Once an ancillary tactic, influencer marketing is now on the rise since brands are readily adopting this modern method of marketing to expand their audience base. Business Insider predicts that the influencer marketing space will become a 15 billion USD industry by 2022.
An influencer is an individual who has built a follower base on social media platforms through content creation. When brands collaborate with these social media opinion leaders to increase brand awareness through endorsement and product placements, then it is known as influencer marketing. Currently, marketers are keen on partnering with influencers as it is measurable, accessible, and garners engagement. These benefits are just the tip of the iceberg. There are more advantages of influencer marketing, and we have explored them in this article.
Nevertheless, like every concept, this also is not flawless. To equip you with 360-degree knowledge, the article discusses the pros & cons of influencer marketing.
1. Find relevant audiences: Every influencer operates within a specific niche. It makes it easier for brands to identify which influencers are best suited for their product or service. Let's say you are a marketer at a beauty brand and planning to step into the world of influencer marketing. Here, fashion and lifestyle bloggers will be your perfect choice. Through their devoted follower base, you can reach out to your targeted market.
2. Widen your reach: Everyday, influencers gain multiple followers on social media. When you collaborate with them, the visibility of your brand also expands. Your brand gets recognized by people whom you were not targeting in the first place.
3. Establish trust and reliability: Influencers act as opinion leaders and are often considered to be experts in their fields. When you partner with an influencer, you leverage their expertise. Their know-how instils confidence within their followers, and you reap the benefits of this trust. The influencer endorses your products which reaches thousands of people who believe in them. As per a survey by BrightLocal Local Consumer Survey Review 2018, 91% of millennials trust influencer reviews as much as they believe their peers.
4. Inexpensive method of marketing: Opinion leaders play a crucial role in shaping our attitudes and beliefs towards a brand. Influencer marketing is a great alternative to celebrity endorsements which can cost a fortune to the company. It is economical and best suited for small and medium-scale organizations with limited budgets. Nevertheless, influencer marketing also works wonders for large companies.
5. Increases traffic and generates leads: Once influencers endorse your brand, they urge and redirect their followers to interact with your websites, social media handles, or advertisement campaigns. The followers who then obediently comply with the requests of their favourite influencers go ahead and engage with your brand. Such engagement increases traffic and generates quality leads who can translate into clients.
6. Drives sales: The BrightLocal survey of 2018 further showed that 50% of the respondents have acted post reading a positive review. The judgments of the influencer push their followers to explore the advertised brand and often make purchases. Additionally, when your target customers engage with you, they skim through your market offerings. It increases the chance of them coming across a product they want to purchase. Such products can be different from what you were advertising for in the first place.
1. Choosing the wrong influencer: It is imperative to select influencers from a similar niche. Most brands learn it the hard way. Influencer marketing harbors massive potential only if done correctly. Randomly choosing influencers with little to zero know-how of the industry can prove to be detrimental and can tarnish the image of the brand.
2. Fake influencers: A study by Influencer Marketing Hub in 2020 showed that 67% of brands fear influencer fraud, and 38% of them have been victims of such scams. Since the influencer marketing industry is proliferating, the problem of fake influencers or bot influencers has grown. Brands must conduct a thorough check before partnering with any influencer. To combat such threats, artificial intelligence is used by several influencer marketing platforms.
3. Difficulty in measuring the success of the campaign: Measuring the success of a campaign is essential for plans. Yet measuring to what extent someone gets influenced is not an easy job. Sure, you can measure in terms of engagement and sale, but quantifying influence is a tedious task. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, VP of Organic Search Operations at Bruce Clay, Duane Forrester has emphasized and has expressed concerns when it comes to measuring influencer marketing campaigns.
4. Faulty content strategy: Indeed, creativity can't be limited or bounded. Therefore, the influencers must be able to retain their individuality during the collaborations. However, sometimes a content strategy selected by the influencer fails to resonate with the image of the brand. It can negatively impact the influencer as well as the brand and push the potential customers away.
To sum it up, influencer marketing is becoming an essential part of marketing strategies for various organizations that are proving to be effective. There are several benefits associated with this method. It exposes brands to a whole new set of audiences without burning a hole in the pocket. However, the success of such campaigns lies with the influencer. Therefore, brands must proceed cautiously after meticulous research.