What is an Influencer?

Influencers have been a hot subject over the last few years. Many marketers attempt to practice the art of an influencer, while others struggle to understand the concept. But, are all influencers the same?

Entrepreneurs who aim to scale their brands may overlook significant opportunities by not integrating influencers into their business objectives. They can also make horrific errors by their choice.

This article provides valuable information to help you understand influencers and influencer marketing so you can determine if this approach will support your brand.

Understanding What is an Influencer?

An influencer is an individual that has the ability to affect consumers’ purchasing decisions. “A person who is paid by a company to show and describe its products and services on social media, encouraging other people to buy them,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary. 

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is the practice of authentic engagement with consumers on social media about the products and services for your brand. Research shows that “92% of marketers who used influencer marketing in 2017 found it to be effective.” 

Here are some facts presented by Business Insider Intelligence about influencer marketing.

Image Source:  Business Insider Intelligence

Three Benefits of Working With Influencers

Influencers provide businesses with valuable opportunities that, if used successfully, can far overshadow traditional advertising, and save tons on the marketing budget. Here are three benefits to consider:

• Building trust and confidence: Influencers who have formed a relationship with their followers have also gained influence and trust with those following. That can spill over to your brand and build confidence and support for your brand.
  
• Building relationships: Influencers with engaged audiences can provide your brand with value-added content that resonates with their audiences’ desires while solving their problems. They know what tickles their audiences and can find the best way to involve them when promoting your goods or services. That helps to build strong relationships.
  
• Increasing brand awareness: The right influencers can leverage their platforms to promote your product or service. That can help the brand gain market traction, identify fresh business opportunities with their audiences, and create market share. Let us look at this example:

“Tom’s of Maine […] wanted to increase brand awareness among health-conscious buyers […]. Tom’s focused on micro-influencers, who then encouraged their followers to publish their posts. This strategy created a snowball effect that reached 4.4 million potential customers in the first three months of the campaign,”    according to Travel Mindset.

 Image Source: Instagram

While influencers reach varies, a study shows that a micro-influencer has an engaging reach of up to 25,000 followers and better engaged with their audience than macro-influencer.  As shown in the example above,  the outcome is astonishingly encouraging.

Three Challenges of Working With Influencers

• Collaborating with the wrong influencers: Working with some influencers can be time-consuming, costly, and negatively affect the return on investment for your business; “78% of marketers considered it their biggest challenge,” as revealed by the Influencer Marketing Hub. Also, some influencers use manipulation to get followers. This can damage the reputation of your brand.
• Negotiating terms—One should not underestimate the importance that an influencer brings to a brand, and this can cause issues when negotiating payment terms. If there are no rules for pricing and you are new to the industry, this can be an intimidating method too. Although negotiating terms with a micro-influencer is more straightforward than with a macro-influencer, one needs to be practical in their guidelines. Otherwise, it may cause a breakdown in the relationship and losing a popular voice promoting your product or service.
  
• Communicating during assignment—Communicating with an influencer can be strenuous. For an effective marketing campaign, various elements need to be communicated, such as deadlines and other deliverables to accomplish. When there is inadequate planning for a marketing campaign, communicating with an influencer can be frustrating and stressful.

Final Thoughts

An influencer can either be a dealmaker for your business or a breaker. Choosing the right one for optimum interaction and success will add value to your brand value proposition.

Now that you understand “what is an influencer,” the types of influencers are important to learn. That will help you decide which one fits your business goal so you can make the right choice in your process of selection.

Ready to learn more? Let us review six types of influencers. 

Please also read my last article. 

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