What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing is fast become one of the most popular forms of digital marketing in today’s business landscape. Due to influencer marketing’s relative infancy many people still wonder: “What is Influencer Marketing?”. There is such a confusion about what Influencer Marketing is that a short time ago, I was featured on Good Things Utah, a popular morning show on my local news network to discuss what an influencer actually is. With the rise of social media platforms and mass short form content, audiences and potential customers are not just more accessible than ever, but more invested in what they choose to buy and will seek out your products if they are presented to them correctly. Influencer Marketing is the targeted presentation of advertisements and product reviews to a specific user’s audience, often on social media. 

Influencer: Definition

Influencer Definition: An individual or group that connects their audience to a brand by being a spokesperson, reviewer, or by indirectly featuring the brand in their social media platforms.

New and full of possibilities, Influencer marketing is fairly new, as an online practice, but has roots in some of the oldest forms of classical advertisement, the celebrity endorsement.

Having a large social media following does not just make someone an influencer although it is a required element of an influencer.

The main difference between a celebrity and an influencer is that an influencer must be not only the mouthpiece of the brand, but they must demonstrate their knowledge of the product and their expertise in the subject matter. They must also curate a loyal following in order lend themselves the credibility needed to bridge the gap between consumers and brands. A celebrity may promote something that is outside of their normal expertise because of their fame and acting as a spokesperson is secondary to their normal occupation. For example, if an actor promotes a brand of alcohol by being in their commercial, there is no assumption that this actor knows anything about alcohol by the viewers of the commercial. However, an influencer who reviews beauty products, will have a more in-depth knowledge of products in that industry and their viewers will seek out their page or posts to get this type of information.

That crucial difference means that we can expect that brand influencers’ audiences are a more focused group. Therefore, influencer marketing can be utilized to display products to an audience that wants more information about the things that influencers promote. So now, what is influencer marketing? It is promoting products through specific user’s social media platforms to niche markets and curated audiences.

Influencer Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing

You may be thinking, ok so Influencers are on social media so how does influencer marketing relate to social media marketing? In short, social media marketing is marketing that takes place on social media platforms, and influencer marketing would fit that definition because influencers broadcast on social media platforms. Therefore, influencer marketing could be categorized as a kind of SSM.

However, social media marketing also encompasses ads that are posted by brands themselves in their own voice and then promoted by paying the social media platform directly. This is not influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is a specific kind of social media marketing that is useful for reaching specific or targeted niche audiences and borrowing the credibility and voice of the influencers who promote the brand.

If you browsed Instagram and saw an ad for Nike shoes posted by the Nike Official Instagram account would that be influencer marketing or social media marketing? Obviously, that is social media marketing. But what if NIKE posts an ad on their Official Instagram Account and it features a prominent athlete? Would that Athlete meet the influencer definition? No, they wouldn’t. Because the athlete isn’t promoting the brand to their own audience, they are simply a celebrity spokesman, in this case, using NIKE’s audience. However, if the athlete posted the ad to their own Instagram feed they would then be acting as a brand influencer. This is especially true because you would expect the athlete to have high-level expertise when it comes to athletic shoes or apparel right? If you chose to follow them on social media then it would be assumed that you sought out that kind of information, you would want to know what kind of shoes they wear or prefer.

Benefits of using Brand Influencers on Social Media

Direct Access to Targeted or Niche Audiences

If you ask any quality brand influencer or social media person just who their followers are they should be able to tell you at least 3 things about their typical follower or average audience. They should know how old they are, their gender, and of course, what they are interested in. For brands, having their promotions or products shown directly to groups that are already focused or targeted is a great opportunity. There are influencers for almost every demographic and market, once you find the right ones to work with your brands reach will be much more effective.

Lower Cost (Relatively)

Your typical influencer will serve as a one stop shop for social media advertising. Influencers take responsibility for the copy, photography, editing, and modeling. To hire out for all of these services individually would be much less cost effective than to pay an influencer a one time “contractor style” payment.

Outsourced Content Creation

An often-underappreciated aspect of influencer marketing is a fresh set of eyes on a campaign. Brands want to have their message packaged, delivered, and crafted with a voice that is in line with previous marketing efforts for the campaign, but sometimes the variety can be a fresh take on something wrote. An effective marketing campaign will take place across different mediums, channels, and sources. It is possible that by the time you are ready to use social media to advertise your audience has already heard your branded message and it might be time for something new. If there is one thing you can count on social media influencers to do it’s knowing their following. Having a brand influencer voice their support for your product will sound much smoother and more organic to your audience.

Recap: What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer Definition: An individual or group that connects their audience to a brand by being a spokesperson, reviewer, or by indirectly featuring the brand in their social media platforms.

Influencer Marketing Definition: Businesses promoting their products or services through the social media accounts of individuals with a niche or curated following.

If you have questions about how influencer marketing works, or are interested in working with  Lauryncakes, you may Contact Me here.