Influencer (word-of-mouth) Marketing

The real currency of marketing is great communication, likability and trust. Without it, consumers will not develop brand loyalty.

Businesses that do not have the consumers trust can offer the highest quality products and services and yet still never grow to what they could. For your business to boom, you need to reach customers in a way that inspires trust and establishes a long term relationship and un turn great referral business.

Social media marketing is one of the fastest growing forms of marketing offering a new way to gain the trust of customers, through existing customers. Individuals are more likely to purchase products or try a new business if other people say they have had a good experience with the product or company.

This form of marketing is called influencer marketing, it encourages customers to share information on your businesses behalf.

As a result of trust, influencer marketing can help your business grow in the following ways.

Enhances Your Social Media Presence

Effective marketing reaches consumers where they already are. The fact is that around 80% of consumers worldwide are on social media regularly, so establishing a presence on social media is essential for successful modern marketing.

Many businesses create pages and post occasionally on social media. Some pay for sponsored ads that can target an specific area or type of customer as well.

Through influencer marketing, paid or incentivised social media, you can reach out to social networks with information about what your business is offering, including links to business social media profiles. This makes it easy for the influencers, already large social networks to learn about your business and connect easily.

Builds Customer Loyalty

There are several ways to use influencer marketing. Some companies have paid influencers in a variety of markets. Others offer incentives like discounts, free products or consultations or entrance into a competition for individuals when they share marketing information on their social media, via email and even in person. In some cases, influencers earn a commission for purchases made because of their marketing assistance.

Many companies find a two fold boom in customer loyalty coming from the incentivising influencers. Happy influencers who have won prizes, earned commissions or otherwise been positively affected because of their marketing help are likely to be loyal to the brands they market. Likewise, new consumers who are converted to a business brand through influencer marketing, trust the influencer and so the brand, increasing the likelihood that if they are satisfied with the brand, they will become and remain loyal customers too.

Expands Your Reach

To qualify as an influencer, a person is normally socially active with many connections. Influencer marketing is typically carried out online so influencers are expected to have large social media networks. An influencer may have over around 1000 Facebook friends and twitter followers in the thousands. The influencers market niche will depend on the demographics that their social networks include.

Since influencers have developed their online social networks though personal relationships or sharing common interests, they tend to have an easier time reaching fellow users than a business does. Many businesses may only have a few friends or likes on their pages since users are there to socialise and not to make purchases or do business. So influencers will have a wider reach which businesses then get to tap into through the influencers services and promote their products and services.

Identifies Relevant Leads and Markets

This point is worth emphasising! Influencers have connections because of personal relationships or shared interests with connections.

Mums on social media, for example, will have a network of mum friends online. As a result, Mum - the influencer has built a niche market. When your business uses influencer marketing, you can reach an influencer's specific niche, generating more relevant leads than a wide net marketing approach would.

Combines Several Forms of Effective Advertising

The huge benefit of influencer marketing is how it combines several other form,s of effective marketing strategies. Digital, Social Media, Native and SEO (search engine optimisation) are all wrapped up in influencer strategies. It makes influencer marketing powerful, to the point of being able to meet current marketing pitful trends.

Beats Ad-Block and Other Pitfalls

As digital marketing takes over almost every corner of the internet, consumers are finding new ways to block out ads. This changes the types of advertising that are most effective. An increase in the popularity of ad block tools which around a third of online users have installed. Since ad blockers limit or eliminate standard ads, marketers are relying on advertising that is subtle or simply blends in with other media. Influencer advertising definitely does this and will not be stopped by these ad blocking tools.

Yields a High Return on Investment

Influence marketing is highly effective for generating leads, building customer loyalty and reaching consumers. The practical benefits are that influencer marketing can yield a huge return on investment.

Often influencer programs can be financed at low rates through marketing companies and virtual assistants who are experoenced in marketing. Some businesses run their own influencer marketing campaigns, offering programs to encourage existing customers to share reviews or inviting bloggers to review products and services for a commission. Generally the cost of this type of marketing is small but this form of marketing is so effective, the return on your investment can be huge.

Boosts Your SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps make your business more visible online, including when consumers search for keywords related to your businesses’ offerings. To succeed in SEO, businesses often need their name, website, or other info regularly listed online in conjunction with relevant keywords. For example, a dog walker in London wants “dog walker and London” as well as the name of their company shared together online often to rank well for SEO purposes.

An influencer marketing service provider can help create SEO-friendly media for influencers to share. As a result, a business like yours can see improved search engine rankings, reach wider audiences, and boost brand authority. Typically, that sort of success in building a brand that customers trust and are loyal to results in business growth.