Insight
The Rise of the Influencer
- What is Influencer Marketing
Instagram lives, giveaways, and sponsored ads. These are just a few examples of where you may have seen an influencer. Sharing their favorite family recipe or a try on haul of their latest shopping spree. Or maybe in the sense of agriculture, the influencer is sharing their favorite feed product they give their livestock or a piece of equipment they use every day on the farm. The possibilities are endless with influencer marketing, but what is it?
Influencer marketing is not a new concept. You could compare influencer marketing to customer testimonials, but the only difference is the influencer is creating the content and not the other way around. Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people, and organizations who have purported expert level knowledge or social media influence in their field.
The Influencer Marketing Hub has reported that influencer marketing has grown to $13.8 billion in 2021 with business making $5.78 ROI for every $1 spent on influencer marketing. They also found that 67% of brands use Instagram for influencer marketing with 90% of survey respondents believing influencer marketing to be effective. Influencer marketing is not going away anytime soon and it’s time for you and your brand to get on board.
An influencer is defined as a third-party endorser who significantly shapes the customer’s purchasing decision, but may never be accountable for it. An influencer can be anyone, but what makes them influential is their following base. Their followers can range anywhere from a thousand followers to a million followers. Influencers are seen as the experts in their field, both literally and metaphorically. They are the go-to people to answer your questions about a certain topic or product.
Influencer marketing has grown to
$13.8
billion
in 2021
$5.78
R.O.I.
for every $1 spent on influencer marketing.
According to HubSpot, there are three different levels of influencers
Macro-influencers: 100,000 + followers
Micro-influencers: 10,000 – 100,000 followers
Nano-influencers: 1,000 – 10,000 followers
The Connection
An influencer does not have to be a well-known celebrity or someone with a lot of followers, but they can be an individual who connects and engages with their followers. This connection with followers builds a relationship and a community. Influencers know their audience better than anyone and create content that is engrossing for them. Trust that the influencer can best represent your brand with content they know appeals to their audience because they have already cultivated that trust with their followers.
Come back soon for more information on influencer marketing and how you can select the best influencer for your brand or company.
