So why the huge increase? Well according to a Nielson report, 92% of consumers trust influencer marketing over traditional marketing. This type of strategy also delivers 11 times more ROI than traditional advertising. There are many celebrities who are signing onto this type of marketing and are getting paid very well to influence what we buy.
Traditional forms of advertising are growing continuously annoying. Constant commercials that we do not care about are played when we watch TV, so technology came out to bypass those commercials, however, marketers seem to always have a way to force us to watch their commercials. From constant pop-ups on websites, cookies on our browsers that follow us to any website and now those 5-7 second YouTube ads that play on a video you are trying to watch that you can’t skip, it seems that advertising is getting more pervasive and intrusive.
This has led to an increase in influencers who market to specific audiences. Make-up artists, people who make crafts, singers, writers, anything, these influencers speak to their crowd. There are also micro-influencers who do not have as large of an audience but they are also more responsive and less “celebrity like”. One of the largest reasons this type of marketing is growing is due to the authenticity of the person conducting the advertisement.
There is an issue though with influencer marketing that will begin to rear its head down the road though. This is due to the fact that large corporations are becoming increasingly vocal about political issues which can alienate certain buyers but gather others, so when a company sponsors an influencer who holds differing views and in some cases, very different views, the company itself can pay for what the influencer believes. While influencers may be trusted now, as time goes on, there will become the issue of influencers only saying what others want to hear because they get paid rather than being authentic, but that’s just speculation.
So what’s the point of all this? Well, if you’re an individual like me without much of an influence or you’re trying to become an influencer, finding an influencer who can propel you is a good place to start. Chances are that you or I who are just another person in the world won’t have much luck reaching towards the top dogs (even though you should still try) but reaching for lesser known influencers who have a dedicated crowd can really go a long way, especially if your missions align. So if you’re a singer and you find an influencer who sings the same type of style in your genre, reach out, try to get in contact and maybe they can steer you in the right direction. If you want to become an influencer yourself, find your topic, research that topic, know your topic and then build your audience. One thing I would recommend though, if you are going to become an influencer on something non-political, such as: What type of running shoes to buy, it’s probably best to keep personal political or religious opinions to yourself, at least at the onset. Those are very sensitive topics and anyone can be offended by anything. It’s okay to be yourself, but there is a time and place for everything.
Thank you for reading!
