- Influencers have become a powerful marketing tool by building trust and authenticity. So how much influence do they have?
- Micro and nano influencers offer high engagement and cost-effective marketing. So how much does that success translate to cost?
- Influencer types vary widely, from travel and lifestyle to niche and celebrity influencers.
- Effective influencer partnerships require clear goals and careful planning to mitigate risks and maximize returns.
Blog by Patrick Imbardelli
The Rise of Influencers
In the early 2000s, traditional marketing channels began to be challenged with online advertising options gaining popularity. With the trending popularity of online advertising, video content has influenced multiple generations of people, and is described by marketers as providing one of the highest returns on investment. Social media advertising has been influenced by the creation of YouTube (2005), Instagram (2011), and TikTok (2016).
According to DataReportal’s Digital 2024 July Global Statshot Report, 5.45 billion people use social media, and this accounts for 67.1% of the population. Furthermore, there are 5.17 billion social media user identities, and in Q1 2024, 22.4% of social media users aged 16+ follow influencers on social media.
Globally we are utilising technology more and more to make our decision-making processes more streamlined or easier. This societal shift supports the evolution of influencers and is reflected in DataReportal’s report showing how each week, internet users aged 16 to 64 years:
- 23.8% watch influencer videos and vlogs each week,
- 25.7% watch product review video,
- 28.5% watch video streams.
In 2023, Google added a Perspectives filter to searches, enabling users to find information from social media platforms, discussion boards, and Q&A sites. Google describes the AI-powered capability as connecting you to the people and perspectives that will you understand what is best for you.
Who are Influencers?
Influencers are not from an exclusive background of famous wealthy families, movie stars, models, or sporting individuals. Influencers can be everyday people who create loyal fan bases by generating content by telling relatable stories or inspirational recommendations on various platforms with trust created from their authenticity. Establishing trust is pivotal and stems from building a relationship via storytelling, to have a connection with fans. Successful influencers motivate or influence their audience in decision-making for buying a particular item or service.
Influencer content can be delivered across multiple platforms and is not limited to social media posts or videos, website articles, podcasts, and blogs.
Types of Influencers
If you have not considered engaging the services of an influencer, you may not be aware of the different categories that can be considered:
Travel influencers are people who travel to destinations across the globe, sharing their travel experiences, insights, recommendations, and adventures with followers online. Their followers are people who trust them and can be influenced to book and have the same experience shared.
Social media influencers are individuals who have established credibility in a specific industry. The influencers attract and influence followers who are like-minded with their insights, across platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok.
Lifestyle influencers establish credibility by sharing lifestyle content as experiences or product reviews with daily routines, meal plans, fashion, food, and travel. The influencers persuade their followers with their authenticity of ‘behind the scenes’ and reach.
Niche influencers have less followers than celebrity influencers, however are perceived as go-to for a particular product or experience. Their followers are likely to be highly engaged with their specialised content activity.
Celebrity influencers have broad, global reach and exposure to many people across different generations and lifestyles. People in this category are famous actors, musicians, athletes and other public figures. Due to the numerous followers, not all their recommendations may not resonate authentically.
Additionally, influencers are then split into four types based on their follower count:
- Mega influencers have 1 million or more followers
- Macro influencers have 100,000 to 1 million followers
- Micro-influencers have 10,000 to 100,000 followers
- Nano influencers have 1,000 to 10,000 followers
The power of working with a micro-influencer is not be disregarded. Hubspot Social Media Marketing 2024 reported 47% of marketers had the most success when working with micro-influencers, and 22% of marketers engaged nano-influencers in 2024.
What can an Influencer Deliver?
When aligned positively with an influencer, multiple goals ranging from an individual campaign to overall annual marketing, may be achieved. According to the Digital Marketing Institute article, 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations, and 69% of consumers trust what influencers say and recommend.
Influencers deliver results by:
- Building authenticity and trust for your company with their loyal fan base. These individuals may not follow or purchase your product/service until it is recommended by your selected influencer.
- Increase exposure and visibility of your product/service to a targeted and captivated audience (their fan base), which may result in increased revenue or number of new customers.
- Meaningful conversations and engagement for your brand, and generating valuable user generated content.
- Providing a cost-effective marketing service compared to traditional marketing that may require a larger budget.
An influencer’s campaign can be defined as successful by meeting or exceeding the measurable results for their services. The insights and marketing effectiveness can be confirmed from the analytics of the overall campaign, and each content piece.
How do you find an Influencer?
According to Statista, 58% of marketers currently use AI technology for sourcing the best influencer for their campaign, while 18.6% have adopted AI for sourcing and distributing relevant content.
There are numerous ways you can discover the right influencer, and some ways to consider are:
- Influencer marketing platforms: They offer a range of features, and can be a useful tool to find your ideal influencer based on your brand values.
- Social Media: Look at posts that are trending in your industry – look at who published it and assess the engagement of followers and previous posts.
- Hashtag: Search keywords or hashtags that are connected to your brand values or products, and discover influencers already creating content.
- Competitor analysis: Review competitors who are working with influencers to understand positioning and engagement achieved with comments and likes.
- Industry Events: Consider attending industry events where there is a speaker or panel discussion, with influencers as a topic. You may learn new insights to apply to a campaign or meet an influencer who is a perfect fit.
- Networking: Reach out to people in your network, and ask if anyone has a recommendation – you may be surprised at who people know.
What can happen if you get it wrong?
For as many positive benefits from engaging an influencer, there are equally as many risks that can have a significant impact on both parties. Some of the most common risks are:
- Misalignment of the influencer’s personal values and brand values can lead to public backlash, decreased trust, and loss of followers and customers.
- If the influencer acts unacceptably, followers may remove their support and engage in the boycotting practice of ‘cancel culture’.
- The business brand image and reputation risk being tarnished by the actions, behaviors or statements of the influencer. Earlier this year, Kubbco’s blog reflects on the top 28 influencer marketing fails by brands.
- Reduced engagement from oversaturated influencer content, may diminish the authenticity of your created campaign.
The majority of risks can be mitigated with detailed planning and thorough research to discover your ideal fit for an influencer.
Do Virtual Influencers exist today?
With the development of the metaverse, virtual influencers have been introduced onto social media platforms. The digital characters are created by companies using a mixture of 3D modelling, animation and artificial intelligence. Virtual influencers can appear as cartoon characters or as very realistic individuals and it is hard to tell that they are not human. Danish Malik describes that real influencers are tangible personalities with real experiences; however, virtual influencers are scripted and controlled by algorithms.
Initially, virtual influencers may appear as a safer bet, however, there are ethical views, consumer perceptions, and unknown factors relating to this technology to be considered. Sproutsocial insight recommends to vet a virtual influencer just like you would any other influencer, and weigh the risks and benefits for your brand.
What to consider prior?
Before engaging any influencer, it is very important to identify what your expectations are for the influencer and brand relationship Like all business relationships, effective communication and collaboration are pivotal for success. Influencers can be engaged for a single collaboration; however, it is understood a long-term engagement creates a greater result for success.
Key points to consider when engaging an influencer include:
- Agreed content types
In addition the minimum quantity or precise number, influencers offer more than one type of collaboration. Currently, the five main types are:- Sponsored content
- Product review or unboxing
- Influencer takeover (of your social media, for a particular amount of time)
- Giveaways or contests
- Influencer hosted event or partnership for a co-branded experience
- Target group
Know which group of you would like to target and ensure these individuals are majority of the influencer’s followers. - Key Performance Indicators
How will success be defined and measured? Metrics include conversion rates, likes and comments (engagement), and the number of views (impressions). - Compensation
A fee structure, free products, affiliate-based commissions, or a combination? - Compliance
What are the advertising regulations that need to be adhered? Does the influencer have other partnerships to disclose?
