The history of influencer marketing reveals one indisputable fact: This innovative marketing technique gets results. As more people tune out traditional advertising and turn to people they trust for recommendations on where to go and what to buy, influencer marketing has stepped in to fill the void.
In 2018, Media Kix announced that the influencer marketing industry would be worth between $5 and $10 billion by 2020, Forbes reported that it could be worth up to $16 billion or more. Brands and businesses of all sizes have stood up and took notice, with nearly two-thirds of marketers increasing their spending from 2018 to 2019. As these statistics suggest, the tide is rising and there doesn’t seem to be a slowdown anytime in the near future.
Influencer marketing results fuel its growth and seemingly secure its place in savvy marketers’ toolboxes. But if you’re new to practice, you might be unsure of what to expect. You’re in luck – we’ve got you covered with this quick roundup of three impactful results and benefits you could be reaping with your next influencer marketing campaign.
Generate a Positive ROI
A recent Media Kix survey suggests that 89 percent of marketers report influencer marketing has as good – or better – return on investment (ROI) compared to traditional marketing. This is with an average ROI that’s 11 times higher. Even better, Digital Marketing Institute reports influencer marketing campaigns earn an average of $6.50 for every dollar spent. That said, many businesses and marketers find calculating ROI challenging. Tips for best measuring the ROI of your own campaigns include the following:
- In addition to measuring the campaign’s performance, measure the influencers by providing each with custom URLs to track traffic and influencer-specific discount codes. This makes it easy to track the effects of each influencer
- Set goals and key performance indicators (KPI) for each influencer (impressions, clicks, engagement and conversions for example) to best understand the contribution each individual is making to the campaign
- Choose an influencer marketing platform that can help you track performance and ROI
Increase Brand Awareness
The best influencers – and this is true of big names and microinfluencers with smaller followings – develop strong relationships with their followers. In turn, this builds trust. So, when an influencer promotes your products, services and businesses to the people who look up to them, it increases your reach exponentially. It helps connect you with new audiences and your target audience alike. Some of the statistics from the Digital Marketing Institute underscore this:
- 86 percent of women and nearly three-quarters of all buyers use social media for advice on what to buy
- Nearly half of consumers depend heavily on influencer recommendations
- Six out of 10 teenagers trust influencer recommendations more than traditional celebrities
Influencers connect you with wide swaths of your target audience beyond the people already familiar with you. It boost your brand’s credibility and leverages the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Keep an eye on KPI like social reach, engagement, mentions in the media, press and website traffic to watch brand awareness grow.
Boost Sales
Developing brand awareness is great, but using marketing tactics of any kind is designed to boost the bottom line, right? Influencer marketing results include driving sales and attract higher-quality customers to your business. They’re effective in all phases of the buying process.
During the consumer research phase, influencers provide trusted content that generates leads. It also lets followers know why to choose your product while helping to answer questions or concerns they may have. They also establish brand credibility by providing a second perspective outside of your own self-promotion. Once consumers are ready to buy, influencers provide the reassurance they need to ease buyer’s remorse.
The key to maximizing this benefit – and any benefit from influencer marketing, really – is choosing the right influencers. To do that, follow these three tips:
- Choose On-Brand Influencers: Look for influencers with a message that resonates well with your target audience. After all, when they create content to represent your brand, you want it to be aligned with your brand values and of interest to your potential consumers. You also want it to be high-quality content that represents you well.
- Value Engagement Over Reach: The number of followers an influencer has isn’t the most important factor you should consider. Microinfluencers have a relatively small reach but a very targeted audience. The engagement rate measures the number of comments, views, shares, likes and reactions an influencer gets on any of the available content platforms. It’s a key indicator of how the content resonates with their audience and prompts them to take action.
- Don’t Forget the Budget: One of the best things about influencer platforms is the ability to filter results by budget, which lets you choose influencers that are within your price range. If you’re just starting out, consider working with microinfluencers. They typically don’t have agents who charge additional fees.