong accolades relating to their niche, it translates to more respect for the brand.
Therefore, when brands associate themselves with a trusted influencer, they become an extension of that trust. Trusted creators who work with trusted brands result in a more achievable buy-in from consumers.
Influencer Partnerships Help Increase Engagement
When creators publish content featuring your brand, you’re more likely to inherit new followers as a result.
Not only that, but new followers mean more opportunities for engagement. Capitalize on your influencer partnerships by increasing your native social media content around the same time as sponsored content is being generated via your collaborations with creators.
Creators Drive Improved Search Engine Rankings
When creators work with brands to produce high-quality content showcasing a product or service, their audience will be more likely to look for your brand via a search engine. With optimized website copy and targeted ads that feature influencer-generated content (IGC), more clicks and website traffic will translate to a higher search engine ranking.
Influencer Partnerships Help Boost Sales Conversions
In addition to brand searches, consumers are also likely to follow your brand’s account on the same platform where they saw the IGC.
Regardless of the method, a creator’s involvement with your brand is likely to improve sales conversions. When influencers post about your brand — either organically or via paid sponsorships — keep track of the products that sell as a result!
How Influencers Have Evolved Marketing for the Better
Influencers and content creators have permanently changed what digital marketing looks like today. Not only have they unlocked a new avenue for how brands can reach consumers, but they’ve also positioned themselves as highly knowledgeable subject matter experts for brands to leverage across different marketing initiatives.
Content creators also help brands sway public sentiment. When a trusted influencer publishes an opinion, it’s not uncommon for their audience to voice support — whether that support is for a brand or a certain cause, you name it.
Because there are different types of influencers, there are also different tiers of influence for brands to utilize — and each one comes with a different price tag as well.
One of the most valued types of influencers is the multi-faceted micro-influencer, which is someone who has a strong relationship with their smaller number of followers (comparatively), thus representing a more affordable asset to brands.
To learn more about micro-influencers and how to work with one, check out this comprehensive article.
Why Should Brands Include Influencer Marketing in Their PR Strategy?
Influencer marketing takes word-of-mouth publicity to the next level. Because social media influencers are considered credible to their audience, engaging them in a brand’s PR strategy can be an effective way to improve public opinion. Here’s how:
Influencers Are More Popular Than Mainstream Celebrities
Social media has opened new doors to stardom and fame — to the point where many content creators are more popular than mainstream celebrities and TV personalities. In particular, millennial and Gen Z consumers lean on influencer opinions more than celebrity endorsements.
Consumers Are Wary of Paid Advertisements
Unlike paid advertising, influencer marketing can connect with consumers while earning credibility and trust. This bridges the gap between customers who are cautious of advertising that come directly from brand channels.
Many influencers only promote products they have personally used and stand by, therefore their opinions and promotions are often seen as more reliable.
Influencer Marketing Is Cost-Effective
For most marketers, keeping marketing budgets from blowing out of proportion is a delicate balance. Fortunately, influencer marketing offers a cost-effective way to connect with a target audience because it has a considerably high return on investment (ROI). According to Convince and Convert, influencer marketing campaigns have 11 times greater ROI when it comes to banner ads.
Influencer Marketing Is Trackable
One of the biggest advantages of influencer marketing is its ability to efficiently measure campaign performance. Marketers can use a variety of metrics — such as social likes, brand mentions, click-through rates, referral traffic, and revenue, among others — to measure campaign efficacy. Trackable elements like UTM links and promo codes also help brands attribute specific metrics to individual creators.
Why is Influencer Marketing Important?
In conclusion, influencer marketing is a key component of any marketing strategy for brands and businesses because it provides several benefits to your brand. From increased brand awareness to improved engagement, to more conversions, and more, there are more reasons than ever to pursue a sponsored partnership with an influencer.
Learn More About How Influencer Marketing Can Help Your Brand
- 3 Steps To High-Quality Influencer Content
- 12 Reasons Why Brands Choose Mavrck
- Influencer Marketing Measurement: How To Create An Effective Report
Influencer Marketing Common Questions
How Effective Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a highly effective advertising method. 60% of marketers have noted that influencer-generated content (IGC) performs better and drives more engagement compared to brand-produced content.[1]
How Do You Measure Influencer Marketing?
There are several ways to measure influencer marketing performance. One of the most common methods is analyzing influencer-generated content engagement rates. Another method — though harder to capture — is by analyzing earned media value. Brands can use engagement metrics to accurately report a return on investment (ROI). Learn more about how to measure ROI on your influencer marketing campaigns.
How Do I Run An Influencer Program?
There are many ways to run a campaign in partnership with creators, but the most comprehensive method is by working with an influencer marketing platform like Mavrck.
Learn more about why Mavrck is the #1 influencer marketing platform and schedule your demo with one of our experts.
