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By now we’ve learned what influencer marketing is, how it can benefit your business and how to properly utilise influencers as a successful marketing tool. However, there are always a few sceptics out there, so now, let’s look at whether or not influencer marketing is really worth it.

First, before considering whether influencer marketing will be a useful tool for your business, you need to have clear marketing objectives and a defined target audience. For instance, if your business is a life insurance program and your demographic audience is adults over 70 who rarely use social media, influencer marketing won’t be of much use to your business.

However, if you are a fashion brand where your target shopper is a Millennial female, then influencer marketing might be right for you, as there are currently over 3.1 million Australians in this age category on Instagram, for example.

As we mentioned in our blog post on developing effective marketing strategies, the clearer the objective, the more you have to gain from influencer marketing. Consider whether you’re simply trying to get brand recognition and build a profile, or if your goal is to drive sales. Brand recognition could come from larger channels, such as TV ads or billboards, but this won’t necessarily translate to sales. However, influencer marketing has been linked to increasing revenue, when clear objectives are outlined, and your brand is aligned with an influencer who can help reach their target audience.   

While influencers have less of a following than mainstream channels of media, their engagement and sales rates are just as high, if not higher, for a fraction of the cost.

So, if influencer marketing fits with your target demographic and campaign objectives, it is something you should absolutely consider. Let’s look at the benefits of influencer marketing.

• The ability to utilise an active and interested audience

Unlike traditional marketing channels that reach a wide demographic of people, many of whom aren’t interested in what they’re being sold, with influencer marketing you can rely on an actively interested audience. Based on what you’re selling, you can use a person’s personal brand to align with your own, knowing that their audience is likely interested in the content they share. Fitness influencers can market activewear to their audience that already follow their fitness advice, and the same goes for beauty influencers, cooking influencers and so on. Leveraging the follower base of someone who is considered credible and valued for their opinion can be incredibly profitable for your business.

• Consumers trust influencers

Many influencers make a name for themselves by giving authentic, honest opinions, and those that don’t are called out for misguiding their followers. For this reason, you can rely on influencers who align with your product and values to give their real opinion on what you’re selling, which ultimately consumers want to know. The current influencer market calls for more transparency and honesty than ever before, with influencers being required to share when something is gifted or paid for, and to show that they genuinely use and trust what they’re marketing. These days, many influencers are de-platformed for dishonest content, so you can ensure that they good ones will actually use your products and offer authentic and persuasive praise for your brand. 

• Influencer marketing spans across different platforms

One main benefit of influencer marketing is how diverse it can be. With influencer marketing, you are not limited to one platform or social stream, or one particular person and brand ambassador. With so many influencers on the market, you can align your brand with people across various platforms that can also market different parts of your business. You might opt for a YouTube Influencer with a loud personality for a campaign that requires commentary, and then choose an Instagram Influencer and content creator to showcase your product in an aesthetic frame. As for other marketing channels, often brands have to spend most of their marketing budget paying one media personality to feature in a commercial, limiting capacity for additional marketing tools. Influencer marketing allows for many people to align with your brand, across various of platforms.

• Influencer marketing is one of the most profitable marketing tools, and is on the rise

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, influencer marketing is growing faster than digital ads, with the market expected to be worth $13.8 billion in 2021, up from $4.1 billion last year. Additionally, 60% of millennials are more likely to take advice from YouTube Influencers than traditional media personalities, and 86% of women turn to social media for buying advice. With so much of our time spent on social media, leveraging these platforms is a smart marketing tool for businesses that otherwise wouldn’t have ways to reach consumers.

All in all, 80% of consumers have purchased something via an influencer recommendation. Influencer marketing offers ways of reaching engaged and targeted audiences that are worth the investment for your brand.

If you’re still unsure whether or not to leverage influencer marketing for your business, consider this – have you ever bought something based off an influencer’s advice?

If you’re interested in learning more about influencer marketing, get in touch with us today via info@agent99pr.com

By Agent Emma