Want to know how powerful influencer marketing can be? In August, 2020, Forbes took time out from listing billionaires to look at the highest-earning stars on TikTok. The most successful, who command armies of more than 50 million followers, make upwards of $5 million from their posts and associated marketing deals.
Companies are not handing these influencers all this money just because their CEOs like viral dance videos. They are doing it because influencer marketing works, and it can work for your online business too.
Influencer Marketing Brings the Eyes to You
Traditional, interruption-based marketing can no longer cut through all the competing advertising messages anymore. People just see too many ads in a day. To get your customers’ attention, you need to make them seek out your ads on their own. That’s the rationale behind the modern turn to content marketing for online business: create something interesting or entertaining that will bring eyes to you.
You don’t necessarily need to create that content on your own, and that’s the beauty of influencer marketing. It leverages existing content creators to help your digital marketing. A Youtube influencer or an Instagram influencer already has fans that explore their channels, so you don’t need to track those fans down yourself.
Built-in Audience Segmentation
Influencer marketing can also help you save on your research budget. The audience already comes pre-sorted for whom you want to target.
To be successful, any influencer or Twitch streamer needs to have a defined niche, a specific audience to tailor their content for. Based on what their channel covers, and more importantly based on the behavior of their fans, you can already tell something about who is watching.
A successful online business needs to segment their advertising as well. There are too many channels, sites, and other entertainment options to spray-and-pray with your message. Digital marketing requires a surgical approach. Choosing the right influencer to partner with can take some of the guesswork out of finding where your specific demographic comes together online. You already know where: on this influencer’s channels.
Creating Trust Through Advertorials
It’s not enough for people to just see your ads though. You also need your potential customers to believe your marketing. Influencer marketing can build that trust through advertorials.
Readers see advertorials (as opposed to traditional advertisements) as more trustworthy because the selling intent is less obvious. A marketing message is more credible, and people will spend more time reading it, the more it looks like an honest assessment instead of an advertisement.
This relates to the persuasion knowledge model. Over time, people will recognize common persuasion or selling tactics and they will build up response mechanisms, like the way your immune system recognizes bacteria or viruses it has seen before. Influencer marketing can bypass these defensive mechanisms since sponsored posts don’t seem like typical ads. You can ensure potential customers will take a look by blending into the social media landscape with the same glossy photos or funny videos.
Drive Sales with the Right Partnership
Whether you are ready or not, influencer marketing is here. Instagram isn’t worth billions just because people love posting pictures of their cats. It is a marketing behemoth, like all the other social media channels, and it’s time for you to start getting your cut.
If you’re ready to supercharge your digital marketing, take a look at some of our other posts on social media marketing, or for help with SEO.
