You probably know that word-of-mouth is one of the most valuable forms of marketing out there.
Using social media influencers in your marketing is the practice of building relationships with the people who can build relationships for you.
Business Dictionary define influencers as “individuals who have the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of their (real or perceived) authority, knowledge, position or relationship.”
Social Media Influencers are the key element of many social media and modern public relations cases.
By aligning with an influencer, you can open your brand and product to a whole new level of fans and customers.
It allows companies of any size to instantly connect with target prospects worldwide, with the mere twitch of a finger.
Per this research “Nearly 40% of Twitter users say they’ve made a purchase as a direct result of a Tweet from an influencer.” 49% of respondents said they relied on influencers who has something to say about a product either positively or negatively. You can see that having influencers to discuss your brand experience is crucial.
According to Twitter sales from 2015 “90% of consumer’s trust peer recommendations. Only 33% trust ads” Out of the 90%, 72% do so base on the word of a social media influencer.
That is a huge power to have behind a brand.
Instead of simply looking at followers, a better equation for brands to consider is the following:
Influence = Audience Reach (# of followers) x Brand Affinity (expertise and credibility) x Strength of Relationship with Followers
Looking at Instagram Influencer, the reach is even far more.
55% of all 18- to 29-year-olds in the U.S. are Instagram users. And with about 500m users and 300m active daily users, that is a lot of potential market.
49% of people say they rely on recommendations from influencers when making purchase decisions. (Twitter and Annalect, 2016)
Why you need influencers?
- Help increase your reach.
- Know your audience.
- They increase your brand visibility.
- Earn Trust.
- Inform your content.
Connecting to the right influencers can provide you with some great audience insights. Just because someone has many followers, doesn’t mean they’re a great influencer for your brand. So, before you attach an influencer to your brand, you should consider the following:
Relevance: The influencer is sharing content and developing a following relevant to your business and the particular market segment you want to target. Read through that blogger’s archived posts to get a sense for what kind of consumer they are.
Engagement: The potential level of engagement the influencer can create with an audience that’s valuable and relevant to your brand. o those readers respond, comment, and share? What percentage of readers are returning vs. new? Look at comments on their blog or Instagram posts, retweets and likes. It will give you an idea of how popular these posts are, not just how big their follower count is.
Reach: The number of people you could potentially reach the influencer’s follower base that would bring value to your business. Traffic and followers are only meaningful to the extent that the influence is reaching your brand’s target audience.
Create a strategy that identifies the bloggers that lift your brand the most and segment them into an advocate group that you nurture and work with ongoing.
Equip your influencers with high-resolution images and photo op for their content. How can you help them create something pretty for Instagram!?
And remember that influencers are more than just bloggers—they include those with loyal audiences on all social networks.
Care to share your thought? Drop a comment below.
