Influencers and their role in building your brand (3)    

Influencers are selected due to their power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with the audience and also as a result of the audience following in a distinct niche, with whom they actively engage.

Influencers are constantly coming up with new content for their audiences, based on their knowledge of what keeps these audiences engaged which helps them systematically build a keen and enthusiastic audience. These people as a result follow the influencer rather than a brand. They consequently care less about your brand and are more concerned about the opinions of the influencers.

While Instagram Influencer marketing is a well-known strategy, there are many other networks that are growing for influencers. According to Adweek, the industry is set to reach $10 billion in worth by 2020. Other networks like Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok have their own set of influencers with different demographics.

Influencer marketing agency Mediakix in its survey in 2018 to find out  what the perspectives of marketers were concerning influencer marketing found out that 89 percent of those surveyed, were of the opinion that the ROI from influencer marketing was comparable to or better than other networks while 80 percent of marketers say influencer marketing is effective. Another study showed that Influencer marketing content delivers 11 times higher ROI than traditional forms of digital marketing. The same survey noted that 65 percent of marketers plan on increasing their budgets for influencer marketing for the subsequent years.

Other researches about Influencer marketing have also shown very wonderful results. The Digital Marketing Institute in their own survey found out that 71 percent of marketers are of the opinion that the quality of customers and traffic from influencer marketing is better than other sources while 49 percent of consumers today depend on influencer recommendations for their purchase decisions. Sixty percent of consumers have also agreed that they’ve been influenced by a recommendation when shopping in-store.

Like any marketing tactic, an influencer programme takes deliberate targeting and planning. Strategic success won’t come by just a haphazard approach or by throwing up offers or proposals to just anyone or everyone who asks for it.

Different types of brand Influencers 

According to Influencermarketinghub.com there are about twelve different types of brand influencers, four types are based on the number of audience followers and eight are based on the type of content or niche covered by the influencer.

• Nano Influencers. These types of influencers have between 1K–10K followers on their social media channels. They typically have a very engaged social media following and great engagement rates and are very vocal advocates of the brands and products they love and their followers appreciate their authentic recommendations and commentary. They have a very close relationship with their followers and take the time to engage with their followers to cultivate those relationships. Having a smaller audience allows nano-influencers to bond with the people who follow them more regularly (as compared to a celebrity with millions of fans) via their channel

• Micro Influencers have between 10K–100K followers. Even though they have a pretty large following, micro influencers are still viewed as relatable to their followers and tend to have an engaged audience. At this level, influencers tend to specialize in a particular niche. They also typically have high engagement rates and a targeted audience. This makes it easier for brands to create specialised sponsorships with these influencers.

• Macro Influencers according to Influencermarketinghub.com have between 100K–1M followers and tend toward a broader appeal than micro influencers. Macro influencers are typically internet-made celebrities and might be social media stars, bloggers, vloggers, or podcasters. Macro influencers not only have a large audience but it’s likely that they’ve developed that audience over months or years of nurturing relationships while growing followers. Because of their larger follower numbers, they will probably have a relatively low engagement rate. Macro influencers are great for bringing awareness to your brand, products, and services and can be useful for increasing your own engagement rates, boosting your brand’s reach as well as increasing your brand’s reputation.

• Mega Influencers and celebrities have more than one million followers. Since they themselves are typically celebrities, you’ll have to have a healthy marketing budget to afford them. It’s important to understand that the audiences attracted by mega influencers are going to be very broad. If you have a large budget and are working on a brand awareness campaign, mega influencers can get your products in front of as many eyes as possible which is great provided your brand has an appeal across segments.

• Gamers. The global gaming market size is expected to gain momentum by reaching $545.98 billion by 2028 while exhibiting a CAGR of 13.20 percent between 2021 and 2028. In its report titled “Gaming Market Size, Share & Forecast 2021-2028”, Fortune Business Insights mentions that the market stood at $203.12 billion in 2020. Gaming influencers usually live stream their games on platforms like Twitch and YouTube and can garner millions of followers who are looking to improve their own gameplay or learn more about gaming. While they often promote video games and game-related products and brands, gaming influencers represent such a targeted niche that vehicle, clothing, shoes, and snack and beverage brands are likely to get great results with a gaming influencer partnership.

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