In this post I’m going to explain the rise of influencer marketing and the possible dangers that may let it fall. But first, let’s talk about why influencer marketing is so important for many people and brands these days.

Why is influencer marketing so important

Influencer marketing is synonymous with two other forms of marketing that is social media marketing and content marketing.

A lot of influencers use campaigns as a social media component whereby influencers are expected to expose the intriguing content through social media channels on a consistent basis to increase visibility to new visitors and build a personal and business brand.

In regards to that, intelligent brands will utilize these methods to their advantage by creating ongoing conversations with consumers as if the consumer is in the process of helping build the brand, and by doing that this becomes as much as theirs as it is the influencer marketer.

This thus will show to the consumers that they are recognized and influenced by different people, at different times and locations, and in different ways. Digital advertising, brand growth, and content marketing will still have the attention of an influencer marketer but influencer marketing goes beyond the reach and clicks but insteads opts for continuous engagement and conversations that drive commerce in order build relationships that will sustain for years. This will, therefore, increase metrics that matter and align with business goals

Influencer marketing has an authenticity to it that will attract consumers because a lot of famous celebrities or public figures are marketing influencers who can relate to their viewers and potential clients with an authentic voice.

Other individuals in marketing fields cannot ignore influencer marketing any longer because these content creators can have the power to increase business growth and deliver authenticity that will engage an audience and this audience will, in turn, begin to help them spread their brand message.

By doing this, influencers can have an array of followers to create a conversation about their brand that can reach different locations all over the world and that’s the power of influencer marketing.

How does influencer marketing work?

The landscape of marketing has changed dramatically and consumers have become determined and voiced the messaging they want to see. Gone are the days that brands take center stage, consumers are the primary focus because at the end of the day who do the brands cater to at the end? That’s right, consumers are the ones who will help make or break their a brands success.

If an influencer marketer wants to be a part of consumer conversations, then they’ll have to play by consumers rules and accommodate them while also helping themselves grow. Social media is the home for consumers to have conversations today, and one of the most impactful strategies to emerge is that of influencer marketing.

So how does influencer marketing work?

At a high level, influencer marketing is a form of branded engagement whereby marketers can connect with those who boast prominent social footprints. The primary goal is to enter into new communities and existing ones. This will therefore connect the brand/product to new customers through an authentic voice and will thus build trusted relationships of said influencer.

As mentioned before authenticity is one of the key components that will help increase trust and build relationships that will cause an audience to consistently support and view brand media and other aspects a brand brings.

Earned media is a result of extensive exposure to content from influencer marketing. In other words, a lot of the results from those efforts are from an engagement that leads to earned media. One thing influencers should avoid is looking at the popularity of the other influencers or themselves for that matter.

Influence does not only mean popularity, but the end goal is also to elicit a specific action from your customers who can be the brand ambassadors that will increase brand recognition and will increase the merit of the influencer for other businesses to take a look at for sponsorships and so forth.

The drawbacks to influencer marketing

With the popularity of influencer marketing expanding towards more innovative ways, there are some setbacks that can occur or to put simply some bad habits that influencers have done and thought about when building brands and content. First, since all the work is done online it can cause these influencers to find shortcuts to creating valuable brand content that can be game changing, but all those shortcuts will be detrimental in the long run and cause problems. There is no easy solution if shortcuts are taken to get successful results because influencers will only obtain and sustain an accessible audience if they put the time and effort to connect and advertise their brand content without being disingenuous. Secondly, another pitfall that can arise with influencer marketing is tracking the performance of infleuncer campaigns. To clarify, if the right steps to achieve engagement and conversion is not properly configured then the infleuncer will continue to repeat some of the activities he or she has done, and that is all due to not tracking the effects of the campaigns direction. One solution to this issue are creating hashtags. After tracking the online campaign an influencer can dedicate hashtags to fellow influencers they collaborated with or to simply acknowledge them. By tracking these hashtag performances among different social media account influencers are able to:

1. Measure the effectiveness and engagement across different social media accounts
2. Analyze and measure the amount and type of social media interactions made by users
3. Use statistical analysis to estimate the number of positive and negative mentions for each hashtag
4. Locate the spots the new and existing audience spends their most time on social media

Conclusion

In conclusion, influencer marketing is an effective and substantial way to build on thoughtful relationships among brands, creators, and the fans that consume the content. Like with any relationship, it takes time, effort and energy to maintain, and not to mention the money to maximize the brand’s potential.

Any online figure with enough effort and dedication can become an influencer marketer that can bestow their knowledge when it comes to brands and their personal brands to a receptive relevant audience.

Influencer marketing is an interactive marketing strategy when done correctly and should be done consistently if results lead to success such as building trust and credibility and broadening the brands’ reach. Leave a like and comment if you would like to chime in. Also give my page a follow so you can stay up to date for future posts. As always peace and keep it real.