Why Is Influencer Marketing Important on IG: 10 Key Reasons

Social media influencers have become a lean, mean marketing machine in the digital age. They’re amazing to work with for businesses that want to reach and engage a specific target audience with branded content. But while influencer content is super effective, some skeptical marketers still might be wondering, “Why is influencer marketing important anyway?”

Not only do people look at influencers as trendsetters, but they’re also experts in their niche. They know the ins and outs of their industry and talk about the best products and services on their page. Plus, they’re real, genuine people—not big brands out to get customers’ money. For these content creators’ loyal fans, everything they say (and the brand they recommend) is gold.

However, some marketers are stubborn and don’t see the value in collaborating with their audience’s favorite influencers. Why spend money on that instead of ads? What does a brand get out of a content creator who publicly praises a brand in front of their fanbase?

Today, we’re diving into 10 reasons why working with influencers is important to the digital marketing strategies of any brand. Keep reading to discover why this marketing tool makes a huge impact on social media platforms.

1. It Makes Brands Look More Authentic and Credible

Even before social media platforms became a part of everyone’s everyday lives, people were already becoming less trusting of ads. So, when Instagram came onto the scene, it was natural that people gravitated more toward human-made content than digital ads.

People see influencer content as more credible and trustworthy than a brand’s ads because real people made it. A fashion influencer’s OOTD post is more authentic and genuine than a manicured, overly polished ad by a designer label. It’s not a hard-sell post but a way for the influencer to share their lifestyle with their followers. It adds a human touch to the brand while still promoting what it has to offer.

What makes influencer content more genuine than ads is that creators are naturally transparent with their audience. They’ll even disclose to their followers that they’ve worked with you on a paid partnership. This openness with their audience, coupled with their authentic personality, resonates well with people who appreciate honesty and transparency.

According to Linqia, 36% of marketers believe that branded influencer content fares better than content made by brands themselves. That’s why many brands pour their money into influencer collaborations instead of creating their ads. By partnering with its audience’s favorite influencers, a brand looks more authentic, relatable, and trustworthy, boosting positive sentiment.

2. Influencers Can Put in a Good Word About Your Products and Services

One of the biggest responsibilities of a brand influencer is to promote their partner brand’s products and services. With their content, they can put in a good word about these offerings and give them a chance to shine. And because their fanbase trusts them, it boosts positive sentiment and interest in a brand’s products.

There are many ways influencers can talk about a brand’s offerings in a positive light. Most of the time, these creators will post content showing them using the product and then share an in-depth review. They’ll talk about their first impressions, what they loved about it, its key features, and more. Some influencers will even show their followers how they incorporate the products into their everyday routines. Basically, they attest to its quality and performance in a genuine way.

People value the opinions of their favorite influencers. What they say holds much more weight than ads that shove their product in people’s faces. After all, everything they say about a brand will be based on personal experience. So, when these influencers recommend certain products, it’s social proof that the brand behind them is legitimate and trustworthy.

3. It Makes Content Creation More Cost-Effective for Brands

When a brand collaborates with an influencer for a campaign, it’s that influencer’s job to produce content promoting the brand. That means they have the creative freedom to show off the brand and its products however they want. That adds a lot more authenticity and relatability to the branded content, unlike traditional ads that are high-brow and hard-sell.

But another plus of influencers producing their posts is that content creation then becomes more affordable for brands.

There’s no need for marketing teams to set up an expensive photo and video shoot with fancy cameras and lights. You also don’t need to spend money on a set design or booking a studio or location for high-end shoots. That makes it super cost-effective for brands, who can then use the money saved on other important marketing matters.

Influencers are used to making content with even just their camera phone and maybe a ring light and microphone. Even if they use simpler production tools, they still know how to make top-notch content the target audience will love.

And if that cost-effectiveness isn’t enough, influencer content also has a faster turnaround time than professional photos and videos.

If a brand works to produce polished, manicured ads, it could take months to finalize everything. However, influencers are very agile and are used to the rapid pace of social media. You can expect everything to move in just a few weeks, from influencer outreach to receiving their content drafts.

4. Influencer Marketing Strategies Can Increase Brand Awareness

Everybody knows that influencer marketing strategies help brands drive a lot of reach and visibility. They essentially put more eyeballs on your brand’s products, whether these people follow you or not. But for smaller, younger businesses that are just starting, this poses another benefit. It helps boost brand awareness for their fledgling company.

It’s one thing to have more people see content featuring your brand. But it’s entirely different when new people start discovering or learning about your brand for the first time.

Although you’re paying brand influencers to promote your products, the content they produce is essentially word-of-mouth marketing. And through that, they introduce your brand to their followers. And because this marketing technique feels very native and authentic, people might be more receptive to your brand message. That means it will stick with them more and remember you.

Social media influencers with very high engagement rates and potential for virality can boost brand awareness even more. These creators probably have fans ready to share their favorite influencer’s posts on their platforms for friends to see. That means reaching an even wider audience, leading to more people learning about your young brand.

5. It Can Drive Organic Traffic From Your Specific Target Audience

When someone sees influencers they admire posting about brands, it’s natural for them to want to check out those brands. They might visit those brands’ Instagram accounts or other social media platforms to see what they’re all about. They could even do some window shopping on those brands’ websites.

This is what you call organic traffic driven by a brand influencer’s post. It’s different from paid traffic, which is what you get if you were to run ads meant for site traffic. Instead, it’s the sheer power and influence of the content creator pushing those people to visit your sites and platforms.

Influencers are amazing at convincing their followers to check out a brand’s website or Instagram page. Even something as simple as tagging a brand in their post can drive clicks to their profile. Many influencers will also include a call-to-action in their sponsored post, asking fans to visit the brand’s website.

What’s awesome about influencers driving traffic to your platforms is that it’s your intended target audience visiting your pages.

A golden rule of choosing influencers to work with is that their fanbase should be aligned with your target audience. So, when they drive their followers to your page, it’s not just random people looking through your site. It’s the people who are actually potential customers for your brand.

6. It Boosts Engagement Rates on Content Featuring the Influencer

Influencers are basically mini celebs on the internet. If they upload content, they have fans and admirers ready to like and comment on their posts. That means many well-loved influencers rake in pretty high engagement rates on their content. And that’s a huge benefit for the brands they feature in their posts.

First, it’s great because the influencer’s content featuring your brand gets more engagement and interactions. And the more likes and comments a post has, the more the Instagram algorithm prioritizes it on the feed. It pushes it up further so that more people see it when they open the app. That means tons more visibility for your branded content!

But an influencer’s pull when it comes to engagement rates doesn’t end there. It can affect even your brand’s engagement rates, too.

Many brands have stopped hiring influencers to post content promoting their products. However, some brands go the extra mile and produce their content featuring influencers or celebrities as endorsers. And when they post this content online, engagement skyrockets.

All of those influencers’ fans like, comment on, and even share the posts on their Stories, boosting their engagement rate. This can lead to higher reach, brand awareness, and even an increase in your followers after capturing more people’s attention.

7. Influencers Help Their Fans Make Purchase Decisions

According to the Pew Research Center, influencers impact the purchase decisions of 54% of social media users from ages 18-29. A 2020 survey suggests that this influence is most significant for lifestyle brands in the clothing, shoe, and cosmetics industries.

So, if you are targeting young adults who love fashion and beauty, influencer partnerships are the way to go. People they admire online heavily influence these young, impressionable individuals. Through engaging content and a glittering review from their favorite influencer, people will likely want to buy your products more.

8. Special Discounts From Affiliate Marketing Links Can Help Boost Your Sales

Another aspect of working with influencers that is super important for raking in sales is affiliate marketing. Brands will typically give their influencers affiliate marketing links that are unique to them. These influencers will promote the brand and lead followers to that link to see more about the product. And if someone buys the product using that link, the influencer gets a commission. These links also make it easier for brands to track which influencers are driving the most sales.

But why does this help with your business’s sales, you ask? Because you can provide special discounts exclusively for people who use your influencer’s affiliate marketing links.

When you give a special discount specifically only for an influencer’s fanbase, it creates a feeling of exclusivity. Influencers can position the discount as something the brand is offering just for them. It makes their fans feel special, valued, and grateful to both your brand and your influencer for the offer. Plus, who doesn’t want to get a discount on something they’re buying online, right? As a result, you can expect a pretty hefty boost in your sales.

9. There’s an Opportunity for Cross-Platform Promotion

Most influencers operate on more than one social media platform. Sure, they may be most active on Instagram. But it doesn’t mean they don’t have an audience on Facebook or YouTube, too.

One plus of working with Instagram influencers is that they can activate all their other platforms to promote your brand. This is called cross-platform promotion. They can post content showing off your brand’s products everywhere they can to maximize reach.

By cross-promoting content on multiple platforms, influencers help your brand reach diverse audiences. Their audience on Instagram might not be the same people who follow them on Twitter, perhaps. But by covering their bases and posting branded content on both channels, more people can discover your brand.

There are many ways to go about cross-promoting content. Influencers can simply upload the same content over and over across their platforms. That’s something many creators do for TikTok and Instagram Reels since the content formats are so similar. However, it’s much smarter to tweak the content a bit to optimize it according to how the platform operates.

10. The Movement Has Led to Many Useful Influencer Marketing Platforms

When you think about why working with influencers is important, you might only think of the benefits for the brand. But how is it important for the industry? We’ve got a huge answer right here.

Let’s wrap up the list with one of the most important contributions of the influencer collab craze on the internet. We’re talking about the birth of influencer marketing platforms, aka the tools that help marketers nail their influencer content strategy.

Tapping influencers to promote your brand can be very challenging. You have to do your due diligence in researching the perfect influencers to work with. That means sifting through thousands of profiles to find the best creators to represent you. Then there’s influencer outreach, negotiating contracts, draft approvals, and analytics reports on their content. Needless to say, it’s a long and tedious process.

Enter influencer marketing platforms. These tools were created because of how common influencer collaborations have become for successful social media campaigns. These databases and project management platforms help brands choose the right influencers and liaise with them smoothly. From data-driven outreach to compliance to payment, they help you with every step of your influencer campaign.

These platforms make the life of every social media marketer way easier. And we have the influencer marketing craze to thank for them.

So, Why Is Influencer Marketing Important? Because It Drives IG Growth

Incorporating influencer partnerships into your social media presence is a great way to reach audiences you wouldn’t otherwise engage. It helps you reach wider, more established fanbases, boost engagement rates on posts, and even influence potential customers’ purchase decisions. Not only does it help make your digital marketing strategies more exciting, but it helps your business boom, too!

Why is influencer marketing important? If we had to list down every reason, we’d be here forever. So, we hope the 10 reasons above will suffice.

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Our AI-powered system finds your ideal target audience and organically promotes your content to them. That way, your posts reach the people you actually want to talk to. Because your content is tailored to resonate with this audience, you’ll get tons of post engagement and new followers. Grow your fanbase with us!