The concept of social influencing did not exist only a decade ago, but now it plays one of the most important roles in the digital marketing realm. It seems like everyone is jumping on the influencer marketing bandwagon these days, so you definitely need to figure out the idea behind the whole process.
But let’s start with the basics and explain the concept. By definition, a social influencer is an individual who has the power to affect the purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience.
Influencers mainly use social media to communicate with their fans, which is quite a big deal given the fact that Facebook and other networks attract more than three billion users daily. This means that a well-selected influencer can grant your business exposure to highly targeted audiences almost instantly.
At the same time, key opinion leaders can help you to build professional authority, raise brand awareness, augment the content strategy, and generate an army of fresh leads in the long run.
The benefits of social influencing are evident, but let’s take a closer look and see 10 facts about this type of digital marketing.
1. Influencer Marketing Is a Real Deal
If you are still wondering whether social influencing is a real deal or not, then you should learn that the entire influencer marketing industry is now worth almost $2 billion. Of course, the market just keeps growing and getting increasingly popular all over the world.
What makes social influencers so important?
The answer is simple – the audience trusts them. According to the industry report, almost 50% of consumers rely on influencers’ recommendations when purchasing products or services. Modern customers do not trust traditional marketing techniques anymore, so you have to find a way to approach them more effectively.
As it turns out, influencer marketing is the right solution to the problem in 2019 and beyond.
2. Influencer Marketing Is Not Expensive
Marketers who are still not cooperating with social influencers believe that the new strategy is way too expensive for their budgets. This is a widespread belief, particularly among small and medium-sized businesses.
However, we have to say this is a wrong impression because influencer campaigns usually don’t cost as much. If you are targeting a smaller niche – and most businesses do – then you don’t have to spend too much money paying for social posts.
The price depends on several factors such as the follower count, engagement, content quantity, and many more, but the fact remains that 60% of marketers pay less than $10 thousand per campaign. And if you don’t need more than a post or two, you could get the job done even cheaper.
For instance, digital marketers in essay paper and assignment help agencies can organize influencer campaigns on a shoestring budget because the niche itself is not too popular. Therefore, you should do the homework and check the prices before consulting with the targeted influencer – it might turn out to be much cheaper than you expect.
3. Influencer Marketing Budgets Keep Growing
This fact goes hand in hand with the previous one. Although you don’t have to pay a huge amount of money for influencer marketing campaigns (unless you are hiring celebrities to promote the brand), you will probably dedicate more funds to this strategy in the years to come.
Namely, a lot of marketers realize that influencer marketing is working very well and so they plan to boost budgets in the months to come. A study proves our point as nearly 70% of brands are projected to increase social influencer budgets next year.
4. Influencer Marketing Guarantee Customization
Social influencers are mostly professionals who know how to do their jobs precisely and productively. In such circumstances, it is not surprising to learn that influencer campaigns guarantee a fair share of customization for your brand.
How come?
Well, you can’t expect influencers to change their content creation styles because of you, but you can ask them to adjust the approach and find a viewpoint that perfectly suits your business as well. It’s a win-win situation because influencers get to preserve professional reputation, while you earn a tailored promotion that corresponds with the style and vision of the brand.
5. Micro-Influencers Are Engagement Drivers
If you are totally new to social influencing, you should know there are two basic types of influencers out there: micro and macro-influencers. In general, micro-influencers have anywhere between a few hundred and 30 thousand followers, while macro-influencers go well beyond that threshold.
Macro-influencers are a good option if you want to raise brand awareness because they give you exposure to thousands or even millions of fans, but their micro-counterparts are much more efficient engagement-wise.
Studies show that micro-influencers with up to five thousand followers have the highest engagement rate at 8.8% per post. The result is much higher compared to macro-influencers and it even outperforms micro-influencers with more than five thousand fans (engagement rate at 3% to 6%).
6. Instagram Is the Best Influencer Marketing Channel
The social media universe is enormous, so it’s natural to have doubts about the top-performing channel. But you don’t have to guess anymore because reports prove that Instagram is by far the best influencer marketing platform.
The network is ideal for product-oriented companies because they can present their products through images or videos. Visual posts make the biggest impression on modern consumers, so you can expect Instagram campaigns to achieve the highest engagement rates.
Jake Gardner, a resume writer and the author of the Papersowl review, says the other two platforms every marketer should think about are Facebook and YouTube: “The two channels also promote visual content, but influencers can add textual descriptions to make their posts even more convincing.”
7. Fashion Industry Is Crazy about Influencer Marketing
If you are curious to find out industries that spend the most on influencer marketing, then you should know that fashion and beauty brands are dominant. According to the research, almost 60% of companies in these sectors use influencers as part of their marketing mix.
This is not a surprise given the fact that as much as 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice. However, fashion and beauty are not the sole leaders here as many other niches rely on influencer marketing to promote their products or services.
Some of the usual suspects are:
- Health and fitness
- Travel and lifestyle
- Entertainment and show business
- Food and beverages
- IT brands
8. People Use Ad Blockers
Do you know that around 30% of all Internet users now take advantage of ad blockers to halt promotional content? It’s a very significant state because it reveals that people want to consume genuine and trustworthy content.
This is where social influencers step in to save your day. Instead of paying for irrelevant ads, you can collaborate with influencers to design highly authoritative campaigns. It won’t only prove to be relevant in the eyes of the target audiences but also beneficial for your business revenue-wise.
9. Influencer Marketing Boost Search Engine Ranking
Here comes a social influencing fact that many people would never think of on their own. According to the survey, this type of content accounts for 25% of search results for the world’s top 20 brands.
The logic is clear – influencers generate tons of organic traffic and help websites to improve search engine ranking.
You should not neglect this benefit of influencer marketing, especially if you know that over 90% of all traffic now comes from a search engine.
10. Influencer Marketing ROI Is Amazing
This is the last fact on our list, but it is certainly not the least important. A typical brand will earn more than $6 for each dollar invested in an influencer marketing campaign. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about the productivity of your investment.
What makes influencer campaigns so powerful?
Once again, the secret lies in the fact that social influencers are niche authorities who know how to create valuable content and build relationships with their fans. A small portion of their authority transfers to your brand as well, so you can expect consumers to pay attention to your brand and test your products eventually.
Conclusion
Social influencers are highly authoritative individuals whose tips and suggestions make a big impact on followers. This is a huge opportunity for digital marketers to step in and collaborate with influencers who target the same audience groups.
In this post, we showed you 10 facts marketing agencies want brands to know about influencer marketing. Have you already used influencer campaigns to supplement your marketing strategy? Feel free to share your experiences in comments – our readers would love to see it!
Author’s Bio:
Justin Osborne is a writer at thesis help and paper writing service, he loves to share his thoughts and opinions about education, writing and blogging with other people on different blogs and forums. Currently, he is working as a content marketer at essay writers and uni assignment help.