Whether we’re watching our favourite MUA slay trialling their newest makeup product on TikTok, or are mesmerised by the latest fast-food mukbang on YouTube, the content we consume online often leaves us intrigued about particular products or services.
Brands will often “adopt” celebrities or influencers by paying them to promote their products to create a buzz around their brand — this is known as influencer marketing. London-based influencer marketing agency, Pitch, defines influencer marketing as a strategy that falls under the umbrella of social media marketing. They note that as a strategy, this form of marketing “utilises endorsements and recommendations from individuals with dedicated followers on social media, aka ‘influencers’”, who harness the power to impact and sway your consumer base.
But how beneficial really is influencer marketing? Well, let’s take a look. Here are four ways influencer marketing can transform and bring numerous benefits to your brand.
- Building brand awareness
Influencers, highly skilled at creating engaging content that will resonate with their audience, tailor product reviews, tutorials, and even 60-minute YouTube vlogs to resonate with their established audiences who value and trust their opinions. When a brand partners with an influencer, they tap into this established trust, gaining exposure to a wider audience and naturally building awareness amongst the influencer’s followers.
Ben Francis, owner of fitness apparel brand GymShark, struggled with building brand awareness until he scoured social media for leading fitness influencers. While this was a risk, Gymshark agreed to send boxes of their clothing free of charge in return for influencers to showcase the gym apparel to their large follower base. This turned out to be a winning strategy for Gymshark who, thanks to these social media endorsements, attracted a new wave of customers and saw their sales skyrocket after their debut at a Bodypower event. Francis’ business is now valued at £1 billion.
- Improving trust and credibility
If your brand is not well-established in its industry or lacks credibility, it is much more difficult to make a lasting mark on your target customer base, regardless of how ground-breaking your product may be. In order to build trust and credibility, it is extremely important that your brand can be seen as one that is reliable and delivers.
Influencers have already fostered and gained the trust of their followers, therefore effective influencer marketing is a great way to rapidly increase brand credibility. While typically it can take a few years for brands to do this, influencers possess an intrinsic ability to cultivate trust in a matter of weeks or months.
Most individuals tend to engage heavily with videos produced by their favourite content creators because they share similar interests and passions. Having that common interest builds a relationship that can even influence an individual’s purchasing decisions. In Traackr’s UK 2024 Influencer Marketing Impact Report, their survey found that 63% of consumers feel that influencers’ posts have some sway on their purchase decisions, with 48% stating that they look to influencers for product recommendations.
An example of this was when several influencers reviewed the Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High mascara on TikTok. Amassing over 259 million views, high-profile beauty influencers such as Miah Carter, Danielle Marcan, and Mikayla Nogueira racked in millions of likes and views, and resulted in the product being sold out worldwide.
- Cost-effective marketing
Compared to traditional marketing strategies, influencer marketing can be an extremely cost-effective alternative to reach consumers, increase sales, and build brand awareness. Influencers have become so advanced in their production skills that they can now create high-quality, and viral-worthy videos — simply using a phone, a ring light, and tripod in their living room.
Moreover, instead of investing resources in broad-reaching campaigns, businesses can achieve a greater ROI when partnering with influencers who align with their brand values and target demographics; and this precision targeting ensures a higher percentage of viewers are converted into customers. For every £0.80 spent on influencer marketing, businesses can get an ROI of £3.90 — impressive right?
- Valuable feedback
One of the greatest benefits of influencer marketing is the ability to collect detailed data on your audience. With the death of third-party cookies, working with influencers can be an efficient way to source additional feedback about your brand, a new product or even product feature. The more data you have, the easier it is to create better and more audience-relevant marketing content.
As influencers post content promoting your brand or product, they can track metrics including reach, impression, audience engagement and growth rate, and commentary. It is important to keep checking the engagement, specifically what is attracting users and how people are reacting (likes, comments, shares) in order to refine your future marketing campaigns.
If an influencer is trying your brand for the first time, they can also share detailed constructive feedback. But while their review matters, ultimately it is more important about what the customers think. Around 90% of customers will read a review before making a purchasing decision, which is why it is crucial that you pay attention to customer reviews and leverage your relationship with the influencer to push customers to leave you positive feedback. The influencer, for instance, could ask his or her followers to leave their opinion on your product or follow your official brand page.
Additionally, you can also take an active role in asking for feedback and engaging with comments — both positive and negative. In doing so, you can engage with your target customers, address any concerns as well as foster trust and interest in the product or service you are marketing.
