Ask any marketer and they’ll tell you they wish it was easier to make genuine connections with their customers. It’s a seemingly endless task keeping up with an ever-changing dynamic, but the rewards can be well worth it when things begin to click.

Influencer marketing is one such path you can take to not only establish those connections, but to nurture them into fully-fledged professional relationships, too. If you’re responsible for growing a brand, it can be a great way to tell better stories and forge stronger emotional connections with your customers.

Let’s take a deep dive into influencer marketing, what its benefits are and why you should (or shouldn’t) start embracing it as a brand today.

 

What Is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer marketing connects brands with people who will help promote their products or services to engaged audiences. It can take many forms, from micro- to macro-influencer strategies to paid, earned and owned media campaigns. The common thread that connects all influencer marketing is that it aims to boost the authority and trustworthiness of both the brand and the influencer by introducing customers to products they love.

How to find and approach influencers as a marketer differs from brand to brand and niche to niche, but when you land on the right relationship, it can be rewarding and lucrative for both parties. Brand and personal reputation are boosted by increased reach and engagement with the customers who are most likely to relate to a story or gain something from a product or service.

 

Why Should Brands Use Influencer Marketing?

Good marketing is all about strong connections and working with influencers is one of the best ways to achieve them with would-be customers. Brands that enjoy strong relationships with influential people in their sectors stand a better chance of enjoying the custom of their faithful followers. By ‘influential’ here, we don’t mean ‘celebrity,’ but simply those whose opinions are trusted by people who choose to follow them.

It’s easy to see how a strong connection with the right influencer can deliver better results for you via social media or blog content, for instance, but what about the numbers? According to the Influencer Marketing Hub, the sector itself grew to a remarkable $16.4 billion in 2022, which was up from $13.8 billion in 2021—a great indicator of the purchasing power of influencers.

When we dig into the influencer marketing statistics around core channels, we see that Instagram typically rules the roost. An estimated 79% of marketers prefer the platform for their influencer marketing needs. Moreover, a global Ipsos survey uncovered its direct impact on engagement with and sales of products, too, with 87% of respondents saying they “took action after seeing product information on Instagram.

The power of putting your products in the hands of the right influencers is palpable and perhaps even stronger than ever. Depending on your niche, the returns you can get from influencer relationships can transform your marketing, content output and commercial sales. 

When you work with a paid macro-influencer, for example, you could get 2-3 pieces of product-related content out to 300,000 people and, for argument’s sake, get 12,000 engagements from 120,000 impressions. When you work with micro-influencers through gifting, you can stretch your budget even further and work with 100 people with 1,000,000 followers in total. From them, you might get over 400 pieces of content and 40,000 engagements from 400,000 impressions, meaning an even greater return on your investment.

Of course, that’s a super simplified example of influencer marketing, but you get the picture. The important thing is to do your research, pick your relationships carefully and craft your messaging personally—remember that you are marketing to the influencers themselves in the first instance, so your communications have to be on-point. Get it right and you’ll be getting more from influencer marketing than you ever thought possible.

 

When Should Brands Not Use Influencer Marketing?

As fruitful as it can be, influencer marketing isn’t a panacea for all marketers. There are times when it could backfire if you’re not doing it for the right reasons. If you need quick results, let’s say, you’ll almost definitely be left disappointed. The meaningful relationships required to make it successful can’t be snapped into existence quicker than a double tap on a burger recipe—they take time, patience and respect (much like a good burger).

It won’t fix your marketing woes if you’re simply in need of some positive reviews either. Influencer marketing isn’t an easy route to good publicity—it’s a long road to well-earned brand credibility.

You shouldn’t entertain the idea of influencer marketing until your brand, your strategy and your objectives are ready. Don’t rush into it in desperation because most influencers and, indeed, customers will see right through the content. If you’ve taken the time to prepare your plan, however, you’ll start to see the best of influencer marketing in no time.

 

Why Use An Influencer Marketing Agency?

One way to make sure you get the most out of influencer marketing is to opt for an agency that’s well-versed in the approach across a range of sectors. Gifta has years of experience in single-brand and multi-brand campaigns that cover paid social, email, offline, PR and print for all your influencer needs.

We’re logistics specialists, too, in that we handle everything from the processing of branded products in our warehouse to the delivery of personalised packages to our influencers. What’s more is that we’ll work with the influencers you choose at every step and track and report all content to ensure you get maximum output and invaluable insights from each campaign.

The micro-influencers we work with are carefully selected according to the products you want to promote, too, so you know you’ll get engaging content from people who genuinely love what you’re doing as a brand.

 

What Does An Influencer Marketing Agency Charge?

The fees involved in influencer marketing vary from industry to industry, so it’s best to get in touch to discuss your specific needs so we can create a bespoke quote for you. 

We can help you refine your strategy to make sure you’re working with the perfect influencers for you and getting in front of the most likely customers to convert. 

Interested in finding out more from Gifta? Get in touch at hello@gifta.co.uk today and we’ll be more than happy to help.