How Influencers Are Changing the Social Media Market

It seems that these days, everyone is raving about influencers and the key role they have to play on social media. Despite what some people think, this is not just some passing fad, but a game-changing development that is here to stay.

Influencers are able to raise their voice and pierce through the overwhelming noise. Their messages resonate with a wide audience and profoundly shape brand perceptions and opinions on products/services. Thus, business owners and marketers must learn how to navigate this brave new wilderness. Here is what you need to know about the ins and outs of this novelty promotion tactic.

A different playing field

Influencer marketing is all the rage. This strategy is widely used to boost sales, brand mentions, social signals, leads, and brand authority. Just to illustrate the scope of the rising importance of social media marketing for businesses, let us just say that brands are mentioned 3.3 billion times in the US every day. Here, you have to realize that only a fraction of these mentions makes waves and they tend to originate from various influencers. What does this mean for companies?

Well, instead of paying for ads, they can now focus on building meaningful and lasting relationships with distinguished individuals, and through them, with new customers and audiences. Namely, influencers cannot be matched in terms of generating buzz around brands and their products. They give you various forms of social proofs that increase your authority and boost your public image.

Going to the next level

A vast majority of social media users have grown leery of traditional advertising and employ tools like ad blockers to filter it out. They rely more and more on testimonials, reviews, and word-of-mouth recommendations from other people. And when these people are established and trusted figures or experts, their opinion is held in the highest regard. Besides that, influencers bring you great SEO benefits as well, via increased backlinks.

All in all, they can launch your content marketing strategy into the stratosphere. This is because they allow you to make the most of social media amplification, a process of spurring traction around your content via organic and paid engagement on social platforms. In this case, you exclusively target influencers and prompt them to endorse your brand or offerings.

A smart, strategic approach

There are several questions to ask before you get into it. The first step on the journey is getting to know yourself better. So, what did you set out to achieve with your social media presence? How can you set yourself apart from the competition in such a crowded landscape? What is the essence of your mission? It goes without saying you need to be genuine and not hesitate to uncover your unique persona.

Bear in mind you can find a professional agency that handles some of the strategic aspects for you. Many companies are seeking organizations offering professional media monitoring in Australia and other booming markets. They want to fully capitalize on the trends that can help grow your business.

Furthermore, one of the main dilemmas is how to locate and identify influencers that could bring the most benefits to your brand. Well, it is a good idea to seek those who already share content that is similar in style, substance, and tone to what you are sharing. What is more, their audience should echo your ideal customer profile. In other words, most powerful influencers are those that have an engaged following, are authentic, relevant to your customers, and share your values and ideas.

Neither you nor the influencers should have to change who you are in order for your relationship to work.

Search for the Holy Grail

Maintain your focus moving ahead. To stay organized in your efforts, use appropriate tools to streamline your search. Some of the most popular solutions are BuzzSumo, Klout, Keyhole, and Kred. They have a variety of handy features like hashtags trackers, social influence gauges, audience engagement analysis, brand mention finders, etc. Once you pinpoint the right influencers, it is time to start building relationships with them.

How to pull it off? Well, you cannot just give empty promises and entice them with big words. You need to offer real value both to them and their audiences. That is to say that you must craft high-quality and relevant content. Moreover, tailor it to the specific audience and its wants, interests, and needs. It is of the utmost importance to publish your content on the right social network and do it at the time when most potential customers are active.

Beyond that, it all comes down to nurturing relationships and investing hard work and commitment. To make informed decisions, check out tried-and-true tips for creating a successful influencer marketing strategy. Look into trends shaping the industry sector right now to optimize and target your approach. Are you up to the task?

Embrace the brave new marketing world

There is no doubt that influencers are giving rise to a new social media ecosystem. They bridge the gaps between brands and their customers, gaps of mistrust that cannot be filled even with a mountain of targeted ads. The only problem is that there is a lot of ground to cover. So, do your homework and find influencers who are the perfect match for you. Get your messages across and spread brand awareness far and wide. Enhance your social media marketing game and tap into new audiences who are already receptive to what you have to say and offer.

Author: Peter Minkoff