Influencer Marketing For Brands: Tips and Tricks in 2022

When you hear the word “influencer,” do you think of Kardashians and detox teas? If so, it might be time for a refresher course. Influencer marketing has evolved from its uncertain beginnings in the early days of social media into a valuable part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. 

Who Are Influencers?

So, what is an influencer, anyway? 

An influencer is a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending items on social media. 

Influencers have an established audience following on a social platform, ranging from micro or nano (< 5K followers) to mega (10M+ followers). They build and grow their communities across various social media platforms –  including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok –  based on an area of expertise or a common interest with their followers. 

Influencers engage their audiences in relatable, personal ways and create user-generated content (UGC) specific to their spheres of influence, such as fashion, beauty, home decor, comedy, etc.

As the influencer trend gained steam, brands began to actively seek out influencers as partners to access and leverage their engaged audiences. Early-adopting brands offered freebies and invites in exchange for promotional plugs; today, influencer marketing is a full-scale marketing channel. 

Traditionally, major brands leveraged household-name celebrities as brand ambassadors.

But times have changed. 

Today, audiences crave authenticity and a personal connection to influencer content. Mass-appeal celebrities can seem out of reach or worse, out of touch with reality.

Influencers are relatable “regular people.” Their followers look to them for their unique content, their product recommendations, and to be part of a like-minded community. Devoted followers look to influencers as peers, engaged and interested in the same things they are.

What Are the Benefits of Influencer Marketing?

From a marketing perspective, there are many advantages to working with influencers:

• Lifestyle content: Influencers produce high-quality content and are usually the first to test new content styles. They each have their unique creative lens, leading to content brands would not have been able to conceive or create on their own.

• A trustworthy voice: Consumers tend to trust reviews by real people over paid ads. Working with influencers to showcase a brand’s product provides consumers with a reliable source — someone who has tested or used the product. 
• An engaged community: Many traditional marketing channels are expensive and one-way. Influencers provide an opportunity for more conversational marketing by facilitating audience interaction in comment sections, direct messages, and live videos. 

Diversity and new audiences: Brands can speak to a much more segmented audience by working with niche influencers. Brands can audit influencers’ audiences to understand demographics like gender, age, location, household income levels, interests, and more. Additionally, through paid efforts, companies can tap into influencer audiences for remarketing purposes.

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