You probably have heard someone say: do you know that influencer? Or look at what I just bought using this influencer's discount code. Or, you don’t know who …. is? She/he is such a big influencer! Influencers are all around you. In fact, everyone is an influencer to those around them. Everyone influences people around them and everyone is being influenced all the time. So, what is an influencer? For now, we will use the following definition: An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. Let’s jump in why they have so much power and why they are key in your marketing strategy.
Influencer marketing is something that is rather new in the space of marketing, but it has been growing exponentially. The market was around $1.6B in 2016 and in 2020 this was $9.7B and is expected to reach $13.8B in 2021. 17% of companies will spend over 50% of their marketing budget on influencers. So, we can conclude that the market is growing every single year and it shows no sign of stopping. There is a reason why this industry is growing at such a rapid pace.
We all know word-of-mouth, the most effective type of marketing. 64% of marketing executives agree with this and consider word-of-mouth being the most effective marketing tool. According to research, 92% of consumers believe a recommendation that's made to them by a family member or friend. Word-of-mouth is essentially what influencers do at scale. We see influencers as people that we “know”. We trust their advice and we trust that what they say is true. This however only counts when they advise us on a topic that is related to the niche they are in. A professional soccer player advising its followers on which volleyball shoes to buy simply makes no sense and they holds no weight on that topic whatsoever. The same happens when we listen to friends talking and advising us about a topic they know little to nothing about.
The power of an influencer is set free when they talk about products or services that are close to them. Something they would actually use and something they like themselves. When people talk about a product or service they like, we notice that's it real. They light up, they sound authentic. That is the moment when we want to have what an influencer has. That is when an influencer becomes of actual use.
We as Molecule Social have the privilege to work with these wonderful influencers - or as we call them: creators. We work with niche creators. These are influencers that focus their content around a certain topic. We believe that these type of influencers can truly bring our clients the full power of influencer marketing.
Interested in working together? Contact us today.
