The Rise of Social Media Influencers (yes, they matter!)
Ten years ago, who would have thought that you could hold a job title like ‘Social Media Influencer’ or ‘Content Creator’? And here we are in 2024, with more social media influencers than ever, making a living through your brand.
It’s a global phenomenon that has added a new dimension to how businesses market, how consumers purchase and who we trust.
Influencer marketing has seen a meteoric rise in its establishment as one of the most highly indispensable marketing tools, which is made apparent by the fact that the market has grown by US$12.1 billion in the last five years. Still not convinced by the legitimacy of influencer marketing? For every A$1 invested in influencer marketing campaigns, businesses are seeing a return of approximately A$6.50!
As of 2016, influencer marketing has triumphed over print marketing in terms of effectiveness, with the impacts of the latter quickly subsiding. And it’s all thanks to us – the consumers. We are 74% more likely to trust brands that engage social media influencers. It’s a scary thought – we are putting our faith in people who are being paid by a company to share their opinion (which often consists of being told what their opinion is).
However, for the past few years, social media influencers in Australia have been legally required to disclose sponsored social media posts aka if their content possesses a business relationship with a “material connection”. This can be monetary payment, gift exchange, or a business/family relationship. This is why you’ve been noticing hashtags such as …
- #sponsored
- #ad
- #partner
- #spon
Long gone are the days of sharing posts for a return! Influencers must now create the content they distribute. After all, they are being labelled as ‘creators’, aren’t they? So it would only make sense that they stay true to this and ‘create’ content, rather than endorsing a product with someone else’s words.
Since the implementation of this legislation, this has allowed us to filter and identify the true influencers VS those who tow the corporate line for money or status. Real influencers work hard for their brands, love what they do and firmly believe in what they promote.
Over the past couple of years, there has been another subset of influencers that has emerged, and they’re dubbed ‘micro-influencers’. They are actively sought after by small to medium enterprises (SMEs) as they are more accessible and relatable to the everyday consumer. From the consumers’ perspective, since micro-influencers interact with their audience more frequently through likes, follows and comments, they experience a more intimate and personable connection with these content creators. From the business’ perspective, collaborating with a micro-influencer is much more affordable than working with a celebrity and allows the brand to have more budget to engage more than one influencer.
Do marketers believe in the effectiveness of influencer marketing? That’s a definite yes with an astounding 80% of marketers agreeing to that, and 89% saying it works just as well (if not better) than other marketing channels. The utilisation of this marketing tool is not forecasted to take a backseat anytime soon: Currently, 87% of marketers plan to continue investing the same amount or increase their investment in influencer marketing.
Now, this poses a question of how these marketers source and engage influencers for their marketing campaigns? Since this is a relatively new way of marketing, smaller brands may not know how to do it efficiently. It is also time-consuming, which poses a problem for smaller companies that cannot afford more manpower. Sourcing for the right influencers that suit their brand is the most time-consuming portion of constructing an influencer marketing campaign and is something that all marketers dread due to the low response and conversion rates. So to save precious time and resources, many marketers now turn to influencer marketing platforms that serve to bridge the gap between businesses and influencers. Local platforms include collabstr and theright.fit which provide an efficient and affordable avenue to source and engage appropriate influencers for the respective brands or campaigns.
What do I think businesses should do?
We know that using influencers works. Building a relationship with your brand influencers is key, so picking just any ‘influencer’ is not going to work. You must treat this as you would any other marketing exercise. Ask yourself these key questions:
- Will my influencer be able to/be equipped to speak about my brand or product without being fed the lines?
- Is there an obvious connection between my influencer and my brand?
- Will I be able to measure return on investment? How will the influencer help me do this?