A brand needs to generate leads to survive, but before you can push a product, improve your conversion rate, or increase customer engagement, customers need to be aware of your brand!
Innovation is key and this is where digital marketing techniques are evolving, and social media is taking front stage in our daily lives. The rise of influencers in brand awareness cannot be underestimated. Influencer marketing can supplement your existing digital strategy and can help you reach and connect with customers in a fresh, new way.
What is influencer marketing?
Simplistically, influencer marketing entails a brand working in partnership with an online influencer to market one of its products or services, or to simply improve brand recognition. Unlike celebrities though, influencers can be anywhere – and they can be anyone, from a popular fashion photographer on Facebook, to an IT buff who shares their expertise on Twitter. An influencer can be in any field, in any industry. The key is that they have developed reputations as leaders and experts in their area of expertise and are therefore well equipped to answer queries and tough questions.
56% of the US and UK marketers work with micro-influencers on Instagram because they’re more cost-effective than top-tier talent.
Their following is generally based on their engaging and interesting social media posts where they produce entertaining content, whether it be via YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. While their posts are engaging with great imagery, they are also informative and encourage online discussions.
Why is influencer marketing important in brand awareness?
The superpower that influencers wield lies in the trust that they enjoy with their (sometimes cult-like) following. Their word is often taken as gospel by their followers, which can work wonders for any brand looking to promote their products and services and have an instant connection with an audience.
Brands will spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022 as part of their brand awareness campaigns.
In 2021, influencer marketing was expected to grow to be worth $13.8 billion, and not only is that a humungous amount of money based on liking someone, but businesses are also making $5.78 ROI for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.
And just to get an idea as to influencer marketing’s importance in brand awareness, consider these stats, according to www.99firms.com:
- 93% of marketers are using influencer marketing.
- 89.2% of marketers who tried influencer marketing found it to be effective.
- Fashion (81.4%) is the most-developed influencer marketing industry.
- 51% of marketers work with up to 10 influencers a year.
- Sponsored Instagram posts are seeing 76% more likes after the COVID-19 outbreak.
- 84% of Instagram influencers are female.
- Micro-influencer campaigns drive 60% higher engagement.
- 58.5% of marketers aim to boost brand awareness with influencer marketing.
If you haven’t considered this strategy in your marketing quiver, best you get on to it soon, before the opposition snaps up that popular, talkative ‘Know-All’ that you have been so
