Instagram may be hiding likes in several countries since July and, as influencer marketing goes, engagement rates continue to fall. However, the army of content creators spread worldwide behind curated social feeds and stories while working from their bedroom or local coffee shops is far from being defeated, and companies are still harvesting above the average results for each dollar spent – prompting the segment to forecast that brands will invest over $7 Billion in Influencer Marketing and collaborations before 2019 ends, as reported by the American Influencer Council.
“Influencer Marketing is easily adaptable to different sizes of budgets and regions. It is also a great tool to keep the conversation between brands and customers always on, with discussions towards key topics in constant motion.” – says Marcio Delgado, London-based Influencer Manager and Influencer head hunter at marketing agency RDB | Robin Des Bois, working with content creators in Europe, Asia and North America.
Besides helping to spread the news about a new campaign through word-of-mouth, sparking conversations about a product or brand amongst fans, Influencer Marketing campaigns also offer brands the opportunity to tap into the new audiences of content creators it collaborates with. Although some products are much more specific than others and one size doesn’t fit all, reaching a new audience beyond a company’s own social media channels will, at least, increase brand awareness. The power of seasoned creators has prompted 8 out of 10 marketing teams to have a dedicated budget for influencer marketing this year, as per the 2019 State of Influencer Marketing Report, a global study conducted by Relatable.
“No matter if you are a commissioned marketing agency or an in-house marketer on payroll; At the end of the day you will be accountable for results and will need to justify every cent spent for any campaign. As influencers normally go beyond the briefing to deliver value for money, it is no surprise that companies have realised, through metrics and results, that influencer marketing is comparable to, or better than, other marketing channels.” – reminds Influencer Manager Marcio Delgado.
Probably due its personal approach – influencers use their platforms to communicate directly with a real fan base – Influencer marketing is still more popular on the business to customer sphere. A recent study by inbound web marketing analytics and optimization agency Blue Corona found that, from over 800 marketing professionals and brand representatives surveyed, 69% of marketing professionals focus their influencer marketing campaigns on the B2C sector, with Instagram and Facebook leading the choices of most used social media channels for campaigns.
