Influencers play an enormous role in today’s market, and that role centers around authenticity and trust. Influencer Marketing Statistics present a more personalized version of content creation and marketing than traditional advertising. By focusing on highly specialized content, they can reach concentrated audiences that require a certain kind of transparency to infiltrate. In this article, we will explore how influencers are changing the face of the market thanks to their relationships with their own content, their audience, and small businesses.
Influencers and Their Expertise
Whether they are well-liked within a hyperspecialized niche group or are globally revered, influencers are popular because they are experts in a particular field. According to a study done by Olapic, more than 60 percent of social media users and followers claim they need regularly occurring, specific content that only influencers can provide.
Influencers will use their expertise when talking about and reviewing products. This gives them the ability to speak freely, even if it means doing what larger advertisers typically cannot: criticizing products and practices. This unique freedom of expression alone provides an enormous amount of authenticity, as the influencer is not being informed by the hiring company.
In fact, the Olapic study results show that more than 30 percent of social media users claim to have purchased a product or service mentioned by an influencer they follow and trust. That trust comes from consistency and the influencer’s personal relationship with his or her audience.
Influencers and the Audience
Audiences often seek personal relationships with the influencers they follow. Many influencers have built an audience from the ground up. They understand what their audience is looking for and have the freedom to choose which sponsors they will include in their content.
If, for example, an influencer were to mention a certain product once and never use it again, their audience might assume they only posted it for a paycheck. However, if an influencer includes certain products consistently in their posts, it looks more like a trusted product that an individual uses regularly. Further, many influencers, such as Chris Lewis who started Dad of Divas, will work to create content that turns product reviews into interactive stories that audiences can easily connect to and then share.
Influencers and Small Businesses
While we’ve largely explored the influencer, the audience, and the product, the greatest gift an influencer can provide is much-needed exposure for small businesses seeking a loyal customer base. Much like influencers, small businesses benefit most when focusing on a smaller and more specialized audience that has a genuine interest or need in a product or service. And the trust audiences have in their Influencers can rub off on the small businesses the influencers themselves trust. This relationship is almost communal in the way it works: It functions as word-of-mouth that spreads throughout a community.
Customers are looking for trust and authenticity over brand name recognition. By focusing on more personal and communal approaches to advertising, marketing, and product visibility, influencers can tap into this consumer trend.
