Does influencer marketing make sense for your brand? Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
How to Know If Influencer Marketing is Right for Your Brand
Influencer marketing is helping many brands raise awareness, increase engagement, and boost sales – and by 2020, it’s projected to become a $10 billion industry.
In fact, the majority of marketers say influencer marketing has been an effective channel for their (or their clients’) businesses:
Like any marketing channel, however, it’s good to do your homework before investing resources.
You know, what’s good for the masses may not be good for you, and all that.
So, how do you know if influencer marketing is right for your brand?
Here are a few reasons for using influencer marketing as part of your strategy:
Brand Awareness. Brand awareness requires exposure, and influencer marketing can deliver. The right influencers – those with legit followers, engagement, and the same target audience as yours – can get your brand in front of people who you may not be able to reach on your own.
New Product Launch. Influencer marketing offers an opportunity to get new products in front of followers who are likely to buy but don’t currently follow your brand. Considering 90 percent of consumers value recommendations from people they know, influencers hold incredible sway over potential customers.
Increase Followers and Engagement. When you leverage influencers to get the word out, you give your brand the opportunity to gain more followers and, consequently, more engagement with your brand’s content.
Legitimize Your Brand. Here’s another great reason for using influencer marketing: to lend legitimacy to your brand and build confidence in consumers. After all, if someone’s favorite influencer trusts your brand, then they are more likely to feel good about your brand, too.
Improve SEO. Did you know influencer marketing could assist with your SEO initiatives? It can be a great source of off-page SEO, because it sends links to your website from what search engines consider “reliable web pages.”
Influencer marketing offers many advantages to brands, because it leverages an audience outside the brand’s and the content distribution potential of the influencer to deliver maximum reach and impact.
Still, you don’t want to use just any influencer. In fact, the wrong influencer can do more harm than good to your brand.
Depending on your brand and industry, there may or may not be any valuable influencers to leverage. If you are unable to find individuals with audiences that match your target audience, or if their followers seem fake or unengaged, then influencer marketing may not be the best fit.
You may also want to consider if your audience spends their time on social media, where the majority of influencer marketing happens.
What to Do Next
If you are considering working with influencers, but you’re not sure if influencer marketing is right for your brand, reach out to RSO Consulting for help. We can provide insight based on your business goals and marketing strategies.
