Benefits of Leveraging Influencer Relations in Your Social Media Strategy

I’m guilty. I follow a ton of influencers. I read their microblog captions, like their photos and videos, and check out the products they promote. I’ve even purchased a product, or three, after seeing my favorite influencers post about them. Instagram reached over 1 billion active users nearly a year ago, and it’s already recognized as the fastest growing social network of 2019. So, it’s no surprise that nearly a third of my newsfeed is influencer-related content.

Influencers aren’t a new concept, though. Back in 1931, Coca-Cola launched one of the first “influencer” campaigns, getting Santa himself to represent the refreshing taste of Coke. Over the years many other brands leveraged celebrity endorsements, but marketers soon realized that leveraging even the most popular names in Hollywood did not correlate to engagement.

Instead, consumers became more reliant on peer-to-peer reviews (thanks, Amazon), and non-celebrities proved they could bring home the bacon drive conversions. Now we’re living in a world ruled by influencers, and brands both large and small are seeing results from leveraging these types of relationships.

Below is a breakdown of the benefits your brand receives when leveraging influencer relations successfully in your social media strategy.

Reaching a larger audience.
One of the biggest benefits of working with social influencers is the opportunity to reach a larger audience with your message. This works especially well if you do your due diligence in making sure the influencer’s followers match that of your target audience. As increasing brand awareness is often one of the main goals for brands, the opportunity to reach users in a more organic way is valuable.

Street cred.
Not only do influencers provide a wider audience for targeted messaging, but they lend additional credibility to your brand. Users recognize influencers as experts in their field, whether it’s beauty, travel, tech or anything in between, so if they’re repping your brand it’s more likely the message will be well-received.

In fact, in a survey by Fullscreen, consumers aged 18-24 are more likely to trust influencer posts (54.8%) than consumers aged 25-34 are (36.5%). However, this older demographic is more likely to trust what an influencer says about a brand (44.3%) than what a brand says about itself (20.8%).

Influencers are storytellers.
Scratch that. Good influencers are storytellers. And by blending your brand’s messaging seamlessly into the influencer’s story, your business will be seen as more authentic. Rather than talking AT your audience, use influencer marketing to start a conversation about your brand and talk WITH them.

Higher earned media value.
So now you’ve reached a larger audience and your brand has gained additional credibility. What about the effect these relationships have on your company’s bottom line?

According to the 2019 Influencer Marketing Report, “businesses who understand influencer marketing gain impressive returns, up to $18 in earned media value for every dollar they spend on influencer marketing. Even average firms achieve impressive results, with an average earned media value of $5.20 per dollar they spend on influencer marketing.”

It’s one thing to follow influencers and consume the content they share. But working directly with influencers on a regular basis to create engaging content for your brand is an entirely different beast. Before getting started, make sure you know what story you’re trying to tell, then outline your goals, KPI’s and expectations of deliverables from the partnership.

Interested in adding influencer relations into your social media strategy? Contact Lauryn Gray at la****@di******.com and set up a consultation today!