Say goodbye to traditional word-of-mouth marketing, and hello to influencer marketing! Have you ever made a purchase after finding inspiration from a friend, family, or coworker? What about a product you saw your favorite sitcom character use? Influencer marketing takes the foundation of advertising and marketing strategies we all know and love and adds a layer of online community, authenticity, and connection that will thrive in the modern digital era.

What is Influencer Marketing?

To best understand the power of influence marketing and its everlasting presence in our modern society, let’s cover the basics. A strategy that has gained immense traction over the recent years, influencer marketing involves strategic endorsements and/or product placements of a given brand’s product or service by a key, well-known stakeholder, and representative of the brand’s targeted audience. Influencer marketing is the link between a brand and its audiences in a way that feels authentic, trusted, and real and brings success impact to both the brand and influencer.

How do I find the right influencers to promote my brand?

Brands find and identify influencers by stepping into the shoes of their audiences. Looking at the social media personalities followed and admired most by their key publics, brands can determine influencers who share similar values and niche interests to promote the brand. Social media influencers can come in all shapes and sizes of influence, however, an influencer with 1,000 followers who has created a digital community based on shared, niche interests and actively uses and engages with your brand already will carry more impact and value than a social media influencer with 1 million followers who has no particular interest or connection to your brand’s services. As the saying goes, quality over quantity—influencer marketing isn’t an exception to this golden rule. Influencer marketing works best when the collaboration between a brand and the appointed influencer is mutually beneficial and creates a genuine connection that brings the brand right in front of the consumer, seamlessly intertwined into their everyday social media use.

Why is Influencer Marketing Essential in Today’s Climate?

Influencer marketing is projected to become a $15 billion industry over the next year. How did that happen? As social media users gravitate toward and engage with video content on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, brands are taking advantage of the increased use and popularity. Marketers are capitalizing on the “endless scroll” by creating ads and partnerships that are targeted and authentic to the audiences that will find them. The more people use social media, the more opportunities there are for influencers to promote brands that align with their niche interest for content.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, many brands were unsure of what the future of their business would hold, as most in-person activities came to a halt. However, influencers would keep brands afloat by connecting with their audiences via social media and taking advantage of people staying at home who were engaging with various digital communications more than ever before.

With more time spent searching Instagram feeds, consumers took note of the people, brands, and accounts who were sharing content that mattered to them. Whether the influencer was showing her favorite shoe, coffee maker, or even face moisturizer, their followers were inspired and could rely on this experience to bring them joy through such unprecedented times. As the relationship-building between the consumer and influencer began on social media, brands took notice. Utilizing influencers through a time when communication and life itself was conducted mostly online gave brands the value, awareness, recognition, and success needed to stay connected and reach their audiences. Influencers’ voices were the loudest online, and no amount of paid, traditional advertising placements could replicate that.

Influencer marketing has changed the way consumers think, act, believe, and buy. Grow closer, genuine connections with your audience by investing in key stakeholders relevant to your brand and what it stands for. It’s time for your brand to appoint ambassadors and influencers that resonate with your target audience to further the success of your business and digital community in 2022.