This document discusses influencer marketing. It defines influencer marketing as brands promoting their products through endorsements from influencers on social media. It notes that influencer marketing relies on influencers who have trusted followings in a niche. It outlines that influencer marketing has grown hugely popular as digital media has expanded and discusses how influencer marketing has evolved over time. It also predicts that influencer marketing will continue growing as more people become influencers and there are more opportunities to find influencers for specific target audiences.

1. Influencer Marketing
Digital Digest #3
Name: Umaima Manshauddin
Student ID #: 116525205
Section: MKM ZBB
Digital Marketing (MKM 915)
Professor Christopher Briggs

2. Influencer marketing is the process of an influencer promoting
the products or services of a brand via social media.
• Influencer marketing is a relationship between a brand and an
influencer.
• The influencer promotes the brand's products or services through
various media outlets such as Instagram and YouTube.
• Not to be confused with celebrity endorsements, influencer marketing
does more than just attach a well-known celebrity to a brand.
• In other words, influencer marketing is a method for brands to
advertise their products via endorsements or recommendations from
influencers and content creators on the internet.
• The bulk of influencers are found on social media and blogs, however
other creators such as podcast hosts can also be considered.
• Influencer marketing is frequently used as part of brand awareness
initiatives, but it may also result in a lot of conversions and sales.
Influencer Marketing

3. Influencers must be trusted figures with a loyal following.
• Influencers must be trusted figures within a niche community and
retain a loyal following.
• In addition, they typically possess knowledge or experience about
what they are advertising.
• For example, a popular fitness vlogger on YouTube with extensive
knowledge in weight training and proper nutrition may be asked to
do advertising for sportswear or a supplement company.
• On occasion, an influencer may not have experience relevant to the
product they are advertising. In this situation, they rely on the trust
and loyalty they have built within their community to influence their
followers.
• Common influencer categories include adventurists, photographers,
food enthusiasts, how-to experts, beauticians, artists, models and
comedians to name a few.
Influencers

4. Anyone can become an influencer! Influencers control the
brand’s message and choose how to portray it.
• Influencers operate independently, creating their own content and integrating a company’s
advertising specifications into it.
• The influencer is in control of the brand's message, choosing how they would like to portray it.
• This promotes authenticity and can help reach a specific target audience.
• The monetary value of an influencer is typically calculated by the size of their social following as
well as the platform they are using.
• On Instagram, industry experts suggest a price point of $1,000 per 100,000 followers. On
YouTube, a price point of $100 per 1,000 views is standard.
• This price is adjusted further depending on the reach and relevance of your influencer.
• The beauty of influencer marketing is that anyone can become an influencer, and businesses have a
plethora to choose from, allowing them to reach large target audiences.
Control of Influencers + Monetary Value

5. Influencer marketing is ubiquitous and popular: It’s HUGE!
• It's nearly impossible to go through social media without coming
across influencer marketing in some manner.
• Influencers are flaunting their latest snacks, outfits, beauty
products, and possessions everywhere you look, and that's just
the beginning.
• They are constantly coming up with new methods to be
sponsored on their favourite platforms, from standard posts to
the ever-popular Instagram Stories to long videos.
• Although influencer marketing is not a new concept within the
industry, it has become wildly popular in the past few years.
• As the world around us becomes more technologically
advanced, influencer marketing has made its way to the forefront
and companies are devoting more time and effort to the tactic
than ever before.
Popularity of Influencer Marketing

6. The internet age created unlimited freedom and choice for
consumers but it posed a problem for brands.
• Not long before technological advancements,
scheduled television was virtually the only mass
media consumers had access to and was one of the
main platforms marketers used to advertise to the
masses.
• Today, with the creation of the internet and the
popularity of social media platforms like Instagram,
Facebook and YouTube, consumers have unlimited
freedom and choice over the content they wish to
view.
• This creates a problem for brands. As their target
audience continues to spread out over various forms
of media, it becomes increasingly difficult to reach
them.
Brands Face Problems Trying to Reach Target Audience

7. Influencer marketing offered a solution to that problem by
relying on influencers to positively represent the brand and
impact their followers.
• As a result, marketers discovered that influencer
marketing could offer a solution to the problem.
• Influencer marketing allows brands to locate and
advertise directly to their target audience.
• Consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical of
brands and their marketing tactics, and building trust is
crucial.
• Advertising through influencers allows brands to
promote through someone that a niche community
watches, engages with and trusts on a daily basis.
• So, instead of being skeptical of a commercial or
social media ad, consumers are trusting that if their
influencer of choice loves the product, they will too.
Influencer Marketing is the Solution

8. Influencer marketing has evolved over the years.
• While influencer marketing began back in 2006, it has changed a lot
over the past 15 years. Facebook and Twitter were just getting
started, but Instagram wouldn’t join the social media landscape until
2010.
• When influencers began, they were primarily bloggers who shared
stories about their lives and promoted products they used each day.
• It’s kind of a paradox, but while influencer marketing hasn’t changed
that much, it’s vastly different in several ways. Influencers are still
sharing stories about their lives and promoting products they use
each day.
• Now, though, there are many people who are career influencers,
earning a living through brand sponsorships.
• When it began, any money a blogger made through a partnership was
nice side cash, but certainly not enough to be considered full-time
income.
Influencer Marketing: Then and Now

9. Influencers today have a variety of platforms to choose from,
unlike their predecessors.
• Influencers today also have so many more options than the
original influencers did.
• There are countless social media platforms to choose from, and
there are so many kinds of content they can create.
• For those who like video platforms, YouTube or TikTok are
excellent options.
• Those who want to share long-form written posts can benefit
from traditional blogging or even Facebook.
• Influencers who want a little of everything can turn to Instagram.
• While Clubhouse is still a new platform, it probably won’t be
long until influencers find a way to turn that into a spot for their
promotions, too.
Influencer Marketing: Then and Now

10. Influencers with larger followings usually have higher
engagement rates, but numbers don’t matter that much.
• Influencer marketing is an incredibly popular marketing tool right now, and for good reason:
• Nine out of 10 brands are using some form of influencer marketing.
• Unless you want your company to be left behind, it’s time to start exploring your options for
influencer marketing. No matter what industry you’re in, there’s sure to be at least one influencer
who fits your needs. And don’t be worried if you can only find smaller influencers in your niche,
because:
• Influencers with 1,000-5,000 followers can have higher engagement rates.
• It might sound impressive to want to work with someone who has hundreds of thousands of
followers, but don’t get caught up in the excitement around numbers that don’t really matter.
Instead, look for influencers who have active, engaged followings.
• Influencers with bigger followings tend to have an engagement rate of around 3.6%.
• Those with 1,000-5,000 followers have an 8.8% engagement rate.
• That 5% difference means that people are more likely to take an action related to the post about
your product.
Influencer Marketing by the Numbers

11. Taking advantage of influencer marketing is essential to grow
brand awareness.
• Working with smaller influencers can allow you to be
confident that your target audience will actually
engage with your sponsored posts.
• If you’re looking to grow your brand awareness,
increase sales, or really get your brand’s name out
into the world in any way possible, you need to be
taking advantage of influencer marketing.
• You don’t see a media value like this with other
marketing tactics. The most important thing, though,
is to approach influencer marketing strategically, so
you do it correctly.
• Generating this kind of earned media equivalence
only happens if you’re working with the right
influencers in the right niche.
Working With the Right Influencers in the Right Niche

12. Influencer marketing will definitely continue to grow.
• Influencer marketing is popular now, but it’s not just a trend that’s going to fade away. In fact, it’s
nowhere near done growing.
• It will continue to become more and more popular over the coming years, so now is the best time
to learn about it and prepare to incorporate it into your own strategies.
• 1. More people are becoming influencers.
• While it might feel like there are too many influencers out there, that’s actually not the case.
As social media platforms continue to grow, there are more opportunities for new people to
become influencers.
• Some will certainly do this intentionally, while others will simply be sharing about their life
and happen to strike up a brand deal with a company they love. Either way, there will be more
people growing audiences in specific niches.
• This means you have a better chance of finding someone talking to your specific ideal
audience that’s perfect for your ecommerce store.
Predicting the Future of Influencer Marketing

13. Influencer marketing will definitely continue to grow.
• 2. Influencer marketing agencies are growing in popularity.
• As with any business strategy or tactic, influencer marketing is becoming standardized.
• There are now agencies that represent influencers and agencies designed to help brands find
the best influencers for their strategy.
• As business surrounding influencer marketing continues to grow, the marketing itself will also
keep expanding.
• For E-Commerce brands that don’t want to dedicate the time or resources to keeping up with
influencer marketing trends, these kinds of agencies are a great option.
• You can still take advantage of the incredible success that often comes with influencer
marketing without learning everything yourself.
Predicting the Future of Influencer Marketing

14. Influencer marketing will definitely continue to grow.
• 2. Influencer marketing agencies are growing in popularity.
• As with any business strategy or tactic, influencer marketing is becoming standardized.
• There are now agencies that represent influencers and agencies designed to help brands find
the best influencers for their strategy.
• As business surrounding influencer marketing continues to grow, the marketing itself will also
keep expanding.
• For E-Commerce brands that don’t want to dedicate the time or resources to keeping up with
influencer marketing trends, these kinds of agencies are a great option.
• You can still take advantage of the incredible success that often comes with influencer
marketing without learning everything yourself.
Predicting the Future of Influencer Marketing

15. Taking advantage of influencer marketing is essential to grow
brand awareness.
• 3. There are more content options.
• Influencers began with creating written blog posts talking about their favorite products. Then,
social media became more popular and the kinds of content influencers were creating changed.
• Nowadays, video is perhaps the most popular kind of content for influencers to make when it
comes to promoting products. Instagram and Facebook Live, IGTV, YouTube, and TikTok have all
shown the incredible power of video.
• However, with the growing popularity of podcasts and the advent of audio-only apps like
Clubhouse, it makes you wonder what the next big trend in influencer marketing will be.
• While we might not know that answer, we do know it will continue to evolve.
• E-Commerce brands can be prepared to take advantage of new, innovative platforms and content
by joining these new platforms as they arise.
• If you are already building a following on a particular platform, influencers will be more likely to
want to work with you.
Predicting the Future of Influencer Marketing

16. Taking advantage of influencer marketing is essential to grow
brand awareness.
• 4. Influencers are showing more of their reality.
• In many ways, influencers are going back to their roots.
• In recent years, people have become far more interested in seeing posts that aren’t overly edited.
They don’t want to listen to, learn from, or take advice from someone whose life seems entirely
unattainable.
• Instead, they want to see reality. They want to see influencers make mistakes and have bad days
and pick themselves back up again and keep going.
• Because of this open transparency, even more people are trusting and following influencers, which
means that there are more people to see and buy from sponsored content.
• E-commerce brands can now reach even more people when they work with influencers, especially
if they’re not caught up in showing only the perfect, highly-filtered sides of their life.
Predicting the Future of Influencer Marketing

17. Influencer marketing is based on trust, and brands should be
aware of potential risks.
• Unlike most marketing strategies, influencer marketing requires a high level of trust between a
brand and a third party.
• Although influencers are often required to sign lawful contracts, the care of the brand's reputation
is essentially in their keeping.
• A brand must be sure the influencer’s content aligns with their overall image. The use of uncanny
or offensive content could have negative consequences on the brand's reputation. This is especially
important when working with young influencers who may lack maturity and professionalism.
• A company should also be careful of fake followers. An influencer can purchase fake followers,
making them appear to have a much larger fan base than they actually do.
• When picking an influencer, first make sure their followers were obtained organically. Although
this can be done manually, it is much easier to use a tool that checks for you, such as InstaCheck.
The tool is designed to detect fake accounts by analyzing their engagement, spam and overall
activity. There are many platforms available for influencer marketing.
What To Look Out For

18. Influencer marketing is based on trust, and brands should be
aware of potential risks.
• Influencer marketing is here to stay, and it’s only going to grow more in the coming years.
• E-Commerce brands can truly benefit from working with influencers, no matter what their goal is.
• Influencers can help you grow a brand’s following, make sales, or simply get the word out about
your business.
• Influencers are here to stay but how the world of influencer marketing looks and operates has
changed a great deal in a short time, and in five years may be drastically different from today. Like
any social strategy it’s important to be ready for change.
• Still, while there are some unique considerations to working with influencers, setting up a
campaign is the same as most marketing campaigns: research, set a budget, determine goals, find
the right influencers and review and revise.
What To Look Out For

19. Example of a successful influencer.
• Dina Tokio is a influencer with 1.2
million followers on Instagram and
794k subscribers on YouTube.
• She is a modest fashion designer and
has her own brand called Modestly,
which has been very successful and
always sells out. She is also unveiling
her own jewellery brand soon.
• She uses her social media to document
her family life, her motherhood,
lifestyle, fitness, hobbies, travels,
makeup tips etc.
• Local and small businesses that give her
their products for free so that she can
promote them on her platform.
Exampls

20. Works Cited
• Council, Young Entrepreneur. “Council Post: Understanding Influencer Marketing And
Why It Is So Effective.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 30 July 2018.
• Patel, Sujan. “Influencer Marketing in 2021: Strategies + Examples (To Drive Growth).”
The BigCommerce Blog, 25 June 2021.