As you scroll down your social media feed every day, you can’t help but come across a number of posts that are actually social media influencers marketing a certain product. Instagram is a hub of influencer marketing and 93% of the influencer marketing activity goes on here. Yes, that good looking model or that fitness expert that you have been following on Instagram is definitely an influencer. He or she may have thousands—in some cases even millions—of followers on these social media platforms that consume the content that they are generating though their videos or photos. That enviable lifestyle coupled with flawless imagery, top notch fashion, fitness or beauty products is not without a reason; it serves a very important marketing purpose.
As of 2017, 86% marketers were making use of these influencer marketing techniques by either hiring or collaborating with influencers or being influencers themselves.
Naturally, their posts have held considerable sway on your buying decisions or have influenced you one way or the other.
Who Is an Influencer?
To understand influencer marketing, let’s look at what an influencer is. Let’s dive right into this by looking at a convenient example. We all know PewDiePie, right? Well, he is definitely one of the most successful influencers out there. The YouTube sensation has recently crossed the 100 million mark when it comes to the number of subscribers. He has over a million people that follow him for the content he puts out. That is a huge market for any brand to ignore.
One example of how the brands can utilize an influencer’s following to their advantage would be the time when PewDiePie collaborated with French horror movie makers. He put out a series of videos where he was taking up challenges in the catacombs under Paris. This was the perfect content for his millions of subscribers on YouTube and a win-win for both him and the movie makers. With this collaboration, he received millions of views and the movie got its publicity.
The best part about influencers is that they are nothing like celebrities; they are just like us and can be anywhere. That’s one of the many reasons that we follow them and they exercise an influence on us. It may be a fitness expert, a professional photographer on Instagram, a life coach, a tech blogger, or even a marketing guru that you follow on LinkedIn. All of these people exercise an influence upon their followers and their followers value their word or their advice when it comes to products or services.
And that brings us to the question…
What Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a modern mix of new and old marketing tactics. Influencer marketing is where celebrity endorsements of the old days meet the content-driven marketing tactics of contemporary times. The marketing landscape has evolved considerably over the past decade and influencer marketing today is an essential tool that marketers cannot afford to ignore.
Owing to its potential and the benefits it offers, there is a considerable amount of marketing budget that goes into influencer marketing today. Even back in 2017, the global expenditure on influencer marketing had touched $570 million.
Interested in knowing more about influencer marketing or about the best marketing practices in the contemporary marketing landscape? Click here to find out why influencer marketing is so important and how it can help your business.
