In marketing there is always a new trendy buzz word and "influencer marketing" is a popular one right now. Popular with good reason, as if done right, influencer marketing can have unparalleled sales, growth and equity results for brands and generate unmatched ROI for marketing budgets.
We, at Global Yodel Media Group, decided to look at the definition of both influence and marketing separately to better understand the term as a whole.
Influence: The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.
Marketing: The action or business of promoting and selling products or services.
Influencer marketing is simply the action of promoting and selling products or services through people (influencers) who have the capacity to have an effect on the character of a brand.
Influencer marketing may be trendy right now, but it isn't new at all. It has been happening for a long time, we have just been thinking about it and defining it differently. Celebrities, athletes, and leaders were the main influencers in their respective fields and brand would partner with these individuals to promote their service offering.
What has made influencer marketing unique in the present is how social media communication has leveled the playing field and given anyone and everyone the opportunity to share their voice. Anyone with internet access can share their opinion and content, and if they do it well enough- become an influencer. Anyone with a smartphone can produce high-quality photography that ten years ago could have only come out of a $5,000 camera. The most intriguing people will rise above the rest. These individuals that rise way above the rest in following, engagement and/or content creation are a new breed of social media influencer which has rapidly changed the marketing landscape. These are the individuals that brands are scrambling to work with. And you should be too.
Big brands (and small) are starting to allocate big budgets to their influencer marketing programs. Big marketing agencies are scrambling to form divisions and hire staff to execute Influencer Marketing as one of their service offerings. There are boutique agencies and software popping up all over the place who provide niche Influencer Marketing services.
So is influencer marketing an important and worthwhile strategy to put your resources towards? Absolutely, and if done correctly this can single handily be the biggest catalyst for business growth. There are many young savvy brands who are using Influencer Marketing almost exclusively as their sales/marketing strategy. It is powerful, and if done right, it can have an incredible ROI that delivers tremendous business success and growth.
See these case studies that highlight some of these success stories.
Whether your brand is big or small, and whether you are B2B or B2C, there are influencers in your space and you should be building relationships with them.