Influencer Marketing Pays Off

Small-business owners face a massive challenge when it comes to marketing their business. Without the proper tools or experience, they can end up spending large budgets with no guaranteed return.

Word-of-mouth marketing is the oldest and most valuable way of convincing people to buy a product or service. Being encouraged and reassured by a social media influencer who is a trusted source has more value than any other sort of advertising. It is then possible to target the most relevant consumers for a fraction of the cost of traditional media. Here are some of the advantages:

Cost-effective

An influencer-marketing campaign is extremely flexible, meaning that your initial investment can be quite small and a successful programme can immediately be scaled up.

Build brand loyalty fast

A startup does not have the benefit of years of customer relationships and brand loyalty. By having an influencer align themselves with your brand’s message, you can build equity with potential customers more quickly. You are essentially being introduced to the person’s followers with an implicit credibility. This is a major advantage, especially when paired with the vital market research that social media can provide on consumers (from “likes,” shares and comments).

Achieve highly targeted advertising

With an influencer-marketing platform, you can create a highly targeted campaign by zeroing in on very specific variables, like the geography of consumers or an age group. Reaching the right people is sometimes far more important than reaching a lot of people.

Return on investment is easily trackable

It is easy to assess the success of an influencer-driven campaign. Follower acquisition is an important key performance indicator. A follower is essentially a potential customer who can be targeted and advertised to at no additional cost. You can then track the effectiveness of individual posts, seeing how well followers react to the content and if it translates to sales. Hashtags and promo codes let you monitor sales, usage and click-through rates, making them valuable indicators of a return on investment.

Next time you’re considering traditional advertising for your small business, try influencer marketing and track the return on investment. You may be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Does your business use influencer marketing?

Adapted from an article by Eric Dahan, entrepreneur.com