Quality products are sometimes not enough for business success, even if they come at an affordable price and follow trends. Promotion is key to reaching your target audience, but new times demand adapting to new advertising methods. One method that has been climbing the ranks in recent years is influencer marketing.
With an abundance of information, recommendations, and consumerist habits, we are almost constantly surrounded by new products, opportunities, and services we never even knew we needed. New products are constantly being introduced to us, so we become skeptical of every recommendation, thinking they are being insincere just for the sake of profit. However, there are also recommendations that have earned our trust and influence our product decisions. Whether they are micro or macro influencers, these are individuals on social media who have built an audience over time that trusts their judgment. They research and test products on behalf of their followers, which allows those products to more easily and successfully find their way to their target customers.
Some data shows that 40% of marketing companies are increasing their influencer marketing budgets, which proves that it is an increasingly valuable and successful tool for reaching audiences. Below are some of the benefits of influencer marketing.
- Influencers create and follow trends
We can often see a certain trend on social media before we notice it on the streets. New items often reach influencers first, some through clients who send them products for testing before they hit the market, and others through their own interest in trends. This interest leads to a greater effort to showcase ways to wear certain items of clothing or use specific products, as well as to explain who they are intended for.
2. Visibility and Brand Awareness
Marketing on social media often happens indirectly. Influencers sometimes don't directly advertise a brand; instead, they use specific products or wear items that capture the audience's interest. This is a more subtle form of promotion, which can therefore seem like a more genuine recommendation.
3. Market research
Before a manufacturer introduces new products, they can conduct market research through influencers—which products are in highest demand, what new items are needed, or what is missing from the market. Additionally, this method allows for a practical way to research the competition and understand current customer needs, which is made easier and more efficient through concrete examples.
4. Authenticity
One of the reasons influencers earn customers' trust is their distinctive approach and the way they present the products they use. Brands that work with them, even if they have instructions, rules, and terms, strive to give influencers the space and freedom to incorporate their own style. The audience that identifies with their style, therefore, has more trust and is more likely to use the products themselves.