Why Are Influencers Important for Online Marketing?

Influencer marketing is one of the most popular and successful social media strategies used by marketers. The Social Commerce Blog released an influencer marketing benchmark report and showed that the influencer industry had grown to approximately $16.4 billion in 2022. In the past year alone, marketers and agencies that offered influencer marketing-related services increased by 26%. Moreover, 90% of brand representatives and marketing and PR agencies believe that influencer marketing is an effective form of marketing and would typically dedicate 75% of their budget specifically to influencer marketing campaigns. If you are still unconvinced, here are some reasons why influencer marketing is important for online marketing:

Strengthens Trust and Authenticity

Influencer marketing is the best way to build authenticity and trust. Most influencers have gained the trust of their audience through original and relatable content on topics such as beauty, sports, and fashion. And since influencers are regarded as experts in their niche, it's natural that their followers trust their opinions. Matt Moran’s piece on influencer marketing statistics revealed that 92% of consumers trust online word-of-mouth recommendations. Therefore, brand testimonials and feedback from trusted influencers will bring more value to your brand. If you want your brand to feel closer to the target audience, collaborating with influencers is beneficial to help your brand fit into your market's lifestyle and appear genuine on social media and online platforms.

Reaches a Hyper-Targeted Audience

Identifying and connecting with the correct target audience is the most important element of any marketing campaign. And what makes influencer marketing stand out from other strategies is that it allows businesses to target specific audiences. Maryville University’s post on influencer marketing discussed how 70% of marketers believe that the right influencer marketing strategy will result in higher-quality customers. This is because an influencer’s followers are already a captured niche audience that's interested and engaged in custom content made just for them. Moreover, choosing the right type of influencer matters. If you are aiming for international exposure, you must reach out to mega-influencers to ensure that the audience will recognize the personality along with your brand. But if you are accommodating a specific niche, mid-tier influencers can help you tap the right audiences. For example, ColourPop relies on social media to advertise its affordable products. To match the idea of affordable but high-quality make-up products with their influencer marketing strategy, they partnered with macro- to mid-tier YouTubers to promote their products in their make-up tutorials. With this, your branded content can stand out in the right areas and audiences.

Increases Conversions and Lead Generation

Finally, if you can select appropriate influencers for your brand with the right target market in mind, influencer marketing will help you generate conversions and create potential leads. As mentioned above, most customers rely on influencers when making or recommending purchase decisions. It is important that your brand aligns with the niche and reputation of the influencer so you can also target their followers along the way. Influencers are also great for lead generation. If customers aren't aware of or interested in buying your products just yet, you'll be the first brand on their mind when they're ready to purchase because their trusted YouTuber had a good review about your product. In the post Why Online Marketing is So Important it is recommended that you use email marketing to help brands continuously reach out and connect with potential customers as this will build brand awareness. You can partner with influencer newsletters and have your product appear consistently to build up brand recall and even loyalty. Influencer marketing will continue to grow in the coming years. It will help businesses connect with a wider or niche audience and generate more leads and conversions to drive businesses to success. Check out the Complete Digital Marketing services available here and learn how to boost your brand's online presence.

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by Diana Pearl Maxwell