The potent effectiveness of influencer marketing

Popularity has its uses.

Today, you don’t have to be a movie star or a pro athlete to gain a massive following—or to be an effective pitchperson. We live in an age when people model clothes on YouTube for a living or play video games for a global audience of millions. Social media has given these luminaries a mighty platform to connect with fans and to shill products or services on behalf of brands.

Such is the era of influencer marketing.

 has made an infographic detailing the rise of influencer marketing, which has become a potent weapon for brand managers looking to reach specific audiences. Compelling stats from the graphic include:

• Influencer marketing can generate 11 times the ROI of traditional advertising.
• Ninety percent of consumers trust peer recommendations, but only 33 percent trust traditional ads.
• Ninety-four percent of marketers find influencer marketing effective.
• Sixty percent of consumers consult blogs, vlogs or social media posts on products before considering a purchase.

The trick with influencer marketing is finding the right partner. It’s not exactly a “go big or go home” proposition. If you can’t afford someone with 50 million followers, you might do quite well partnering with a “micro-influencer” who has a smaller, yet loyal, fanbase composed of people in your target demographic.

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The infographic points out that celebrities might have a massive reach, but their followers are often passive, which leads to low levels of engagement. Respected industry bigwigs, bloggers and niche market experts, however, tend to get more substantive engagement on posts. They’re also way cheaper than Selena Gomez. The graphic says that a single tweet from a starlet with millions of followers can set you back $30,000, whereas an influencer with 500,000 followers might charge $400.

Influencer marketing also offers an array of pay arrangements. Depending on what sort of deal you work out, you might pay an influencer per post or video, or with trips or free products. Many determine influencer pay based on cost per engagement, cost per click or cost per acquisition.

We’ve just reached the tip of the influencer marketing iceberg. To learn more about this megatrend, and how to get the most bang for your buck, please check out the infographic below:

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