Influencer marketing has been a buzzword for several years, and the trend is only set to continue as businesses try to find more authentic forms of marketing. The premise of influencer marketing is quite simple; brands partner with influencers with a relevant follower demographic to expand brand awareness. In principle, the idea of influencer marketing makes sense but are businesses actually earning money from this practice? Should your business be using influencer marketing?
This guide is here to help you better understand the pros and cons of influencer marketing to help you decide if the marketing strategy is right for you.
What are the Benefits of Influencer Marketing?
Some of the most influential benefits of influencer marketing include:
Increased Brand Awareness
When you have partnered with an appropriate influencer, who followers are within your target market and business niche, influencer marketing can help to increase brand awareness. This is because you are exposing your brand to a whole range of potential customers. However, to ensure you receive these benefits, you will need to check the authenticity of an influencers’ follower count and their response rate.
Improve Your SEO
An influencer can help to boost your SEO campaign as they are seen as an authority linking back to your site. In addition, when an influencer encourages their followers to click through to your site, this can also boost your SEO.
Brand Trust
Traditionally, one of the biggest positives for influencer marketing came in the form of trust. Namely, consumers would be more likely to trust your brand and marketing efforts in the form of influencer marketing. However, consumers are growing savvier and are less likely to automatically trust an influencer. Therefore, to ensure that you gain consumer trust, you need to choose the right influencer to partner with. The right influencer is an individual who fits your business niche and does not too regularly post sponsored content.
The Downsides of Influencer Marketing
The web design Birmingham team rightly explains that influencer marketing can have both positive and negative effects on a business. Some of the downsides to influencer marketing include:
Influencer Marketing Can Be Resource Intensive
Finding the right influencer can take time and cost money that some businesses might not be willing to spend. The cost of not finding the right influencer for your brand can be very high. Not only can you expect to see very little return on your investment, but you might also even experience a backlash. Just consider the consumer response to the 2017 Pepsi and Kylie Jenner campaign.
Not only will you need to find the right influencer, but you will need to check their engagement rates, create a contract, approve content, and track results. If you do not have the time or resources needed to run an influencer campaign successfully, you can expect very little return.
Influencer marketing can be a very positive marketing practice for your business. When done right, influencer marketing can help you to gain consumer trust, expand your customer base and drive sales. However, successfully implementing an influencer marketing campaign takes time and money. If you do not have the resources to dedicate, then you should expect a limited return on investment.
