INFLUENCERS: MARKETING’S VIRAL SENSATION

By Jamie Izaks, All Points Public Relations

When it comes to an advertising trend that is catching the attention of CMOs everywhere, influencer marketing is at the top of the list.

As one of the fastest growing sectors of marketing, brands are utilizing the power of influencers to increase brand awareness, attract potential customers and boost business growth. What was once characterized as unmeasurable, influencer marketing today bridges the ROI gap to capitalize on a key element within media planning. We’ll explore how brands utilize influencers to achieve business goals including building consumer trust, driving web traffic and increasing conversions.

Power of Social Media

Let’s start with a breakdown of who influencers are, to better understand how they can best be implemented to serve brands. Unlike celebrities, influencers are seen as “relatable people” with niche passions, who built their social media channels by sharing interesting, or demographically targeted information. Over time, they’re able to monetize their niche, appealing to their devoted following while promoting branded products and services.

Influencers are effective because they’re able to get key messages out in front of target customers in a more entertaining and personalized way than any other marketing channel before it.

Personal endorsements and testimonials have been amplified by brands for many years, but influencer marketing takes it to the next level. Influencers are effective because they’re able to get key messages out in front of target customers in a more entertaining and personalized way than any other marketing channel before it. Often their audience occupies a unique niche or demographic, offering more pinpointed and pragmatic options for advertisers looking to get their brand or product in front of a specific customer base. With an established, trusted influencer audience relationship, an influencer’s endorsement adds credibility to your partnership rather than paid ads alone, which are routinely discredited and dismissed.

Further, even on social media, a sponsored post or ad can be obviously promotional, but an influencer review can fit seamlessly with the rest of the content users consume, not appearing like an advertisement at all. The audience willingly and enthusiastically consumes the content without having to chase it, and without the cynicism that ads command.

Building Consumer Trust

 Influencer marketing requires a high level of trust between the influencer and the brand. Although contracts are often required for large brand partnerships, the care of the brand’s reputation is in the influencer’s keeping. Before jumping in with the social media star, a brand must ensure an influencer’s content aligns with its overall image. Affiliating with the wrong person can have negative consequences. That’s why it is important to work with those who wholeheartedly believe in your brand’s values and authentically display them to their followers.

Influencers can provide the trust and validation to drive sales, enabling brands to reach the right customers, with the right message, at the right time.

While many brands assume bigger is always better, that’s not always the case. As the name suggests, a micro-influencer has a smaller following, typically under 10,000 followers. Specifically, all brands should utilize micro-influencers to promote stores or products at a local level. In our work with these types of influencers, we have found they have stronger relationships built on expertise and trust with their followers. In fact, a study by SocialPubli found that micro-influencers generate seven times more engagement than macro-influencers.

Given the wide range of lifestyles that influencers portray, there’s a personalized image on social media for every brand and budget to connect to their target customer base. Identifying influencer partnerships may be like finding a needle in a haystack, but securing the right partnership can have a big payoff.

Driving Website Traffic and Sales

Influencers can provide the trust and validation to drive sales, enabling brands to reach the right customers, with the right message, at the right time.

One example of a successful influencer partnership is Dunkin’ and Charli D’Amelio. TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio, with over 144 million followers on the platform to date, is easily one of the most influential teenage stars in the world.

Charli is best known for sharing dance trends and posting clips featuring her Dunkin’ coffee order. In their collaboration, Dunkin’ launched “The Charli” on its menu so fans across the world could try Charli’s coffee order. In a mind-blowing success, the chain sold hundreds of thousands of her signature drink within the first few days of launching. Sales set a record for daily users on the Dunkin’ app on the first day of the launch after seeing a 57 percent increase in app downloads.

This collaboration seamlessly aligned with Charli’s existing content while capturing a target demographic for the Dunkin’ customer base — a win for both sides.

However, micro-influencers are still a great way to spread the word for businesses that don’t have the budget to work with macro-influencers. We saw great success with this tactic for a health-food client, who rolled out a brand-new menu with 41 influencer collaborations in more than 25 U.S. markets. The buzz on social media generated incredible publicity and helped make the launch of the new menu a success.

Maintaining Good Relationships

The relationship influencers have with their audience can spur results far beyond what many see as just brand awareness. They can expose potential customers to products, services and branded experiences in a way that is more revenue-building than other tools in your marketing mix. Influencers are more likely to impact purchasing decisions over traditional advertisements. When combining their influence, audience size and credibility with the purchasing power of those using social media, you’ve got a recipe for success.

Jamie Izaks is the president of All Points Public Relations. For more information about IFA supplier member All Points Public Relations, please visit franchise.org/suppliers/all-points-publicrelations-llc.