6 Reasons You Need Influencer Marketing

The times are a’ changing.

Technology has reshaped the way brands interact with their audiences and in doing so, redefined what’s effective.

As people become ever more resistant to interruptive advertising practices, brands have had to find new ways to reach their audiences. Like influencer marketing.

In the past several years, influencer marketing has boomed. On the back of its success, the number of influencers, brands and agencies engaged in the practice has grown significantly. This much is true – if you haven’t yet tried influencer marketing for your brand, now is the time.

Here are 6 reasons why.

 

1) Traditional advertising isn’t working

With the digitisation of the world, we have seen a big transformation in the media landscape. Traditional media channels are becoming less and less effective as people’s expectations shift.

More and more people are finding ways to block digital display ads with 615 million people using ad blockers on their devices and a staggering 308million people using it on mobile devices (business insider).

So what does this tell us? People are tiring of traditional interruptive ads.

They desire a more authentic, native and integrated experience. An experience which can expose them to brand and messages they are interested in, but not take away from the fluidity of the experience. The creativity and access influencer marketing can provide is unparalleled.

 

2) People trust other people more than brands

One of the key advantages of influencer marketing, is that it circumvents the resistance people have to direct brand messages. Where someone may not listen to or follow a brand page, they will gladly hear their favourite social media personality talk about the very same brand. The influencer can portray the brand or product through their own unique style. They have built a relationship with their audience and influencer marketing gives brands access to that trusted voice.

But for ongoing success, brands and influencers must maintain this trust.

 

3) It’s authentic and real

When done well, influencer marketing is a powerfully authentic experience as the content produced is often ‘seamlessly woven into the daily narratives influencers post on their social media accounts’ (Abidin, 2016).

People relate to those influencers who are real and honest, people who share themselves and their opinions with their audience. Influencer marketing taps into this authenticity and leverages it. For this reason however, it’s important for brands and influencers to find a creative synergy. Nothing will turn off an audience quicker than a one dimensional, off topic product placement. But a well thought out partnership that is aligned with the values of brand and influencer can be enormously effective. With a wide range of types of influencers, from fashionistas to photographers to entertainers, finding the right fit is for your brand should be a high priority.

 

4) It can help you develop better content

Influencers are at their core, content creators. Whether they are writers, photographers, entertainers or otherwise, their speciality is creating interesting and engaging content. It is their content that have built them their audience. By partnering with influencers, you are given a great opportunity to let the influencer express their creativity with your brand at the centre. By further extending this into user generated content, brands can draw on the public to reinvigorate their brand and bring their message to life in a creative way. When given the freedom, influencers can develop incredible, effective and engaging content that improves your brand value by association.

 

5) It’s getting easier to do

If you’ve never run an influencer marketing campaign before, it can be a bit daunting to start. The idea of finding the influencers, contacting them, negotiating the terms, managing the campaign and analysing the results can seem like a big headache. The time and expertise involved has historically been a barrier, but this has begun to change.

New influencer marketing platforms are making it easier than ever to find influencers, manage the campaigns and analyse the results, all from one web based platform. This means brands have more time to focus more on the strategy and planning and less time in the admin. They can now engage multiple influencers in a broad campaign for maximum success.

 

6) Your competitors are using it

According to Google trends, since 2013 to the present, interest in influencer marketing has grown ten fold. Marketers have recognised the effectiveness and the influencer marketing industry is in growth. As the tools and support for running an influencer marketing campaign become more accessible, it is becoming easier to do. With the lower barrier of entry comes competition… which means, now is the time to get involved before your competitors do.

As the industry continues to develop and become more sophisticated, the level of opportunity for brands is enormous. Highly creative, passionate and driven content creators present exciting opportunities for brands to reach their audiences. If you haven’t yet tried your hand at influencer marketing, now is the time!