A lot has been said over the years for finding the ideal audience for marketing material. Businesses study demographics, buying behavior and focus on internet search patterns and spending. In this modern world of ultimate connectivity and a greater push for more personal interactions between businesses and consumers, influencer marketing has risen to the top of the marketing target pile.
What or Who Are Influencers?
As the name implies, influencers are people, groups or platforms that influence buying decisions and trends in a particular marketplace. These are the expert bloggers who showcase new money-making systems, the magazines that reveal the latest fashions, a Hollywood doctor on TV with the latest diet plan and even the nutty guy on YouTube that plays video games complete with running commentary for all the young guys with a 50-button mouse and a desire to join the elite.
“Influencers are who people listen to when they make buying decisions or take action of any type.”
Why Should Businesses Target the Influencers?
Success in business is no longer about closing as many sales as possible in a short amount of time no matter what means you employ. Instead, it is about forging long-term relationships with consumers who want to get to know you and your company and come to trust you as well. And every relationship begins with a positive introduction.
Influencers make that introduction, and they make it to a much bigger audience than most small businesses have.
Is Bigger Always Better When It Comes to Influencer Marketing?
When you find a social media personality or YouTube star with millions of followers, it can be very tempting to do everything but beg to get them to share your marketing message with their fan base. Influencer marketing is sometimes seen as a numbers game only.
However, just like auto-blasting your URL to thousands of directories didn’t work for long a decade ago, mega-tweeting, pinning or otherwise sharing will most likely stop working as Google and other search engines change their algorithms.
What does work? The same thing that works for content marketing and social media interactions: naturally targeted, natural interactions.
Find the influencers that are most relevant to what your business offers. Find ones who align with your company’s style, presentation and goals. When you do get an influencer to mention your product or service, you want it done in a way that complements your other marketing efforts. To run a good influencer marketing, building a relationship with these niche-specific celebrities is just as important as building them with your customers and clients.