Influencer marketing is a booming business, and clearly just the most recent example of me missing the proverbial boat. What was a $9 billion industry in 2019 is forecast to grow to $15 billion by 2022 (Shomer, 2019). While the term “influencer” is fairly new, influencer marketing in fact can combine traditional marketing strategies such as having a celebrity endorse a product with newer, social media strategies in which content and relationships rule the day (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2020). And as I consider what I notice about this type of marketing, the first and most glaring facet is that it would be completely ineffective with me, personally, as the target market.

Fortunately I am an outlier, rare to use social media on a personal level, and hence not a detriment to this marketing strategy. In fact, there are several things I notice, such as the fact that Instagram seems to be the gold standard for influencer marketing. This makes sense: consider that as I’ve noted previously, Instagram’s platform is largely preferred by people younger than, for example, me. So, teens and Millennials must be receptive to influencer marketing. Statistics back this up: More than half of Instagram influencers are between the ages of 25 and 34, 80 percent are female, and there are, amazingly, around 500,000 active influencers on the platform (Sorilbran, 2020).

I also notice that influencer marketing is hugely successful. Considering that influencer marketing campaigns earn around $6.50 for every dollar spent, it’s easy to see why it’s the fastest-growing way companies are gaining customers online (DMI, 2019). I’m unaware of a marketing professional who wouldn’t leap at an opportunity for that kind of return. In fact, it’s simple to understand why influencer marketing has passed print marketing and why companies are readily willing to spend $25,000 to $50,000 per campaign (although this seems low to me) (DMI, 2019).

An effective strategy prevalent in influencer marketing is the willingness of a company to allow the influencer to ad-lib or tell the story in his or her own words (Whitaker, 2016). This is sensible to me because the influencer has built over time a level of trust with his or her audience by telling stories and sharing life events. As such, it is reasonable to assume an audience would be listening not just to the name of the brand but also to the way its story is told. This strategy is also useful in another strategy used by successful campaigns, which is that the company (brand) must win the influencer’s trust.

Because of these things, influencers play a significant role in marketing, and one that, as mentioned above, is growing fast. Consider for example the ad influencer Logan Paul did for Dunkin at Central Park, in which the company trusted him enough that the entire thing was done with no script. Paul simply ad-libbed, speaking as he normally would speak to his audience, and the result was immensely successful. And while Dunking paid Paul $200,000 for what amounted to a day’s work, Paul points out, correctly in my view, he is underpaid for his services. I’d further point out that one day of filming was based on a great time investment Paul made in building his audience and gaining its trust. It’s also worth noting that while I mentioned above that celebrities can and do act as influencers, not all influencers are celebrities, at least in the traditional sense of being recognized any time they are in public (DMI, 2019).

In fact, that is the key aspect of the relationship marketing impact for the company and the consumer: an influencer has the ability to bring the two together perhaps like never before in marketing. The company wins not only in terms of return on investment, but on developing a solid foundation for brand loyalty, while the consumer wins as well by seeing, and I would submit vicariously experiencing, a product they believe they can trust, thus eliminating hesitation or indecisiveness. No matter how one views it, influencer marketing is not a zero-sum game.

References

DMI, S. @. (2019, November 15). 20 Influencer Marketing Statistics that Will Surprise You. Retrieved from https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-us/blog/20-influencer-marketing-statistics-that-will-surprise-you.

Influencer Marketing Hub. (2020, March 16). What is Influencer Marketing? An in Depth Look at Marketing’s Next Big Thing. Retrieved from https://influencermarketinghub.com/what-is-influencer-marketing/.

Schomer, A. (2019, December 17). Influencer Marketing: State of the social media influencer market in 2020. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/influencer-marketing-report.

Sorilbran. (2020, February 22). 18 Instagram Influencer Marketing Stats You Need To Know. Retrieved from https://www.stedavies.com/instagram-influencer-marketing-stats/.

Whitaker, B. (2016, October 23). The Influencers. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-kim-kardashian-logan-paul-social-media-influencers/.