Influencer marketing has recently gone mainstream and the influencer industry reached $16.4 billion. Wow!
we’re seeing them at every marketing moment, thus the significant rise in the number of influencers in the past few years. Every average influencer nowadays with a maximum of 100k followers – finds leading brands to collaborate with.
And the most exciting part? Experiments!
More than 75% of brands have a dedicated budget for influencer marketing and have accelerated their ROI, from Coca-Cola’s collaboration with fashion and travel influencers to Dior’s award-winning 67 Shades campaign in which the brand partnered with diverse influencers to promote its Forever Foundation product line.
The entire persona of an influencer is distinct and dynamic.
Influencers have emerged as leaders in their respective industries, including those of health, fitness, travel, food, beauty, business, technology, and science.
Guess who made profit out of it? Or if put differently – Who emerged?
Influencer management agencies.
But diving deep, what made it work so well???
Was it the need of the audience to have someone to look up to?
Was it the need of the brand to have someone to take it to the audience?
Or was it the need for the tech platforms to have a financial boost?
Talking in general terms, the evolution and usage of social media, the belief systems and behavior of consumers, and even the potential influencer marketing holds impacted the growth of it. Factors like:
Bigger market on social media
We consume social platforms like eye candy gulping night entertainment, knowledge, shopping, etc and Influencers have become an essential part of the digital landscape with billions of users in the market and on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and others. With additional tools for promotion, brands can target a much smaller audience than they could with a generic post or video. The cost difference is also much smaller!
The biggest generation that depends largely on social media is Gen Z — a demographic aged 16-26 — now makes up 40% of consumers.
Virtual shopping
An increase in online shoppers can be attributed to the growth of e-commerce websites. Sometimes consumers can tell whether a product is real or not. Online buyers continue to partake in appealing marketing initiatives despite this. This represents 33.3% of the world’s population. To put it another way, one in three people you encounter shop online. There are 80 million more digital buyers in 2023 than there were in 2022, a rise of 3.1% annually.
Loyal customers
Consumers look upto factors that may provide information, insight and candid reactions – this lay a base of trust and credibility. Having someone providing everything in one place creates a loyal customer base, hence becoming a bigger reason for the growth of influencer marketing.
Trust and credibility
According to the research, the credibility of influencers is significantly impacted directly by trustworthiness, information quality, and entertainment value, as well as impacted considerably indirectly by these factors on customer buy intent. Additionally, a consumer’s intention to make a purchase is directly influenced by the reliability and credibility of an influencer.
Long-term, win-win partnerships
Once your influencer campaign is a success, you can offer a long-term partnership or ambassadorship, which would allow your brand to reach the entire target audience for a more extended period of time.
Influencer marketing improves SEO
One product may be promoted by one or more influencers. As a result, the distribution of material and keywords can include both the target audience and parallel audiences.
Potential For Unlimited Sharing on Social Platforms
Influencers’ presence on one or more social media platforms is the best part. You can target different audiences from one or more platforms but through a single source of influencers making it cost-effective.
Brands are going over-board with influencers, opening so many doors to the creative ecosystem. Let’s look at some top picks –
1. Ola Prime Time
Objective
Ola’s strategy for promoting new and improved Prime cab service that offers superior amenities such as free WiFi, best-rated drivers, and premium vehicles in Bangalore.
Execution
Ola teamed up with celebrities to give their passengers one of the most memorable rides of their lives as Milind Soman, Narain Karthikeyan, and Abish Mathew arrived in cabs booked by Ola Prime passengers.Influencers’ presence on one or more social media platforms is the best part. You can target different audiences from one or more platforms but through a single source of influencers making it cost-effective.
2. Oziva
Objective
The main objective of the campaign was to initiate a conversation on PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), a disorder that causes infertility in women. PCOS affects every 1 in 5 Indian women. 70% of these women go undiagnosed, fighting with skin, hair, weight & hormonal issues due to various reasons, one of them being insufficient awareness about the medical condition among women. Women refrain from discussing this health condition even if they suffer from it due to the social taboo around infertility.
Execution
September is considered as ‘PCOS Awareness Month’, OZiva in collaboration with Influencers came up with a challenge called #MyPCOSStory. 13 influencers participated in this campaign in varying categories to talk about PCOS and make women aware of how it’s not a bane for them. To women thinking that PCOS is the end of their story, this campaign communicated that though it’s a condition that doesn’t have any cure it’s still manageable, and having PCOS is okay!
With all that said, The question remained the same and new ones arised too!
If influencer marketing is truly legitimate, and if we can rely on the insight of a digital creator who has a paid partnership with the brand!
Or What are the prospects for this to succeed in the long run?
How sustainable is an influencer marketing career?
If influencer marketing is truly legitimate, and if we can rely on the insight of a digital creator who has a paid partnership with the brand!