Few things in recent years have changed the world so profoundly as social media. Not only has social media permeated our daily lives, but it has also become a staple in the world of business. It’s used for marketing, branding, PR, and even customer service. And one of the latest trends to spring from social media is influencers. Influencers are social media users with great reach who have the power to change the minds of others.
A business that wants to maintain a good public image should not get on their bad side. On the contrary, influencers should be used to improve a business’s standing through influencer marketing campaigns. However, not all industries benefit equally from this tactic. You need to know which ones do to advise your clients on whether influencers are worth investing resources in.
How influencer marketing campaigns can benefit a business
Influencer marketing can be a very effective tactic for many reasons:
- It keeps a brand modern and shows that a business is up to date on recent trends.
- It dramatically increases visibility as influencers typically have hundreds of thousands if not millions of followers.
- It acts as a powerful form of social proof.
People will assume that the influencer in question uses whatever product or business they’re promoting. Then, they will want to be a part of that too. This can even encourage customers to leave reviews—if their favorite influencer is doing it, they’re more likely to as well. Finally, influencer marketing connects a brand to a person (and a minor celebrity at that). Therefore, brands that partner with influencers will gain an ambassador and benefit from their success, popularity, and public image.
Industries that benefit from influencer marketing campaigns the most
While good influencer marketing can make any brand stand out, not all industries are equally well suited to such campaigns. Businesses that can represent their products and services well through experiences typically benefit the most from this tactic. In that category, you’ll find:
Travel and lifestyle
Mostly everyone who sees a photo of a beautiful resort, a five-star hotel, or just an exotic location immediately gets the urge to go there. And the desire to explore the world has only gotten stronger in the time the possibilities for it have been restricted. For this reason, businesses in the travel and lifestyle industry benefit significantly from social media marketing. Influencer marketing takes this to another level; by sharing their experience with a travel agency or luxury cruise provider, the influencer gives credence and legitimacy to the brand.
It’s not hard to advertise traveling, but influencers make it even easier than it already is.
Food and beverage
Food is one of those things that you need to experience with all your senses. So while some traditional marketing tactics will work for the food and beverage industry, nothing beats the experience of actually trying the meal or drink itself. Of course, it’s not possible to offer every potential customer in the world a taste test. But that’s what influencer marketing is for. If an influencer tries a particular restaurant, snack, soda, or beer and gives it a resounding recommendation, their followers will soon wish to try it, as well.
Fashion, beauty, and cosmetics
Any industry that focuses on appearance will benefit from visual marketing – that’s why you see so many fashion and makeup brands active on Instagram. But this also makes them an excellent fit for influencer marketing. All a business needs to do is to send a few products to an influencer. The influencer can then try them out, rate them, and show results in before-and-after comparisons. This combines a few popular types of content, including how-to tips, social proof, and visual marketing.
Beauty products are among the most popular things to advertise through influencers.
Health and fitness
Influencers frequently inspire their followers to make decisions they otherwise wouldn’t. For this reason, marketing experts like Digital Dot New York often advise clients in the fitness industry to partner with influencers. Influencers can be the push that people need to join a gym or consult a nutritionist. They simply need to endorse the business and credit it for their own health and beauty. Everyone who wants to have the same will quickly become a customer.
Entertainment and media
Influencers are a type of celebrity – people know who they are, follow their work, and emulate them. So, it should come as no surprise that influencers mesh well with entertainment since they are part of the same industry. Influencers appearing on talk shows, talking about their favorite movies, and even just following specific news outlets can give those pieces of media a boost in ratings. For small and independent creators especially, this can make a huge difference.
Entertainment and influencers go hand in hand.
Technology
Since influencers belong in the digital world, their followers will necessarily be technology users. This makes them the perfect demographic to market modern tech to. Things like phones, tablets, protective cases, headphones, and similar are also easy to market through influencers – all a business needs to do is send them a product to test out. Influencers can also endorse different apps and software; a very effective way to market an app, for example, is for influencers to show themselves using it. However, when marketing technology through influencers, it’s essential to ensure the whole campaign is on point. Because influencers’ followers are typically young people who grew up with technology and are advanced social media users, they are often exposed to a lot of social media marketing. A business that wants to stand out in their eyes needs to be very good at marketing.
Different types of influencer marketing campaigns
At their core, influencer marketing campaigns are all based on the same principle—the influencer advocates for a business and their followers, well, follow. But this can be done in different ways and for different purposes.
One of the most popular ways to use influencers is to simply send them new products that they open, test, and review. Another thing businesses do is to invite influencers to try their services which the influencers then film themselves enjoying. Sometimes, companies will also invite influencers to take over their social media for a bit and post in their stead. In addition to good exposure, these campaigns can improve the public image of a business by tying it to the public image of the influencer. The right choice of influencer can, therefore, greatly benefit branding and PR efforts as well.
