How An Influencer Can Help Your Business

Read time: 3 minutes

Instagram has become one of the fastest growing and important social media platforms in today’s scene.

Today, Instagram has over 1 billion active users, so it makes sense that businesses are using it as a platform to promote their brand and engage potential consumers.

In recent times, the concept of ‘Instagram Influencers’ has gained traction as a savvy marketing strategy. So, what exactly is an ‘influencer’, and how can they help your business?

How an influencer can help your business

An inside look into influencers

Technically speaking, Instagram influencers are creators and sharers of content. They build communities around niche topics – anything from travel, beauty, photography, fashion, food and more. They do this by sharing aspects of their personal lives with aesthetically pleasing, dynamic and engaging visual content.

When people think of Instagram influencers, they may conjure up images of celebrities and reality tv stars, sprucing the latest shade of lipstick to their millions of followers. It’s a common thought to think the more followers a person has, the more influence they may have on brand awareness, and the higher the celebrity status – the higher the influence. However, this is not necessarily the case. The celebrity endorsement, whilst gaining a lot of exposure and reach, may miss a crucial element in the customer engagement mindset – authenticity.  Authenticity and reputability are key elements to the success of an influencer. Instagram users are looking to engage with and relate to genuine people. A foundation of trust can be established with influencers who appear to be genuine.

This is where the concept of ‘micro-influencers’ are charging through the marketing game of brand awareness and influence. Micro-influencers are Instagram users with a smaller following audience. Typically, micro-influencers followers range from the 5,000 to 100,000 followers. Whilst their reach is clearly not as escalated as the celebrity with millions of followers, they know their audience and as such base their content around their niche’. These micro-influencers therefore yield their own ‘target-markets’. This makes them a viable option for small businesses wanting to reach a specific market. The bottom line is consumers want to hear from other consumers – it’s the digital version of the ‘word of mouth’ phenomenon. Moreover, HelloSociety states a 60% higher engagement rate for micro-influencers compared to highly popular accounts.

How can an influencer help build your brand?

The key take-home message here is that the right influencer can help build brand awareness. They do this by exerting their influence and authority on their particular niche’ audience. They have already built a relationship with their followers. As such, they can help drive traffic and convert leads to your business, given it’s the right target market. Micro influencers can also help improve your SEO profile by adding blog links to your website and vice-versa.

Before you go gung-ho on the influencer train, it’s important to first consider what kind of influencer best suits your brand values. It’s crucial you have trust and a mutual understanding that your brand values are respected. It’s also important you have a clear-cut vision of the content you wish to have endorsed. Doing some research on Instagram to ascertain if a potential influencer is established in your industry, has a website and a blog are also beneficial tips to help build your brand awareness. Ultimately – the influencers audience needs to align with your target market!

Need help with influencer marketing? Contact Redsteps today! We can build an influencer strategy for you that can help you gain brand awareness and generate new leads. Email us at hello@redsteps.com.au