How brands are leaning towards the influencers for their brand’s promotion online

Instagram is the preferred influencer marketing platform for B2C brands, especially for lifestyle and fashion brands.

By Amol Roy

With all the social media frenzy around the corner, it can be said that people’s purchasing decisions are largely driven by their fellow consumers’ opinions. Earlier people would simply look at brands and their products before making a purchase but today, they look at their peers and favorite personalities for the definite recommendations and endorsements before buying a product/service. This is how influencer marketing began and is all set to become the next big thing.

Brands looking for consumers to trust their marketing can no longer rely on traditional media to reach the target consumers. In the current scenario, it’s peer-created content or consumer-to-consumer marketing that drives trust. Influencer marketing is growing quickly and is proving to be one of the best ways to get better results from your social media marketing campaigns. Influencers can create wonders for your brand by lending their authentic voice to your marketing message and attract customers.

Why brands should collaborate with influencers?

Word-of-mouth has been an effective marketing strategy since ages where influencer marketing is a digital analogy of the traditional word-of-mouth. Influencers, by nature, have large numbers of loyal and dedicated social media followers. These followers perceive them as experts in their niches and regard their recommendations highly. Unlike traditional celebrities, influencers enjoy a strong rapport with their fans thus making influencer marketing work like a charm for creating brand awareness and achieving other marketing goals.

When it comes to influencer marketing campaigns, there are several social media platforms to choose from. But the best one for your organisation is simply where your target audience spends the most time. For example, Instagram is the preferred influencer marketing platform for B2C brands, especially for lifestyle and fashion brands.

Customers need it

Earlier people have been watching TV advertising, read newspapers and listened to ads on the radio. Now everything has changed. Customers have evolved and they don’t trust such advertisements easily.

Nowadays, users have tilted to the digital environment and they spend their time surfing web pages. That is why brands had to transform themselves to move with the times and here, influencer marketing has gained momentum. Also, brands need to ample amount of money on promotion, but the best part- influencer marketing in e-commerce returns in the form of sales growth, therefore it is obviously worth the candle.

The best strategies which can help brand’s promotion online

These are the three best strategies which brands can help brands to promote themselves online-

1.Leveraging Influencers to Create Engaging Content

Influencers have amassed huge follower bases because their followers find their content useful. They understand their followers and know what kind of content they want to consume. So they create content that resonates with their audience and helps them establish a sense of bonding and trust.

2. Contests and giveaways

These are some of the best influencer marketing strategies to promote products and create positive buzz. Marketers can use them to increase their social media following and drive traffic to their websites.

An effective and creative contest strategy will enable influencers to develop an environment which will foster engaging conversations. Besides, it will also create curiosity among the followers to try the product.

3. Run Referral Programs for Influencers

Referral programs are one of the perfect strategies used to measure the ROI from your campaigns. According to a study conducted by Twitter, there was a whopping 88% increase in the purchase intent of consumers when the products were promoted by a trusted influencer.

The easiest and most effective referral program strategy is to share a promo code that is unique to each influencer. The influencers can then share the promo codes with their audiences through their content.

While running a referral program, always remember to ask the influencers to mention the brand name on their blog and social media platforms. When their followers see the influencer mentioning your brand, it builds social trust and increases your brand recall value.

Conclusion

In the end, the goal of the brands and influencers is to find different mediums to reach their audience. It is all about credibility, forming a personal connection, and being able to form meaningful relationships with the audience, thus in turn, giving the best possible result and the maximum reach of your brand.

The author is founder of TheShutterCast

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