Ever since social media became the go-to platform for brands to market their products, individuals with a high follower count started leveraging their reach to brands to help them promote their products. As influencer marketing has picked up, brands have been consistently looking for ways to work with content creators to market their products to a wider audience. In fact, a study reveals that out of the 81% of marketers who use influencer content, 51% said it outperforms brand-created content. Moreover, 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations for their next purchase.
We take a look at how influencer marketing can help enhance and build your brand visibility.
- An Instant reach of new target audiences
A major advantage of influencer marketing is that it exposes a brand or a product to a host of new people, who might not have been aware of the brand initially. While a brand can leverage its own social media following to promote its products, partnering with influencers helps them branch out to a wider network of people and turn that visibility into sales. The entire goal of brand awareness campaigns is to reach new people. The people who already follow a brand on social media know what the brand is, have likely bought products from the brand before, and are considering buying from the brand again. While a brand can use its social media following to drive sales from repeat customers, they also need a steady stream of new people. Reaching audiences who are unfamiliar with a brand will create a fresh stream of leads that are hard to get anywhere else.
- Establishing trust and credibility in your brand
A study by Olapic reveals that 76 percent of internet users said they are more likely to trust content shared by “normal” people than by brands. It is a necessity for a brand to build trust and credibility with its customers (both present and potential) to retain them in the longer run. By working with influencers, brands can get endorsements from these trusted sources. More than 92 percent of people say they trust word-of-mouth recommendations. A phone endorsed by a content creator such as MKBHD or Technical Guruji is more inclined to have higher sales than a phone which just relies on just brand-oriented content to market itself.
- Improve sales
Improving sales is the primary goal of marketers who use influencer marketing. A majority of consumers today consider social media when making purchasing decisions, and a brand’s social media presence goes a long way in helping people decide whether they want to buy products from that brand or not. A study by the Digital Marketing Institute reveals that 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice, with over half the women making purchases due to influencer posts with Facebook and Instagram being the preferred platforms.
- Creating engaging content
A well fleshed out influencer marketing campaign goes a long way to create a much better recall value for a brand than anything else. Influencers can help brands create content that resonates with their target audience and helps them connect and establish a sense of bonding and trust. Budweiser India’s recent resurrection of the brand’s iconic “Whassup” ad from 1999 is a great example of this. Budweiser India roped in a number of popular stand up comics such as Abish Mathew, Rohan Joshi, Kaneez Surka and more to recreate the ad, set during the time of the lockdown and reinforced the importance of social distancing while generating high engagement and reach rate for the brand on its social media channels.
Influencer marketing has clearly shown a lot of advantages for brands that want to leverage its incredible reach to enhance their brand awareness and visibility. With collaborations between brands and influencers set to grow even more in the coming years, influencer marketing is the best way to engage with the target audience.
