Instagram has over 700 million users worldwide and is one of the most highly engaged social media networks in existence, that is a lot of users and brands are using this to their advantage; according to a study by Mediakix, brands are spending over $1billion a year on influencers on Instagram. Research shows that 92% (TapInfluence, 2018) of individuals turn to people they know for recommendations and reviews so it is no wonder that brands are incorporating influencer marketing into their strategies and content. Word of mouth is one of the most valuable forms of marketing simply because people are much more likely to buy something if they receive a recommendation from someone they trust or admire. From the infographic below we can see that the market for influencer marketing is growing at a substantial rate. This blog post is going to explore the pros and cons of Instagram influencer marketing and the effect it can have on brand awareness.
See this short video for a brief overview on influencer marketing:
PROS:
- The power of the network
Instead of brands trying hard to market to thousands of individuals, with influencer marketing, all a brand has to do is find one suitable influencer and they will then gain access to thousands of their followers. De Veirman, Cauberghe and Hudders (2017) found that influencers with more followers were deemed more likeable because of their popularity. This network of followers is the primary benefit of influencer marketing, as long as you choose the right influencer, the right content and the right message, one post can have exponential value.
- It doesn’t look like advertising
One of the main attractions is that it is less intrusive than a standard Instagram sponsored ad. Brands pay influencers to post a picture of them using a product which serves as a powerful endorsement however the trade-off here is that brands lose control of the execution of the message and influencers can make mistakes, such as the time when Naomi Campbell copy and pasted the instructions she received from Adidas on her post.
On the other hand, it can be done very well, see the link below for some of the best examples from some of the world’s biggest brands.
http://mediakix.com/2017/11/instagram-case-studies-top-brands-campaigns-examples/#gs.qiDw31U
- Relationships & Trust
Consumers place a higher level of trust in influencers than they do in branded content. This inevitably means that they are much more likely to buy something if their favourite influencer says they use and love a product. It can speed up the process of the consumer sale funnel, meaning more sales made; faster. Mangold and Faulds (2009, pg. 2) found “social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because in a traditional sense it enables companies to talk to their customers, while in a non-traditional sense it enables customers to talk directly to one another. This can be seen through the network of the influencer and their followers, not only does the influencer speak and reply to comments from their followers, the followers will have conversations with each other and reply to each other’s comments.
If brands then build a relationship with an influencer, rather than just paying them to do a one-off post, it can lead to influencers continuing to promote a product after the paid promotion period has ended. It pays to get not only the consumer, but the influencer excited about your brand and product too.
Follow this link for some of the best influencer campaigns:
https://econsultancy.com/blog/69196-11-impressive-influencer-marketing-campaigns
CONS:
- Return on Investment
A survey found that 80% of brands (Linquia, 2017) state that ROI is one of their top concerns of influencer marketing. Brands are unable to calculate if their influencer activity is driving sales and this can cause problems as there is no simple or consistent way to measure the impact of a particular influencer.
- Fake followers
Fake accounts created to increase another accounts followers/engagement are a growing problem. They allow influencers to command a higher fee to brands. Historically the only way to quantify an influencers value, was by how many followers they have but the increasing problem of bots and fake accounts has created an issue where follower count no longer has correlation with engagement.
See this article of Instagram influencer fails:
https://www.curalate.com/blog/influencer-marketing-fails/
The True Value of Instagram Influencers
We have explored some pros and cons of using Instagram Influencers but perhaps the most important thing for brands to be aware of, is not the statistics and numbers that influencers may bring, but the value they may bring to the brand itself. Rakuten Marketing research (2017) shows that marketers look at improving brand reach, site traffic and brand awareness, before they consider the impact on sales. Through using a variety of Instagram influencers that are suited to your brand, your message can be spread in several different ways, to several different target markets, each tailored in a specific way to reach the consumer in an unobtrusive and natural way. Influencers and their followers share similar interests so by choosing the correct influencer, your product/service has a better chance at being exposed to your target audience. Of course, if you got Kendall Jenner to promote a product to her 86million followers, you know that all of these people won’t be interested, however it still boosts brand awareness. Using influencers can be the best way to do this, a single post by a well-known influencer can catapult an unknown brand or product into one known worldwide, almost overnight, which arguably is a marketer’s dream.
References
De Veirman, M., Cauberghe, V. and Hudders, L. (2017). Marketing through Instagram influencers: the impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude. International Journal of Advertising, 36(5), pp.798-828.
Fryrear, A. (2018). We Investigate the Pros and Cons of Influencer Marketing so You Don’t Have To. [online] MarketerGizmo. Available at: http://www.marketergizmo.com/we-investigate-the-pros-and-cons-of-influencer-marketing-so-you-dont-have-to/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].
Linqia (2017). The State of Influencer Marketing. [online] Available at: http://go.pardot.com/l/153091/2016-11-29/9t6n1k [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].
Mangold, W. and Faulds, D. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(4), pp.357-365.
McGinty, M. and McGinty, M. (2018). The hidden risks of influencer marketing. [online] Marketing Tech News. Available at: https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2017/jun/27/hidden-risks-influencer-marketing/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].
TapInfluence (2018). INFLUENCERS VS. ADVOCATES: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?. [online] p.3. Available at: http://pages.tapinfluence.com/hs-fs/hub/256900/file-2517585402-pdf/Influencers_vs._Advocates_-_Whats_the_Difference_eBook_Final_v2.pdf [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].