So what is influencer marketing? Influencer marketing is more or less just what it sounds like. If you want to promote a product or a service, find a person who is a prominent figure in your field of business and then have that person lead the way in drawing positive attention to what you sell. By doing this, you can piggyback on your influencer’s established following, platform, or expertise.
The use of influencer marketing is increasingly important as brands move away from traditional media platforms such as television, radio, and print, and move toward a greater focus on outreach through social media.
This seems to be a logical step for marketing to take in an era in which celebrities and their tastes and opinions are ubiquitous. Combine this with the old wisdom that potential customers often give more credence to word-of-mouth recommendations from third parties they trust than they do to traditional advertising, and it’s clear that influencer marketing can be a very powerful tool for any brand.
The Pew Research Center reports that a majority of U.S. adults get at least some of their news from social media sites. People often trust in what they see on social media, and this is where many influencers have made a name for themselves. LinkedIn, for example, uses exactly this terminology, inviting the people who use its service to follow recommended “Influencers” it thinks they will like based on their interests and industry.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and dozens of smaller sites have either launched celebrities or kept them in the limelight by being the primary way that their fans and followers stay in touch with them as well as what they recommend and consume. Influencer marketing allows you to capitalize on an audience that has already been built and that trusts what its influencers say. You can create content that your influencer then shares with his or her followers, or you can entrust the influencer to create content on their own and spread it on your behalf.
Natural influencers are often individuals who have massive social media followings. But it’s important to look beyond those who simply dominate Twitter or Instagram with their numbers. Influencers can also be activists and educators as well as early adopters in certain markets, especially in fields like tech or fashion. As with any promotional campaign, it’s essential to not just reach tons of people. You want to make sure that you’re reaching the most appropriate audience for your brand or product. And in that regard, when it comes to marketing, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
So what is influencer marketing? It’s something that your business should probably be leveraging to your benefit. Triple Canopy Media can help you do this!