The rise of digital entrepreneurs and the power of social media influencers in 2018. There’s no denying the power of influencers and bloggers on all different types of social media channels. Social media influencers create incredible content and build relationships with targeted audiences. More brands are beginning to shift their focus and budgets towards influencer marketing on newer social media channels i.e. in the last decade.
After Facebook, YouTube and Instagram was launched, the concept of influencer marketing has continued to increase popularity more and more. Vlogging and blogging is now a recognised career and has the potential to become extremely lucrative. For example, Chiara Ferragni’s estimated net worth is $12 million and increasing after her work on The Blonde Salad and Instagram. Zoella, now reportedly earns at least £50,000 a month through her blog and YouTube.
According to this article, 67% of marketers are already using Instagram influencer marketing for the promotion of their products and services. Influencer-brand collaborations have mutually beneficial relationships using a wide variety of platforms, such as Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Blogs. Another article found research that 86% of top brands have created Instagram accounts, which is an increase from 71% at this time last year. The ability to make a huge impact with a single piece of visual and short-form content is growing exponentially on the visual storytelling network.
Micro-influencers are getting more opportunities for development and exposure, because they seem more relatable than celebrity influencers. Micro-influencers are defined as those which have far fewer subscribers than their million-plus peers. Trust and close relationship with the specific audience is crucial for purchasing decisions.
A digital influencer is not only a blogger, or model, or celebrity, but it is really someone who has a voice and a community interested in their life. Like-minded people will engage with these influencers more easily in a wide varity of fields, for example, Food, Fashion, Health, and Sports. People are coming to social media channels and blogs to consider reviews and find out more information about a product or service from a brand. Visitors become familiar with the brand and can communicate with brands directly through contact forms or tweets or newsletters and more. Customers decisions are swayed by social media influencers, because these social channels are where the customers are.
In this way, influencers can engage with their audience and provide information and build trust. It also allows influencers to continue and nurture a relationship with their audience. It’s always good to build a platform for discussion and provide answers for an audience.
Sweater: NA-KD Fashion Jeans: Levi’s
Customers want to buy products or services from people they can relate to. Consumers are valuing the opinions of influencers increasingly more than celebrity promotions. Influencer marketing is now a billion dollar industry as of 2018, and is set to double in 2019 and keep increasing over the next five years. There’s no limit to what influencers and bloggers can sell. This includes physical goods, digital goods, services and education. The right content marketing strategy in the right market leads to staggering results.
Consumer behaviour is so interesting to me. Marketers used print, direct mail, television, and radio to connect with potential customers. Today, the digital influencers are bringing about much higher consumer engagement which boosts conversions for brands. Influencer marketing is now outperforming nearly all digital marketing campaigns in 2018. This year, as much as 92% of marketers are expected to launch an influencer campaign to increase brand recognition. Influencer-produced content is beginning to outperform brand-produced content.
This is so amazing and such a huge advantage for entrepreneurs today. Technology and the way we live is moving so quickly and it has no apologies for those who want to live in a world that used to be a certain way (with less technology). Attention is leaving the older mediums and quickly moving towards our smart phones and computers where we can consume insurmountable content on the internet.
How do you guys feel about influencer marketing?
Are you a digital entrepreneur or a business owner?
I’d love for you to share your journey with me.
