Is Influencer Marketing Still a Trusted Marketing Method?
Influencer marketing seems to have a 50:50 split between those in marketing of whether it’s a trusted marketing method or not. I feel with enough research and the knowledge to avoid the risks, it can be a fantastic way to promote a brand.
But first, what is Influencer marketing?
Simply speaking, influencer marketing is a modern form of social media marketing that uses endorsements and product mentions from influencers–individuals who have a particular and dedicated social following. It’s believed that influencer marketing works because of the trust that influencers have built up with their following, and recommendations comes across as a form of trusted proof to your brand’s potential customers.
Generally speaking, influencers are divided into these categories:
Mega: 1 million-plus
Macro: 200,000 to 900,000 followers
Midi: 50,000 to 200,000 followers
Micro: 10,000 to 50,000 followers
Nano: 800 to 10,000 followers
Challenges faced with Influencer Marketing
Today, if you read marketing trade publications, you could be excused for believing that influencer marketing is an incredibly dubious marketing method. Consider:
• Brands only want to pay for "verifiable impressions" while social networks keep changing the rules for influencers.
• A recent study, which revealed brands with paid influencers who have the most fake followers, showed that as much as 78% of the Ritz-Carlton's influencers' followers were reportedly fake.
• One company is investing at least $6 million to build computer-generated influencers powered by artificial intelligence.
• Various reports are suggesting that mega-influencers have less value to brands than before.
• Some well-intentioned compensation models, including "pay for engagement," end up incentivizing influencers to buy fake engagements. (There are even sketchy services offering fake likes on posts for as little as $10.)
Why should Influencer Marketing be considered trusted?
It’s a fact that people have a low trust in ads. Did you know almost 70 million people in the USA use ad block software.? Instead, people would rather be turned to the opinions of influencers over impersonal ads.
So why can influencer marketing work better than other forms of non-ad marketing?
Simply put, targeting. Are you familiar with the 80/20 principle? Around 80% of your results will come from 20% of causes. In theory, 20% of people create 80% of the content online. Of the 20% of content creators, only 4% (or 20% of 20%) are creating the most effective content.
By targeting the 4% of people (that is, the influencers), you can reach the rest of your target audience at a fraction of the cost.
But is influencer marketing worth all the hype?
I’ll let the numbers do the talking.
It’s said, for every $1 invested in influencer marketing, businesses receive $6.50 in return. (source)
70% of businesses can earn $2+ for every $1 invested. The top 13% earn $20 or more. (source)
Twitter has reported a 5.2x increase in purchase intent when people were exposed to content from a company and an influencer. (source)
And 49% of Twitter users say they rely on recommendations from Twitter influencers when making a buying decision. (source)