What is influencer marketing?

Recent data from Marketing Dive has shown that a third of marketing professionals now think influencer marketing is an essential strategy, and 63 percent of those that make use of them increased their budgets last year due to their success. Influencer marketing allows a company to find an individual with a dedicated audience to become an advocate for their product as a way to build reach, credibility, and, ultimately, more sales, according to Forbes. For small businesses with small advertising budgets, influencer marketing could be a reliable option as many campaigns cost less than $5,000 to get started.

Those marketing a product, particularly a new product or one from a smaller company, have to start by increasing the reach or growing the audience that knows what the product is and why it is important to have it. Traditionally, commercials or ads in newspapers, radio, or television have been used to spread reach in a general way. By utilizing an influencer with an online social platform, however, companies can target the specific audience they want to sell to such as a camping supply company partnering with someone that hosts a podcast on outdoor living. Not only will the listeners be open to hearing about camping supplies, but they will likely be ready to buy.

Finding the right match with an influencer will go a long way towards building organic credibility with their audience around the product. In the case of the outdoor living podcast, the host will likely have already established trust with their listeners by establishing themselves as both an expert in the field and someone that only recommends a product that they would use themselves. Natural salespeople will be able to take a product they believe in and describe it in such a way that makes believers out of others. This will help the company gain new customers and the influencer will build even more credibility in the future.