Influencer Marketing: what is it and how can you take advantage of it to multiply your sales?

In recent years it has entered the advertising world a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly more strongly : we refer to Influencer Marketing . But what is it exactly? Why so successful? And above all: how can it help your business? All this and more talk in this article. Here we go!

What is Influencer Marketing or Marketing Influencers?

It is known as  Influencer Marketing  or Marketing Influencers to the promotion strategy used by brand consisting of leverage charisma, influence and reputation of a person to get your message or business proposition to your target audience (Source: Entrepreneur .com ).

Through Influencer Marketing businesses choose a “spokesman” to transmit their proposals to the audience . Said spokesman (or spokeswoman) must be a popular and charismatic person , since the aim of this strategy is to capitalize on its ability to influence people and their choices.

We review the origin of this practice and its evolution to the present day, to better understand its essence and potential.

A review of the history of Influencer Marketing to today

To say specialists , the history of Influencer Marketing goes back to late 1800 , when companies began recruiting celebrities to promote products to consumers as cigarettes or household goods. Among the most notable influencers of the period included the Queen and the Pope.

In the ’30s was the brand Coca Cola which took this idea into practice in an unprecedented manner. Then the marketers of the company realized that people connect more with characters they can relate (fundamental concept of Influencer Marketing ).

Thus, Coca Cola changed the image of Santa Claus (formerly strict and rigid) to make it a  warm and sympathetic character , that would help to promote their products . Then in the years ’50 , was the brand Marlboro which successfully highlighted by resorting to a male model, transmitting security and confidence.

Since then, the stars of Influecer Marketing became celebrities of film and TV, a situation that was held for decades. To illustrate this point, in the following GIF you can see the character Joey  in the series Friends (1994-2004), when he is hired as influencer by a Japanese firm to sell a male lipstick.

The arrival of Internet growth boosted Influencer Marketing

With the advent of the Internet, the practice of Influencer Marketing takes a turn and power, mainly for three reasons. The first is that the Net makes it possible for anyone to be influencer , as long as possess a large enough audience. This enables affordable costs for business.

To be economically viable, companies begin to resort to this strategy, for example by hiring  bloggers to help them promote their proposals. The second reason is the advent of user – generated content , which means that we are all influencers to some extent.

And p. eg. many brands rely on content created by their fans to promote their products (photos and videos using the goods traded are the most common types). The third reason for the rise of Influencer Marketing is the fact that today any ordinary person can be a celebrity online .

Accordingly , and as we said, anyone can be a (a) influencer , provided you have a good number of followers. This situation abounds in social networks, especially YouTub and e Instagram , where the most popular users are hired by large firms to promote their proposals.

Why Is So Effective Influencer Marketing As the Advertising Strategy?

To explain the success of Influencer Marketing , we begin by mentioning the psychological factor : people are much more likely to be influenced by those who admire or love . By combining this fact with the qualities of social networks, an advertising message can thus be promoted very effectively.

But there ‘s more: in a world where every day is produced countless  contents promotional , it is very difficult for brands to stand out in that gigantic cloud of information. That’s why businesses find a solution by resorting to influential users to influence consumer behavior .

Some statistics and data Marketing Influencers

Now let ‘s see what the numbers say about this growing practice:

• The 83% of consumers trust blindly on the recommendations of friends and family
• The 66% of people say they trust the reviews that other users post on their social profiles.
• The 94% of marketers who resorted to Influencer Marketing believes that an effective strategy.
• The Influencer Marketing is the fastest growing channel and the most effective in terms of costs ( see source ).
• Consumers are becoming immune to advertising Traditiona l.
• In environment of Social Networks it offers exposure to brands 24/7/365 .
• The 92% of consumers ask people you know for referrals, rather than any other source.
• Customers gained through  recommendations  have a retention rate 37% higher.
• Businesses earn $ 6.50 for every dollar invested in Influencer Marketing.

Two examples Influencer Marketing

Now that you know the reasons why this Strategy Online Marketing is so effective, we will share with you two recent examples. You see, are two common people, users of social networks, which because of its popularity and growing number of followers were hired by big brands like Influencers .

Zurita Juanpa

This is a young Mexican “YouTuber” whose growing popularity reports would currently more than 12 million followers . Among the brands that contacted him to leverage its reach among young Coca Cola stands (below you can see a promotional video for that brand).

Check out their profile on Instagram .

Paula Gonu

This Spanish girl of only 24 years has recently become a reference for many users. And the Catalan now has more than 1.2 million “fans” on social networks. One brand that decided to use their great power of influence is the cosmetics firm Maybelline e .

You can see your Instagram account .

How you can take the Influencer Marketing To Promote Your Brand And Multiply Your Sales?

We saw what the Influencer Marketing , met their history, statistics that support its success and examples of influencers . Now for the practical part of this blog post : How can you take this strategy to benefit your own business?

The first thing to do is set your goal . In this sense, the Influencer Marketing can help you:

• Increase the number of visitors to your website .
• Multiplying the number of followers of your brand social accounts.
• Increase the number of interactions receiving account your business in Social Media (Likes and Shares)
• Increase the number of visits to your online store .
• Promote the use of your products or services.
• Promote visits to your business .
• Promote your brand identity .

4 Keys to Make Influencer Marketing Successfully

Once you’ve defined your goal, there are some fundamental recommendations to follow to carry out this strategy successfully. They are as follows:

Explore 1- Social Networks yourself to come up with the perfect influencer

It is not necessary to go to the most famous influencers to find a profitable option for your brand. According to the size and scope of your business, you can put yourself to the task of locating the most influential people in your city , through different social networks and using search filters.

E.g. Instagram you can do some research , defining a series of hashtags related to your business proposal (p. eg. “#muebles”) and making a filtered search by location. Then you identify what are the most popular photos and videos for each hashtag to give the user of your city more convenient for your brand.

2- Check your Influencer Image

As recommended by specialists in marketing, it is essential to define the image you want to convey through your influencer . For that you must define the following:

• Personality: decides whether accurate an informant, an authority, an activist, etc. to promote your campaign or your products.
• Scope: You can choose one or two, including travel, fashion, technology, marketing, etc.
• Topics: Choose a topic that addresses your ideal influencer occasionally in their social networks or blog. This will justification when arguing why he or she chose for your brand.
• Type Scope: According to what your goals are will choose the best influencer. You should ask yourself questions like: Do you want to campaign visual content or would you rather turn to blogging ? Social Network What would be the best to promote your proposals? Want to increase your popularity in Social Media or increase your web traffic? What is the “stronger” every influencer Social Network?

3- Leverages Online Tools to Find Influencers for your brand

To help you to find the perfect Influencer, there are some very practical tools. One is Social Mention , which lets you enter the name of your company or brand to find all mentions users who have made it on different social networks (Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, etc.).

You can also take advantage of Google Alerts . It is to define a set of keywords related to your brand or business about which you want to receive alerts (p. Eg. The name of your business). That way you can find posts and articles that mention your brand and contact their authors.

4- Once you’ve found your Influencer, plan your strategy Influencer Marketing

In addition to finding the ideal or your brand and to propose a benefit in exchange for their services (from money to discounts, free kits, etc.) influencer, you must plan the influencer marketing strategy you will use . Here some suggestions:

• Ask your influencer to generate content using your products (photos, videos, articles, etc.).
• Take advantage of special times of the year (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.) to suggest to your influencer to generate videos, photos, live broadcasts, podcasts articles or allusive.
• Send your new products to your influencer to do live demonstrations or tests.
• Create a calendar of publications to guide your influencer in generating content.

To conclude this blog post , we can say that the Influencer Marketing is a century – old strategy whose success has been rising, reaching the height of it enjoys today . And because of its features and advantages, we strongly recommend to implement your brand or business . Then tell us!

By way of further reading, we recommend the following items:

• Why you should use a Micro Influencer to boost your Local Business?
• How to Create Video Marketing Campaigns on a budget
• How You Can Help The Content of Social Networking in SEO Services
• 6 Ideas of posts to Facebook to position your business and sell more

Did you like this blog post ? Already you know about Influencer Marketing ? Do you think an effective technique? Tell us your opinion! And please remember to share this article with your contacts. Until next time!