Influencer Marketing: It's all the rage nowadays!

One of cinema’s greatest quotes comes from the beloved movie Forrest Gump. It reads, “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” In marketing, the same idea can be applied in a slightly different manner. Marketing is much like a Rubik’s Cube, with different types of marketing all in their own little squares. There are a number of different kinds of marketing, and businesses often use multiple types at once to reach their goals. As technology progresses, different types of marketing have become available. Examples include SEO marketing, email marketing, and a relatively new kind of marketing called influencer marketing.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing can be described as a social-media based marketing that uses endorsements and product “shout-outs” from notable people with steady followings on social platforms. This kind of marketing is fairly new, but more often than not, it’s return value is notably higher than its risk. In fact, according to MediaKix, nearly 80% of marketers find influencer marketing to be worthwhile. Understanding why that is can help you to gauge whether or not influencer marketing is territory you feel inclined to venture into.

Examples of Influencer Marketing are depicted below.

In this photo, socialite Kylie Jenner poses with her lip kit from KylieCosmetics. She isn’t doing anything particularly extraordinary in the photo, but the fact that her face and name are tied to it make people excited for its release.

In this photo, singer Jordan Sparks helps to promote Lays Chips by joining their smile campaign. Lays followers (and even those who weren’t following) seeing a prominent singer playing the “smile game” helped to spark their interest, leading to more exposure for the company’s new product.

Why is Influencer Marketing relevant?

Influencer marketing is not the end-all be-all to a company. However, it very vividly communicates that not only are you up to date with the newer trends, but that you are genuinely interested in making a connection with your clients via another medium on social media. You may not think much of seeing an influencer promote, say, Vicks Vapor rub on your timeline, but consider how old that company is. The fact that they were established in 1905 and could probably get away with not marketing their product via influencers, but do anyway, speaks volumes.

Aside from a more intimate connection with your potential clients, influencer marketing can also benefit consumers. Most people can think of a time when they witnessed a prominent figure promoting a product and immediately looked to see where they got it from. Not only does this cut down search-time for the client, but it creates more traffic for your website, potentially leading to more sales.

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What if I don’t know any influencers?

As engagement and participation grows on social media, so does the influencer market. Currently in 2021, there are influencers in various markets, some of which include: tech influencers, digital influencers, gaming influencers, travel influencers, and parenting influencers. Contrary to popular belief, an influencer does not have to be a person who has millions of followers. In fact, there are plenty of influencers that have less than ten thousand followers, and many that have less than five thousand followers. The key to finding influencers is to find someone who has a steady following that also holds interest in the market you are involved in. For instance, a candle company may be interested in a person whose primary aesthetic is homemaking or relaxation. Another example would be a kitchen-wear company reaching out to someone who receives steady traffic on their cooking videos. It is all about finding somebody who comes across as very knowledgeable about their field/interest.

What’s the catch?

Of course, marketing and advertising do not typically come without a cost. Most people assume that influencers only promote products for large sums of money, but this could not be further from the truth. There are indeed some influencers who have reached this status, but many influencers are willing to negotiate the benefits of promoting your product. Some appropriate exchanges include: discounts on company products, free shipping, free products, custom rewards and exposure on the company’s social media page. If you do decide to lean towards monetary compensation, influencers with moderate sized audiences (5,000 followers or less) do not tend to charge an arm and a leg in promotional fees.

Influencer marketing is one of the many squares on the marketing Rubix Cube that has helped companies gain traction not only on social media, but on digital marketing platforms as a whole. It is somewhat of a new phenomenon in reference to the many different styles of marketing that have come to be over the decades, but it is producing fruitful results for many companies. So while you let StratDev handle your digital marketing needs, it may also be helpful to consider rotating your cube and seeing what becomes of combining digital marketing with influencer marketing.