Is It Finally Time to Rethink Influencer Campaigns?

Influencer marketing has exploded in popularity of the last few years. In an influencer campaign, companies get endorsements from other people or companies (“influencers”) who have social influence in their field. These types of campaigns often come with a hefty price tag, since they are perceived as having higher engagement than traditional ads.

But a new data is contradicting this myth.

According to a recent survey by Visual Objects, 58% of social media users in the U.S. have not and never intend to buy products through influencer promo codes. Rather than product placements and advertisements, social media users are drawn to informative content that provides insight into a subject of interest.

The most popular types of influencers are subject matter experts (34%), business leaders (29%), and wellness experts (28%). Influencers with subject matter expertise are best able to engage their followers and cultivate communities based on shared interests.

Influencers with these engaged, niche followings are ideal candidates for business partnerships. However, companies must team up with influencers that can present their products genuinely to be well-received by their audience.

Kyle Dulay is the director of Collabstr, a marketplace that connects brands with influencers. Dulay recommends aiming for authenticity and relevance in sponsored social media content.

“Brands should only reach out to influencers that are highly relevant to their products,” Dulay said. “The influencer should be able to talk about the product with ease because it’s something they would’ve used in their everyday life regardless of the sponsorship.”

Consumers Follow and Trust Micro-Influencers

Micro-influencers have considerably smaller follower counts than large-scale macro-influencers. However, most social media users (55%) typically follow influencers with under 50,000 followers.

Tanner Arnold, President and CEO of Revelation Machinery, believes micro-influencers should be front-and-center in social media partnership considerations.

“Any brand should include micro-influencers in their marketing campaign because it will help their budget in the long run,” Arnold said. “Brands have a better chance of reaching a larger, more engaged audience this way, allowing them to develop a genuine fan base.”

With more engaged followers of similar interest groups, micro-influencers serve as a competitive alternative to partnering with a larger, more expensive macro-influencer.

The full results of the survey can be found here.