What is Influencer Marketing - Top 5 Reasons Why it Works

What is influencer marketing?

We are not strangers to advertising; it's all around us. Brands are trying to push their products or services to a broader market hoping for sales. However, as consumers get more informed, they don't trust easily and have endless options. They shape their opinions from the opinions of others. In most cases, they trust influencers with a reputation for recommending the right products and services - after testing and experiencing it themselves. Brands want to use Influencers' ability to alter consumer perception to reach and convince their target consumers. There are some influencer Influencer marketing statistics that have directly shown the rise of influencer marketing in 2023.

Brands prefer to work with the top influencer marketing agency on a campaign. An agency is well-equipped to select the right Influencers and work with them to create authentic content which aligns with the brand's goals. The expert oversight ensures the brand message is effectively delivered, and an accompanying call-to-action convinces potential customers to take the desired action. Sounds impressive, doesn't it?

However, influencer marketing only succeeds because of the five key factors that power the strategy. We will discuss them in much detail in this article.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is where brands collaborate with top social media influencers or key subject matter experts for different reasons. It could be to raise awareness, launch a product, position/reposition existing product, boost image, or increase sales bottom-line. Depending on a brand's budget and goals, the campaign can involve sponsored content, contests and giveaways, social media takeovers, affiliate marketing, or brand ambassador programs.

FIVE reasons why Influencer Marketing Works

Trust

Consumers trust Influencers to provide information and recommend only the best products that bring value. Influencers, on the other hand, work to keep that trust by doing their research and testing products before providing their opinion. So when Influencers associate with your business to talk about your offerings, it is easier for their followers to connect with your brand - even consider purchasing from you.

Effective content

Influencers who have the trust of their followers spend countless hours interacting with them and understanding their needs and preferences. For Instance, what type of content do they like, what tone do they prefer, when do they stop watching, and what compels them to like or share the post? Influencers also keep track of the latest trends and use them to encourage reactions from their followers. So influencers can better present and develop an interest in your products through their content - most effectively. This saves you time and resources, which you would otherwise spend testing ways to win your audience's attention.

Influencer marketing is not an advertisement

When your customers are met with an ad talking about the features of your product or services, their typical response would be to skip out without giving any attention. Furthermore, online platforms don't help either, as ad blockers prevent your ads from reaching your target audience. However, when influencers show up on their feed talking about your brand, your potential customers won't skip. Instead, they don't want to ignore it because it's someone they know and trust. Ad blockers don't stop Influencer posts because they are organic.

Audience Insights

An influencer's job revolves around interacting with and pleasing their followers. Then know your target customers' likes, dislikes, and pain points. Opinion leaders can also bring new perspectives and insights to help you capitalize on untapped opportunities. For Instance, help bring value to your customers by suggesting product or service improvements.

Furthermore, When you work with an Influencer marketing agency, your campaign gets tracked at every turn. That means you receive real-time insight into the changes in audience behavior to your marketing message, product, content format, or Influencers. These insights can be used to optimize your marketing strategies or improve products.

Automation

Influencer marketing can be automated but make no mistake about the complexity of the process. It would be best if you had the expertise of an Influencer marketing agency to get everything right without running the risk of compromising the campaign.

A top influencer marketing agency has mechanisms to select, vet, and outreach Influencers' target demography, followers' authenticity, engagement rate, posting frequency, and other vital metrics. Moreover, agency executives communicate between your brand and Influencers to ensure your branded content aligns with your needs. Also, go live on the right platforms - at the right time.

Lastly, an influencer agency sets up analytics to track campaign performance and takes the initiative to build relationships with Influencers.