Influencer marketing has become huge over the past couple of years. With 92% of consumers now trusting influencers more than an advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement, it’s no wonder marketers of all kinds are shifting their budgets from traditional initiatives such as print to this rapidly evolving strategy. In 2016, most marketers using influencer marketing spent between $25,000 – $50,000 per program, and planned to double that spend to $50,000 – $100,000 per campaign for 2017. The proof is really in the pudding.

I’ve been on both ends of influencer marketing – having executed campaigns myself as a marketer, and also participating in campaigns as an influencer with companies that fit with my content and personal brand. I can say from both ends that it’s an exciting area of marketing to be a part of, with new developments happening every day.

According to Linqia’s 2017 study, The State of Influencer Marketing 2017, 94% of marketers found influencer marketing to be effective. Still unsure if you should be incorporating influencer marketing into your mix? Below are some of the many benefits to consider.

Adblock Technology

47% of customers are now using some form of Adblock technology. Whether it’s on laptops, phones, or other devices, potential customers are now far less likely to see your banner ads than ever before. Using native advertising skirts around this. Hence the increase in sponsored content on publisher’s websites, the increase of product placement in videos, and brand collaborations on social media.

Effective Content

Each influencer knows their audience best. If you’re trying to reach their audience, who better to create the content than the influencers themselves? Many influencers are also well-versed in photography, video, and writing (many are also bloggers), and are often a part of your target market themselves. Working with a content creator who is producing amazing content that is customized for an audience segment that they also have access to and influence over is a huge benefit.

Backlinks

For those who don’t know, backlinks are incoming links to a website. For example, if I link here to Google, I’ve just created a backlink for Google.

Backlinks are incredibly important to SEO. And SEO is incredibly important to your business. The more backlinks you have, the more search engines see your website as valuable. Using influencer marketing that includes links to your website or products within their blog post or YouTube page helps you build up your backlinks and trust with search engines.

ROI Potential

While still a bit difficult to measure, the ROI on influencer marketing can be huge. In fact, on average, influencer marketing campaigns generate 11 times the return than that of traditional digital marketing campaigns. Does this mean that influencer marketing is going tor perform this well for every company? Absolutely not. The success of a campaign depends on so many factors. From industry, brand fit, interest, execution, and more.

Relationship Building

Working with individuals to create and share content about your brand is a great way to establish valuable relationships that often show benefits even after the campaign is finished. Provided your first time working together goes well of course. On both ends of the campaigns I’ve been a part of, I have seen first-hand the value of connecting with influencers, and also connecting with brands as an influencer. On the marketer side, think of it as building relationships with people who then build relationships for you. On the influencer side, it’s a great way to open doors for even more opportunity and earnings, whether with the same brand or another.

Curious to learn more about influencer marketing? Want to know more about how to work with influencers? Want to know the things to be cautious of when working with influencers? Download my free Working with Influencers PDF below!

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