Market for Influencer Marketing
Although it is not used nearly as much as it should be, influencer marketing is one of the most powerful ways to reach your customers and get them excited about your product and services, regardless of the size of your company. Word-of-mouth is regarded as the most effective form of marketing and influencer marketing is just that, and it has the added bonus of coming from the mouth of a source trusted by many.
Marketing studies have shown that “marketing-induced” C2C (consumer-to-consumer) word of mouth generates twice the sales of other advertising methods that typically cost more to implement. Influencer marketing is an arbitrage, which means that it is selling for less than it is worth. The value of the good or service is worth more than you pay for it. Customers that are brought in by positive word-of-mouth also have a higher retention rate by 37 percent.
The thing about arbitrage is that it doesn’t last long. Think of the businesses that were first to market on Facebook when there was practically no competition on the platform for ad space. Fast forward a couple years and it has become a “pay-to-play” marketing platform. In the early days, however, the ROI was astronomical.
Influencer marketing has gain so much traction lately because it is a highly social marketing method. Google has also noticed the rapid growth of influencer marketing, calling the keyword a “breakout,” which means that the keyword has a growth rate larger than 5,000 percent.
Most people are on social media now and in the crowd there are several star personalities that followers look to as trendsetters or experts on their topic – be it investing or parenting, or anything in between. Small businesses are realize the marketing power of social media, as studies show that 70 percent of brands are increasing their social media marketing budgets in the upcoming year.
Consumers are simply tired of paid advertising. Research shows that the average American is barraged with around 5,000 advertisements each day. We have actually developed something called “banner blindness,” which is us unconsciously tuning out the onslaught. A recent survey revealed that only 14 percent of respondents could recall the last ad they saw or the product that was being advertised. Market better and smarter by using trusted influencers that are excited about your product and have a large social media footprint – and watch the sales roll in.
