By: Zeinab Farock
Marketing strategies have evolved in the past decades with a larger scope in business marketing to include influencer marketing. According to statistics, the advantage of influencer marketing represents 63% of the customer convenience. And, they trust of the influencers’ recommendations more than the brand ads with a 58 % conversion rate to purchase.
But, many brands still find it difficult to use influencer marketing strategy and question its efficacy. It can be attributed to the fact that there is no defined guideline for the brands to use this new marketing strategy which contributes to raising the myths and the misconception about influencer marketing. However, it is crucial to incorporate influencer marketing, especially in small businesses which are not established yet in the market.
What is Influencer Marketing?
It is a form of social media marketing in which the brand enrols an expert in its field or an influencer involved in product endorsement for the people. The influencer is someone who is trusted and followed by people, mostly generation Z and millennial, who can affect his follower’s perception of products or services by posting original content-often sponsored- to promote the brand on social media like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and other social platforms. The influencers credentials of trust and established organic audiences attract the brands to collaborate with them for marketing. If you are an influencer, you can read more about this topic here.
Despite the potential and the benefits of influencer marketing, many brands still do not consider it and have fears and concerns about the rewards and investment worthiness.
The myths contribute to brands avoiding the investment in influencer marketing. Some of the popular influencer marketing myths don’t have an origin or source.
Some of The Popular Myths About Influencer Marketing Are :
1. Influencer Marketing is A Temporary Trend
This is a misconception of the market preference, the marketing trend is currently in favour of influencer marketing. The market is expected to grow in 2021 even more. Because customers are in favour of an authentic product experience and relatable, they consistently avoid Ads and other forms of traditional marketing. According to the Edelman report, around 74% of the customers are avoiding traditional marketing and instead prefer influencers marketing.
The good news for small businesses is that the customers are leaning more toward nano and micro-influencer because of their effort and consistency in communication and engagement. One more advantage is their budget which is well and cost-effective compared to celebrities influencers. As a result, 36% of businesses collaborated with micro-influencers in 2019 and this percentage likely to increase more in 2021.
2. Influencer Marketing is Expensive
Influencer marketing ranges from 1000$ to 1 million $, there is no definite price for estimation. Collaboration with big stars like Messi for endorsement will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Big brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Nike, Tata Motors and others usually approach celebrities and are willing to pay high fees. If you choose to collaborate with nano or micro-influencer, It is not the same in term of the cost because they are well within their budget. They add high value to your business and can be paid at product, service or average price.
Some of the advantages of nano and micro-influencers for small business are:
- More engaged with their audience
- Devote time to promote products
- Brings a higher return on investment
- Can drive sales with a direct recommendation
According to Experticity survey,” Influencers are more direct in their recommendations with 74% encouraging someone to “buy it or try it” compared to 66% of the general population who encouraged those actions in their recommendations”. And 82% of the followers are willing to follow influencers advice to purchase the product or the service. Compared to traditional marketing and ads, you don’t work and spend on the production and other Marketing aspects. So it costs you less than what you think to invest in influencers.
3. Influencer Marketing is Limited To Some Niches Only
Influencer marketing can’t be limited by specific niches or products. It is not solitary for the fashion products or service, but it can also be applied at any product or even stage of production. which can give better value for revision and feedback. For example, in India, the Sleepwell Mattress campaign scores a high success by collaborating with fitness influencers who share the same value of mattress health with the company.
4. Only Influencers With Big Followers Able to Add Value
While this might be logical at first thought, it is not accurate. Influence marketing is not about the number of followers, but it is more about an original and personal experience to represent the audience. Moreover, they have more credibility and a higher engagement rate. It should be more specific for the product or the service, which means collaboration with specific niche influencers who can add value better than mass influencers. To read more about matching between influencers and brands tools, refer to this article. Small businesses will benefit the most from nano and micro-influencers, especially if they are within the brand niche.
5. Influencer Can Fake Their Followers’ Number
Yes, some influencers fake their followers’ counts by purchasing followers, however, still many genuine influencers exist on social media marketing.
Some tips can help you to spot fraud influencers:
- Compare followers number to the engagement in comments, likes and shares
- Search for influencers on advanced influencers platforms such as hobo.video, that provide you with helpful tools to make sure you are collaborating with genuine and match influencers
Tip To Help Brands And Small Business Match With The Right Influencer
- Try to extend the rapport brand-influencer relationship. the more you invested in an influencer, the more they will perform to build your brand to the audience
- Do your research before selecting an influencer. Analyse their posts and engagement, compare that to the followers and buying conversion rate.
- Start with a small marketing project on a small budget to find the perfect influencer for your brand. Use the analytic result to find your perfect influencer, now you can extend your relationship with this influencer for further projects.
- To overcome the cost of collaboration with influencers, you can try to offer a commission on affiliate arrangement.
- Look at similar brands to yours, analyse their campaign and collaboration with influencers. This will give you a better idea about choosing the right influencer for your brand value.
- If your business is in a specific niche that makes it hard for you to find the right influencer, you can hire an agency to find them for you.
- Establish coordination between you and the influencers, educate them on your business, it will help them to present your brands fairly.
- Trust your influencer, let them have freedom for creativity and authenticity
Top Brands Use Influencers… and the outcome
In 2018, Microsoft collaborated with influencers in social media to encourage more women in Asia to pursue a career in scientific fields by taking the exam (STEM), which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The campaign’s hashtag was #MakeWhatsNext. The same campaign has been held globally before and made a hit for Microsoft.
Also, Microsoft collaborated with National Geographic on Women day with the same hashtag to encourage more women to follow their passion for adventure work.
Photo from National Geographic Instagram
The Future of Influencer Marketing
Currently, influencers are building their niche community, like Microsoft influencers. It means influencers will be organized and well-prepared in the future and easy to find and collaborate with.
Influencer marketing is evolving and in the future, it will be the most trusted and effective marketing solution for many businesses to grow. Different influencer marketing myths rooming on the internet can affect the decision of small businesses more than global brands.
Conclusion
For successful influencer marketing, you need to match an influencer with credibility and authenticity to your brand. At Hobo.Video, we only accept the influencers through invitation after we check the influencer credibility. And we help brands and small businesses to match with influencers using tools like machine intelligent matching tools. We team up brands with suitable influencers, thus, our revenue/profit system makes it a win-win situation for all!
To learn more about influencer marketing and how you can profit from it, read the article below:
