Does Influencer Marketing Brings More Quality Audience ?

Nothing ever is truer than that statement. This is the era where your social presence is your identity. And it is the same with businesses and brands. Routine old-fashioned advertisements are failing to capture the attention of people. Some digital marketing tactics are nothing but old-fashioned ads in the hands of new technology. And no other marketing tactic works best for this generation's audience than influencer marketing and brands started to notice it. But is it true that Influencer Marketing brings a more quality audience?

The answer to this question cannot be an "Absolutely Yes!" or "Definitely Not." The way consumers behave, buy, and build relationships with brands is constantly changing. Today, people are always on the lookout for something new and meaningful. They have grown awry of paid ads from brands (to some extent) and now use the golden way of finding credibility and likability - word of mouth.

In such times, brands are moving toward influencer marketing to spread the good word about them and build bonds with consumers. It replicates the "word-of-mouth" and amplifies it with the power of online and social to help brands get the growth metric - ROI.

A recent study by Nielsen shows that for every $1 invested in an influencer marketing campaign will return $6.50, all the way up to $14.

Let's look at what's making brands pay attention to influencer marketing today and how it is helping to find a quality audience.

#1 Social Media Has Become the Social Heartbeat

Man is a social animal and it’s more evident than ever before from the number of social platforms present today and the number of accounts being created in them. People love connecting, talking, sharing, and making communities to help each other. That's why they love spending time on social media, as it lets them do all these things.

But there's a catch. People still have their boundaries.They don't want to chat with a salesperson trying to sell, a brand that's not human, or someone who doesn't align with their beliefs.

That’s precisely where influencer marketing will do the trick. It can help pass a brand's message through an influencer an ideal customer consumes the content of, has a relationship with, and trusts.

So, a brand can give itself a face and voice to blend in the social world and grow profitable.

#2 Word-of-Mouth Has Made A Comeback, with a Twist

Humans trust humans. They want to talk to humans and ask them what's best. That's why word of mouth has always been there, even when many forms of marketing have evolved.

What can be said about word of mouth is that it has got a makeover. It's no longer synonymous with our small social circle of trustworthy people - family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. The things we hear from influencers we follow on social media and the products we see them using are nothing but the forms of word of mouth.

How is that so?

Audience never met influencers, yet they're adored for the value they create through the content and a relationship has been built. This can be called PSR(Parasocial Relationship). PSR will be a topic for another day. PSR is positively related to the trustworthiness of the influencer upon which influencer marketing is built.

#3 People Have Hung the "No Ads Allowed" Sign Board

With everyone creating and content being present everywhere, people are now putting thought into making their time online fun and fruitful.

One way they have found is to cut out ads completely. They want to bid goodbye to the feeling of a banner sticking to their face or a bumper sale announcement following them when they're trying to concentrate or have fun.

Hence, it will get harder for brands to grab a cup of tea with their audience when they've shut the door. So, instead of dropping invitation cards, brands need to approach someone (an influencer) their ideal customer looks up to and make them pass the good word.

#4 A Day Without Mobile is Hard to Imagine

We have our mobile by our side almost all the time. While watching TV, we have our mobile in our hands and look at it as soon as a commercial appears. While commuting, we find ourselves continuously scrolling and tapping.

In short, the whole time we spend on mobile is an opportunity for brands to reach out to us. What's even better? It's all the time a brand can use right influencers to talk about the brand and make people see it in a good light and build human relationships with it.

Brands can use the strength of the influencer's relationships and credibility to have goodwill when they meet and greet their target buyer where they're most willing to listen to them.

These patterns of the consumers and media today make influencer marketing a must-have, or rather, must-try, in our branding toolkit. And these habits will continue to deepen with time. Brands will focus on making themselves human to reap the benefits of human relationships, and influencers will make the work easy for them. Influencers can reach and convince people at times when it gets difficult for brands - due to people's skepticism and ad blockers.

Though, influencer marketing has its challenges like finding the right influencers, and the way to work with them. Hence, we advise brands to use influencer marketing to complement their other marketing endeavors. For example, running paid ads along with influencer campaigns on social media.

It's the most effective way of getting the best of both worlds