Brand awareness is becoming extremely challenging for marketers and advertisers. It is estimated that the average person is exposed to an ad every 11.5 seconds. Flashback decades back, television was the most popular form of advertising and advertisers biggest considerations is the air time (what specific time they will be able to cover most of their target audience). Today, the viewing public has undergone a tremendous change and so fragmented that is has become difficult to reach out to them.
For one, the audience has become so distributed with the rise of numerous platforms. Next, they choose what they view and when they want to view. In the real world, advertisers haggled to cover each blank space creating what they call an "ad clutter." Online, advertisements are widespread in almost every website; sponsored links are all over content. Consumers have found a way to cut through the noise and block these ads which are deemed obtrusive and annoying. At one point, content was called "king;" but in itself, content is undergoing changes that follow suit it's readers' behaviour. The fast-paced modern lifestyle made it more difficult for us to read emails. Believe me, they end up on trash or remain unread for months until they are already obsolete. So where do advertisers and marketers go to reach out to their target audience? So they found them in social media platforms, but which one is another question. How do they come up with a concept that traverse all these streams of audience?
Marketers have jumped on board, they have created spaces for themselves in the social media where their audience can follow them and engage, but this is a quite a passive approach. Luckily, the rise of social media has created an opportunity for marketers to tap social media figures as influencers. Instead of reaching out to the bigger audience, advertisers have found a way to leverage influencers to spread the word about brands in an authentic and spontaneous manner. The idea is to target people who are influential, an authority in their field, particularly powerful, and already have a following and support them. With their established reputation, particularly in the social network, it becomes easier to get your brand message across a wider audience. Influencer marketing is powerful in that it has the capacity to reach out to the audience that the brand hasn't yet tapped into. People tend to rely on the recommendations of people they trust - so it is important for brands to choose carefully who they are going to tap.
Aside from the wide following, influencers are subject matter experts or have a high affinity with the brand they are endorsing. In YouTube, for example, Michelle Phan who started out with simple make-up video tutorials have over time gained a following of over 6 million. She built a personal brand for herself and consumers regarded her as an authority when it comes to cosmetics. Later on L’Oreal co-branded a cosmetic line with her.
On the other hand, Technology Brands can leverage on influencers who have the natural knack for the innovative, the latest tech gadgets, and disruptive technology. Sharing their new experiences encourages their followers to do the same and spread the word about the brand. What makes influencers the most viable medium form of marketing is that they represent the majority of the social media citizenry, they are very receptive of new technology and they spend more hours than the average user on social media. They are consistently up to date and have a compelling need to share their thoughts and opinions. What more can be powerful is that people seek their advice. Indeed, influencers are the new breed of marketing medium that brands need to understand, watch out for, engage, support if they are to succeed in the social media age.
Influencer marketing is latest hot Social media marketing trend.. But you need to choose the RIGHT influencer if you're BRAND promoter.. I'm using " TribeFluence - Where Influencers Meet Branders " I save lots of ads cost selecting the RIGHT influencers.. thanks all :)
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