Why Influencers Have Brand Partnerships in the Palms of Their Hands
Image Courtesy: Dunkin’
From our favorite beauty gurus reviewing their mascaras to the top Instagram chefs cooking with sauces that are ready to sell, influencer marketing has grabbed the attention of the entire world. The limitless accessibility to the internet, technology, and social media has resulted in one of the fastest-growing forms of marketing: influencer marketing.
While influencer marketing is growing because of the convenience of users accessing social media, there are several other reasons why it is considered better than TV advertisements or billboards, such as authenticity and reaching niche audiences. In my personal journey of content creation for about two and a half years now, I have built up 420,000 Instagram followers and 226,000 YouTube subscribers, which allowed me the opportunity with some of the bigger names like Netflix and Coca-Cola, but also smaller local brands in India. Each brand has its own distinctive image and markets its products in different ways. However, most brands seek the same characteristics when working with influencers, and they are authenticity, growth, and increased reach with a particular audience.
Let’s take Amazon Prime Video, for example. They did a campaign in India (my home country) to promote the TV show The Summer I Turned Pretty. For this campaign, they asked six female influencers to discuss this TV show together. Our only instruction was to have watched the show and talk about it, with no script for us to follow.
As the video came to life, each influencer's persona was on display and the video turned out super fun and unique. Two of the influencers that were mainly representing fashion and beauty spoke about the character's hair and outfits. Two other lifestyle influencers dug deep into the storyline and discussed what they loved about it. Finally, the last influencer and I, who represent comedy, just made a lot of fun of the characters and their choices. It didn’t feel like a campaign, just an enthusiastic group of girls gushing over a TV show. The internet was convinced.
Due to the trust and relationship that has been cultivated by each of these influencers on their respective platforms, it is not surprising that the campaign turned out successful. By constantly putting themselves into the public eye, influencers create their own communities which make them more authentic. By sharing little details of their life with their community, the trust is strengthened and audiences are more likely to try or show interest in products or services suggested by their favorite influencers. Therefore, when these influencers showed their interest in Amazon’s new TV show, the audiences were inclined to give it a shot as well.
Another reason why influencers are a great marketing tool is they attract audiences that belong to particular demographics that companies could potentially target based on what their products and services offer. For example, the Morphe x Avani Gregg collaboration where Avani, a beauty influencer, released her own palette with the Morphe brand. Influencers also know their audience well and have learned over time how to keep them engaged. In the long run, this is why influencer partnerships can be so beneficial. It could induce loyal consumers to a brand that is affiliated with a popular influencer.
Often, ads such as TV or print cost a lot of money with less insight into how well advertisements on these platforms perform. With influencer marketing, most brands can know exactly how, where, and when their content has reached someone, and track when there has been interest. This is due to the new availability of insights and analytic features on social media websites, like Instagram, that would allow a brand to track exactly how a user might have interacted with their content. More often than not, TV insights and analytics are limited to the number of customers reached, but not how they might have reacted to it.
Take Charli D’Amelio, the influencer with the second most followed profile on TikTok, and her long-term partnership with Dunkin’ Donuts. D’Amelio launched her drink, The Charli, and often posted herself ordering coffee from Dunkin’. According to Business Insider, this resulted in a 57% increase in app downloads.
Lastly, choosing the right partnerships could benefit a brand’s image greatly. Because of their close relationships with content creators, audiences hold influencers in high regard and are likely to feel positive about a brand that is represented by them. Choosing an ambassador for one’s brand can also be a risk since collaborating with influencers means that the reputation of the brand could be tarnished based on the actions of the influencer. Adidas, for example, experienced a complete dip in sales when Kanye West publicly made anti-semitic comments, according to NPR Business.
In terms of efficiency and effectiveness, influencer marketing is leading the new generation of marketing. It is the perfect way to grow a brand but also develop a personal touch to everything a brand has to offer.
Taneesha Mirwani