Influencer marketing works because consumers trust Influencers’ reviews. In fact, we come across all kinds of sponsored content on a daily basis. With advertisements and promotions of different brands bombarded on us everywhere we turn, it is increasingly becoming more and more difficult to know which to trust and which to ignore. In a world like this, consumers have turned to influencers for guidance on which products and services to opt for. They put their trust on influencers to make important decisions affecting their lifestyle.
For the uninitiated, it may be difficult to understand why consumers would put so much trust on influencers’ reviews. But for those acquainted with the new age social media culture, it does not come as a surprise at all. It’s almost the same as celebrity culture, except that there is a lot more trust and transparency. People see influencers as someone relatable, someone who goes through similar experiences.
At the same time, they see influencers as people with a trusted source of information. Sure, they are aware that they are paid to say what they say. But the difference is that they trust them not to say something they don’t actually mean.
Consumer-influencer relationship: A further study
According to a research conducted by Olapic and CITE Research, 4,000 users of social media from the US, UK, France and Germany were surveyed on their attitude towards social media influencers. It was found that on average, the participants considered someone to be an influencer if they have more than 10,000 followers, engage with brands to help promote and endorse products, share product information on things they have used and loved, and those who are an expert in their own fields.
Out of the 4,000 participants, it was also found that more than half of them, 53 percent to be precise, were likely to follow Instagram influencers. These followers fell in the age group of 19 to 24 year olds. When it came to why they trust influencers, the most common answer was “authenticity”. People think influencers are genuine and authentic in their product reviews.
Secondly, “personalization” was a huge factor in determining trust. People want content from influencers which are relevant to their unique personal interests. This is exactly why influencer marketing is so successful and effective. People only follow influencers publishing content they can relate to or are interested in, automatically establishing a niche market. This then makes targeting a simple and easy task for brands when they work with influencers. All they have to do is choose the right influencer with the right following.
In addition, women are more likely to trust an influencer if they see a video of the product or the service in use, the study found. While, for men, the main reason for trusting an influencer is because they believe them to be experts.
Collaborating with influencers
Today, collaborating with influencers for brands is made easy by well-known influencer marketing platforms like iFluenz.com, where a number of popular influencers that cater to different niche followings.
Collaborating with influencers is not only beneficial for conversion and increasing bottom line. It helps to build a meaningful relationship with your brand’s audience. Especially if your target group is the younger demographic, the odds are in your favor. A survey conducted by Variety required teenagers to rank various influential figures from one to ten based on their authenticity and approachability. As it turns out, six out of the ten ranked were famous influencers.
This speaks volumes about how social media influencers are viewed in the eyes of the public, and why consumers trust influencers’ reviews as much as they do.