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How Do Influencers Attract Customers?

Influencer Marketing
How Do Influencers Attract Customers?

Influencer marketing is one of the newer forms of marketing, which leaves people with lots of questions about how it works. One of those questions speaks to the heart of social media influencer marketing —  How do influencers attract customers?

By understanding how influencers attract and affect consumers, you’ll be better equipped to use social media influencer marketing to help your brand. Here’s how it works:

How Is Social Media Used for Influencer Marketing? 

Social media has grown tremendously over the last decade, and today, the top social media platforms have over one billion active users each. Beyond being a place to post pictures of your lunch and funny dancing videos, social media can also be used for influencer marketing to promote brands’ products and services. But how?

Influencer marketing is all about tapping into audiences developed by influencers — social media users who amass followers and build strong relationships with them. The process goes something like this:

  1. Influencers post on social media platforms and gain a considerable number of followers who care about their content. 
  2. Brands reach out to those influencers and partner with them for influencer marketing campaigns. 
  3. The influencers post promotional content related to those brands on their social media pages in exchange for payment. 
  4. The social media users following those influencers get exposed to the brands the influencers promote and potentially purchase their products/services. 

In this process, the brands get to reach out to new audiences, and the influencers get compensated for their social media presence. It’s a win-win. 

Why Are Influencers A Good Form Of Marketing For Businesses? 

That still leaves the question, why should businesses choose influencer marketing over other forms of marketing?

Influencer marketing is a uniquely strong marketing option thanks to the relationship that influencers build with their audiences. Consumers trust what the influencers they follow have to say. When you have influencers promoting products through sponsored posts, for example, consumers respond more strongly to those posts than they would to similar paid advertisements. 

The social media influencer marketing statistics show this clearly. For example, 61% of consumers trust recommendations from influencers they follow on social media, compared to only 38% of consumers who trust content directly produced by brands. 

What Are Some Influencer Marketing Strategies? 

A successful influencer marketing campaign starts with a strong influencer marketing strategy, and there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy. You need to develop a strategy based on your brand’s needs and goals. To help you get started, here are three examples:

  1. Partner with Micro Influencers. 

Many marketers think that they need to partner with the influencers with the largest audiences for their influencer marketing campaigns to be successful, but this isn’t true. Micro influencers — influencers with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers — can make ideal partners. 

  1. Focus on Affiliate Marketing.

If you’re not totally convinced by influencer marketing, you can use an affiliate marketing strategy to make sure you’re only paying influencers when they’re successfully generating sales for you. Your affiliate influencer partners will simply get a commission on the sales they generate.  

  1. Run a Competition.

Everyone loves a good competition. By partnering with influencers to run a competition, you can get their audiences engaging with your brand and excited about your products or services. 

Is TikTok a Good Platform for Influencers? 

When people talk about influencer marketing, they often ask — which social media is best for influencer marketing? Instagram and YouTube get a lot of the focus, but TikTok is another great platform for influencers. But what is an influencer on TikTok? A TikTok influencer is someone who posts on the app and gains followers who engage with their content. 

Thanks to its powerful algorithm, TikTok keeps users on the platform longer than any other social media platform in the United States. The algorithm also helps users find new creators, making it easier for TikTok influencers to grow their followings quickly. 

For brands, influencer marketing on TikTok can be incredibly effective. Short-form video is ideal for engaging audiences and getting them to interact with your brand. Some influencer marketing campaigns on TikTok even hop on current trends on the app to increase their exposure. Another strategy is to have your TikTok influencer partners create a challenge that other TikTok users can join in on. 

Make sure to tailor your influencer marketing strategy to the platform you choose. Instagram influencer marketing should be slightly different from TikTok influencer marketing, for example. 

How Lionize Can Help You With Your Influencer Marketing Strategy

Not sure how to begin developing your influencer marketing strategy? Turn to Lionize.

Lionize is a powerful influencer marketing platform that uses artificial intelligence and real-world expertise to help brands excel at influencer marketing. The platform helps you do everything from sourcing and recruiting the best influencers to managing your campaign and tracking the results. Influencer marketing has never been easier. 

Book a Discovery Call today to start building your influencer marketing strategy with the help of a dedicated influencer marketing expert.