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Five Benefits of Influencer Marketing in 2023
Influencer Marketing
Working with influencers is currently one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing strategies.
An influencer is a person with the ability to inform and sway potential customers via online promotion. For most teams, an effective influencer marketing strategy involves finding, recruiting, and partnering with one of these content creators, then expecting them to post branded content from their account.
The goals of influencer marketing campaigns should align with team and company-wide objectives, such as increasing brand awareness and sales. Many companies around the world, from Dunkin’ to Dior, are turning to this unconventional strategy to reach their marketing goals.
If you’re ready to take your brand to the next level in 2023, read on to learn more about the benefits of influencer marketing and where the industry is headed.
Is Influencer Marketing Effective?
Influencer marketing is an incredibly effective tool if you use it correctly.
- Influencer marketing is now a 16.4 billion dollar industry and is expected to see even more grown in 2023. (Influencer Marketing Statistics for 2023)
- More than 90% of consumers engage with influencers on a weekly basis on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. (Statista)
- Over three-quarters of consumers trust opinions they find on social media, including those from friends, families, and influencers, to help them make the right decision about buying a product or service. (Matter Communications)
Additionally, Insider Intelligence estimates that influencer marketing spend in the U.S. reached $4.14 billion in 2022, and in 2023, it may surpass $5 billion.
Clearly, many marketers are finding success with influencer marketing, and so can you.
Is Influencer Marketing Going Away?
When you look at the numbers, it’s clear that influencer marketing isn’t going away any time soon. In fact, since marketers started really keeping track of influencer marketing statistics in 2016, the industry has seen immense amounts of growth. Most projections say that it will only continue to expand in 2023 and beyond.
Here are a few statistics to show how much influencer marketing has grown in the last few years alone:
- In 2016, the market was valued at just $1.7 billion, compared to a whopping $13.8 billion in 2021.
- Google searches for “influencer marketing” grew by 400% in the UK from 2016-2021.
- The number of companies offering influencer marketing related services grew by 26% in 2021.
- The influencer marketing platform market size is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAFR) of 33.4% from 2022 to 2030.
Source: Grandview Research
What can this growth be attributed to? The increasing popularity of social media platforms has helped fuel the rise of influencer marketing, especially in the midst of the 2020 pandemic. Being stuck at home allowed people more time to be on their phones enjoying social media content, much of it produced by influencers and content creators. Short-form video content especially took off on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, engaging consumers of all demographics for longer periods of time.
Another reason is the decline in respect for brands by consumers. Not only do consumers not trust or want to regularly hear from brands, many have turned on ad blockers or learned to ignore display ads. With all of the stimuli we receive on a daily basis, influencers help cut through the noise to share branded messages in a palatable and friendly way.
A final reason that influencer marketing is growing, not going, is due to the number of influencers currently willing and able to partner with brands for promotion. If you’re wondering how many influencers are actually out there – the number is between 3.2 million and 37.8 million globally. With that many creators vying for sponsorships, brands will never run out of options to turn to.
While marketers will never invest their budget fully into one marketing method over all others, influencer marketing continues to be a hugely important piece of marketing strategies.
What Are The Benefits of Influencer Marketing?
There are lots of advantages to integrating brand advocates, aka influencers, into your marketing strategy.
Here are some of the benefits of pursuing influencer marketing in 2023.
1. Influencer Marketing Increases Your Brand Awareness
Influencers have between thousands and millions of online followers who consume their content. One of the major benefits of utilizing influencer marketing is that you can get your brand in front of a different and sometimes larger audience.
While digital advertising is only somewhat effective, with many users quickly tapping through or scrolling away, influencer campaigns typically involve a content strategy that reads less like ads and more like genuine endorsements.
As the influencers you work with create content that talks positively about your brand, its reputation will grow among their followers.
2. Influencers Build Trust and Credibility
Traditional marketing strategies, like commercials and ad campaigns full of buzzwords, are becoming outdated. One reason is that most are one-sided, with no interaction or proof of “genuineness” from the brand.
Influencers, on the other hand, help build their following by being someone that people can relate to and begin to trust. They establish credibility by being a person who provides quality content rather than a corporate brand. They also establish trust by interacting with their followers online, which most companies do not have the time to do.
By creating a partnership with an influencer who is relevant and influential to your target audience, your marketing becomes more trustworthy to potential buyers.
3. Influencers Can Reach (And Expand) Your Target Audience
Marketers are always trying to refine their target audience and nail down who is most likely to engage with and eventually purchase their products. Working with influencers can make this job easier, as most already have an established niche audience.
However, even if your chosen influencer’s following only slightly overlaps with your target audience, it may be a good opportunity to expand your reach by speaking to their other followers that may not fit into your exact idea of your brand’s “target market.”
4. Influencer Marketing is Cost-Effective
Working with influencers is actually not as expensive as you might expect.
Influencer marketing pricing models vary from creator to creator, especially when taking into account metrics like number of followers and average engagement per post. While larger influencers will expect higher payments, micro-influencers still often agree to post content in exchange for brand merch.
Another way to drive sales while saving budget with influencer marketing is to incorporate custom discount codes or affiliate links into your strategy.
5. Working with Influencers Helps You Learn More About Your Audience
The more data you have about who is looking at, interacting with, and purchasing from your brand, the more you’ll understand the potential audience that you can market to.
Due to the nature of their field, influencers keep track of important audience metrics and are generally (but not always) expected to report relevant analytics to their brand partners. Audience demographics such as age, gender, and location are examples of the information they can provide.
Additionally, influencers will report on metrics such as reach, impressions, and engagement, so that you can see how the campaign performed. This is crucial for understanding what type of content is resonating with your audience, and whether or not the influencer is a good fit for your brand.
What Is the Future of Influencer Marketing?
Marketing, as a whole, is always changing. What is the future for influencers?
According to our 2022 Influencer Marketing Trends Report, some current trends in the industry include:
- Nano and micro-influencers gaining more relevance.
- Renewed focus on diversity and inclusion.
- Influencers being crucial partners in scaling affiliate programs.
- Long-term relationships over one-time projects.
- Professionalization of the industry.
Ready to Get Started with Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a unique tool to help you elevate your marketing strategy, increase brand awareness, and make more sales. And influencer marketing isn’t just something huge companies do with celebrity influencers anymore. With the rise of micro-influencers, more and more small companies are seeing a huge ROI from working with smaller influencers in their niche. More and more, content marketers and business owners alike are using influencer relationships to reach niche audiences.
This is where Lionize comes in. Our software is designed to help companies find the perfect influencers for even the most niche products and services. Our goal isn’t just to get the most views on your product–our goal is to get your product in front of your ideal customer by picking authentic influencers with engaged audiences. The best part is that once you learn to use the software, you can run it yourself. This saves companies time and lowers their marketing budgets.
Want more tips for implementing influencers into your marketing mix? Learn how Lionize helps you find, recruit, and manage influencer relationships to boost your brand. Book a Discovery Call today. We’d love to answer any questions you may have.
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