Influencer Marketing Value Keeps Rising
Influencer Marketing Value Keeps Rising
Countless brands are turning toinfluencer marketing thanks to the unprecedented social reach such efforts afford. Traditional marketing methods and advertising continue to fall by the wayside as modern consumers are more concerned with high-speed value and personal recommendations than older marketing approaches on legacy channels.
Influencer Marketing: Untapped Potential
In the first few years that marketing professionals started paying attention to social media influencers, one of the challenges facing marketers was gauging the value of an influencer’s reach and appeal. Value was too hard to determine over time, so marketers were hesitantto invest too heavily in an unproven marketing method.
Today, about 94% of marketers who have worked with influencers report that these interactions offer real value. Market research indicates that influencer marketing could eclipse $10 billion in market value by 2020. Google Trends reports interest in influencer marketing exploded over thelast few years.
Modern Consumers Are Eschewing Traditional Marketing Outlets
YouTube is more popular than traditional TV for many young adults in America, and the “cord cutting” trend – ditching cable in favor of streaming services – is a big reason why influencer marketing has taken off. Younger consumers want to hear personal accounts of interactions with new brands before making purchases. A social media influencer with a dedicated following can sway a large number of new customers toward a purchase with relative ease.
The challenge in this is authenticity; most influencers’ audiences expect a certain type of content from the influencers they follow. If an influencer offers heartfelt, meaningful product reviews and recommendations, audience members are more likely to pay attention to this content than obvious sponsored content or embedded ads.
Social Media Continues Rapid Growth
Cord cutting is just one reason why influencer marketing continues to grow at an explosive rate. A single Instagram post could receive hundreds of thousands of likes and shares, whereas a typical TV ad may fall on deaf ears and only capture a fraction of what social media can offer.
Modern influencer marketing continues to be a leading marketing channel for modern companies, and this trend does not appear to be slowing any time soon. Marketing professionals should find influencers that resonate with their target consumer bases and offer mutually beneficial sponsorship arrangements that capture the attention of influencers’ vast audiences.
Download my free guide on 5 Things to Do Before Hiring an Influencer.
About Susana Yee
Susana Yee is a marketing expert and a pioneer in the field of social media and influencer marketing. Her Guess “Color Me Inspired” campaign went viral and Mashable named it one of “5 Interesting Pinterest Marketing Campaigns.” Susana was featured as a social media pioneer for 2011 as part of eHow 100 on Shift Showcases Real Women Moving from Information to Influence, Driving Change in Their Lives and the World, Influencing and Educating Other Women which was also featured on Bloomberg andBusiness Wire. Recently Susana was featured on Thinkific sharing her knowledge about working with influencers in the guide How To Create An Influencer Marketing Strategy to Sell Online Courses by Elise Asanias.