Influencer marketing has grown significantly over the last five years, creating new opportunities for brands. The global influencer market is projected to reach $21.1 billion in 2023, up from $16 billion the year before.

Part of this growth can be attributed to the increasing deployment of social commerce, with social media platforms progressively evolving into real shopping hubs. Combined with the prevalence of mobile and the growing demand for video and digital content, influencer marketing is entering a new era.

For brands, this spells opportunity.

In this article, we explore the myriad benefits of influencer marketing to help you formulate and finesse your influencer strategy.

Improve brand awareness and exposure

Many businesses partner with influencers as a way of boosting their brand awareness. Macro influencers – those individuals with more than 200K followers – are especially effective at this.

Collaborating with macro influencers, brands can expand their visibility and reach by getting their product or service to a huge audience. And for brands looking to scale, macro influencers with an international presence allow businesses to test new markets quickly and cost effectively.

The drawback of this is that, while awareness has its place, macro influencers are unable to elicit the kind of deep engagement that micro influencers can achieve with their relatively smaller audiences of 10K-100K.

The key is to embrace a strategy that combines both macro and micro influencers, building on the awareness of the former to build engagement with the latter.

Reach targeted audiences

Micro influencers are, as mentioned above, effective at creating deep engagement with their follower communities. With relatively small social followings, these influencers are able to foster closer, more meaningful relationships with their audience – a useful opportunity for brands.

This is especially practical for smaller brands looking to build a foundation within their vertical. Influencers usually specialize in an area or topic, such as beauty, nutrition or fashion, and attract audiences that are interested in those subjects.

Consequently, brands can partner strategically with industry-relevant influencers. This saves both time and costs when segmenting and targeting their market, driving targeted traffic to their sites faster and more effectively.

Build brand authenticity and trust

92% of consumers trust an influencer more than an advertisement or even a traditional celebrity endorsement. As influencer marketing evolves, the recommendation of a popular influencer is a powerful thing.

Brands that partner with influencers who endorse their products enjoy a greater level of trust from their followers by being relatable, genuine and consistent.

For brands, the key to this is working with an influencer whose niche and values align with theirs.

When these overlap, followers are more likely to be interested in and engage with the resulting sponsored content. In fact, 75% of marketers are working with influencers who align with their values to improve consumers’ expectations and loyalty. 

Boost sales and revenue

As social commerce increases in popularity, brands are now leveraging influencer marketing to not just market their products, but sell them too.

Social media platforms are becoming more sophisticated, and recent years have seen numerous innovations to help brands and individuals sell their products in-app. From Instagram Shopping or Twitter Shops to TikTok’s Live Shopping, there are plenty of ways to promote, market and sell across social media.

But simply pushing products via these channels isn’t enough. Brands should ensure that their influencer partner lends their skills and expertise to increase conversions.

Take livestream shopping, for instance. An engaging and interactive shopping experience, it allows shoppers to see (and purchase) products in real time.

However, truly successful livestream shopping relies on sessions led by influencers (or, more recently, creators), in which they can offer their insights and advice. A beauty influencer exploring various types of skincare is a good example of this.

By discussing products and their uses and benefits, as well as fielding questions from the livestream viewers, influencers can boost a brand’s sales in an authentic, trustworthy way.

A strong influencer strategy helps marketers establish a deeper connection with their customers. But identifying the right influencer, reaching out to them and building a mutually rewarding relationship can be complex.

To overcome this, more and more brands are partnering with platforms like THG Ingenuity. Leveraging our dedicated network of influencers, we have helped numerous brands strengthen their online presence, locally and globally.

With THG Ingenuity, brands can establish influencer relationships in targeted markets to drive brand awareness, engagement and sales around the world.

Get in touch for more information on how we can support your business.