We’ve spoken about influencer marketing on the blog before, we’ve shared what makes a good influencer as well as our tips for finding the right influencer to work with, but we may have jumped the gun, so let’s take a step back and talk about why brands should work with influencers. In no particular order, here are 15 reasons why influencer marketing should be part of your brand marketing strategy.
They Generate Sales
Obvious as it sounds, the main reason brands are working with influencers is because influencers generate sales. Depending on the influencer and the length and type of campaign, sales can come in immediately or over a number of weeks. Some impressive stats on this: Research Now found that 84% of consumers make a purchase after reading about a product or service on a blog and 40% of people say they’ve purchased an item online after seeing it used by an influencer on Instagram, Twitter or YouTube.
They Create Content
When you get down to the bare bones of it, the job of any influencer is to create high-quality, engaging content. In most cases (unless they’re already an established celebrity, like The Kardashians) it is their content that made them influential in the first place so they have to be good at it! This is great for brands because influencers can use their skills to create content about your brand for your platforms. However, it’s important to remember, the content influencers create isn’t owned by you or your brand and you do need to ask permission, and possibly agree terms ahead of a campaign, before you share their work. We can handle all that for you though!
They Drive Traffic
Before we start the campaign, we agree with the influencer that they will include a link to your website or tag your social media channel in their post. This will not only enable the influencer’s audience to access your brand website and social channels with ease, but will provide us, and you, with a way of tracking how the collaboration is performing. Seeing the uplift in traffic, or followers on your social channels, is a key indicator their audience is really engaging with your brand.
They Are Trusted
It’s widely known that consumers are more likely to trust the opinion of their peers than that of a brand. Many influencers have built up a level of trust with their audience over a number of years and it’s important to their success that they remain authentic so as to keep that trust. Marketers also trust influencers to deliver impressive results, with 94% of marketers who used influencer marketing believing the tactic to be effective.
They Improve Your SEO
Just as influencers drive traffic (or, as we like to call it, potential customers) to your website or social media channels, they also help to improve your SEO. While social shares are not directly linked to Google’s ranking algorithm, blog links pointing to your website are incredibly beneficial and can drive up your search engine rankings.
They're Excellent Value For Money
Compared to traditional advertising and PR, influencer marketing is better value for money if your aim is to connect with a target market. In most cases, and particularly if you’re working with micro-influencers that focus on a niche topic, collaborations with influencers can generate a brilliant return on investment, in fact Tap Influence found that influencer marketing can generate 11 times the ROI of traditional digital marketing.
They Are Creative
There are literally millions of influencers out there across blogs, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and all forms of social media and in order to stand out they have to be creative. Some influencers will create content multiple times a day, everyday, and in order to produce that amount of high-quality content, they need to think creatively. This, combined with their experience of working with brands, means they will almost certainly bring a fresh perspective to your campaign.
They Build Appeal
Have you ever seen a blogger or influencer wearing a top and thought ‘I need that’ or have you ever seen them at a cool bar and thought ‘Wow, I have to go there!’ Then did you purchase the top or visit that bar? Well there we go.
They Are Transparent
Like it or not there is consumer mistrust of advertising, with 84% of millennials not liking or trusting traditional advertising. One of the great things about working with influencers is that they’re transparent and will include disclaimers if they were paid to promote a product or were given a product as a gift. They also pride themselves on their authenticity, and those worth their salt will turn down opportunities that aren’t a good fit for them, which is great because it means we’d only work with influencers who already love what you do.
They Are Expert Communicators
No doubt about it, quality influencers have got the gift of the gab. They know how to communicate a brand’s message in a way that their followers will engage and connect with. As we’ve discussed before good engagement (likes, comments, shares) is more important than the number of followers someone has, because it shows how many people are interacting with the influencer rather than just scrolling past or not seeing that content at all.
They Build Relationships
Influencers build relationships between their followers and your brand. Without this influencer middle man, it’s a lot harder to start building that relationship. Think about it, when was the last time you felt a sense of connection, or even friendship, with a brand?
They Give Brands Access To Their Target Audience
We work to find the right influencers for your brand and campaign. It’s crucial to the success of a campaign that we tap into your niche, whatever that might be, as the influencers that have a keen interest in that topic will have a loyal following of consumers also interested in the topic, which is, essentially, your target market.
They Grow Your Social Following
We ensure that influencers always include a brand tag in all their posts and social sharing so that your social media platforms receive some love as a result of the campaign. This simple action can yield impressive results; a brand we worked with last year saw a 132% increase in their Instagram following over the course of our campaign.
They Distribute Content
Some influencers are predominately content creators, but they can, and do, distribute other content on their channels. We’ve worked on a number of campaigns where we’ve placed a video created by a brand with bloggers and influencers. This activity gives the campaign a wider reach as well as access to the influencer’s audience.
They Can Reach Your Customers That Use Ad Blockers
Everyday we are bombarded with adverts, from pop ups to posters, so perhaps its not surprising that 11% of the global internet population are now blocking ‘traditional’ ads on the web. Done right, influencer marketing bypasses these ad-blockers and delivers ‘ads’ that the influencer’s audience will actually want to see.
About Viral Seeding
So now that you know why you should be working with influencers, get in touch to start collaborating with influencers that are perfect for your brand.
Viral Seeding is a specialist content seeding and influencer marketing agency.
We offer a personal service, taking the time to understand your campaign requirements to execute a strategy that ensures that we deliver views, engagement, endorsement and sharing via social media.
Leanne Coombes
Leanne has been an Account Manager at Viral Seeding for over two and a half years, bringing with her several years' experience in public relations and communications. Prior to Viral Seeding she worked at a Publishing & Arts PR agency and has experience in-house at several UK publishers. Away from work, she teaches yoga and is a keen reader.
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