The rules of marketing are changing every day, but there’s one thing that remains constant: content marketing is king. It’s one of the most effective ways to attract, inspire, and nurture customers of all kinds. But the digital sphere is a noisy place to be. With so many resources available online, customers are turning to those they trust to find new ideas, uncover trends, and ultimately make purchasing decisions.
Those trusted people are what we call influencers: peers, bloggers, subject matter experts, thoughts leaders. And their opinions matter the most. After all, receiving advice from someone you trust is far more genuine and authentic than when it comes from a brand.
Brands have clued into this and see value beyond the trust factor: an increase in sales, visibility, customer retention, shareable UGC content, growth on social media channels, vitality and so much more.
Read on to find out why influencer marketing is a kick-butt way to advertise and is the new king of content.
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You’ve got to be very delicate with influencers because they’re basically allergic to anything marketing/sales related. Be transparent so they don’t feel like you’re trying to pull a fast one on them. Respect them and if your product or service isn’t up to par be prepared for bad reviews. Influencers are a powerful, two-edged sword.
Good point, Robert. The reason why customers love bloggers and other influencers so much is because they are transparent with their audience and only show support for brands they believe in. For brands, I’d always suggest seeing which influencers are supporting similar products so they at least know before reaching out if it’s a potentially great fit.
Hey Lauren,
These are some surprising stats. The one that really surprised me over all of them was that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people even if they don’t even know them over brand content. That’s amazing. But I guess that goes with the say like attracts like.
Also I like that you pointed out the SEO authority stat. I had a couple of authority blogs link up to mine and I saw a spike in traffic. It’s amazing how just a handful of authority sites can matter so much!
Thanks for sharing these stats Lauren! Have a good one!
Hi Sherman,
It’s a surprisingly high stat but it makes a lot of sense. When a brand tells a customer their product is awesome it will probably always sound biased. It’s so much more authentic to hear positive reviews from someone you trust..who has tried the product and really believes in it.
Thanks for weighing in! 🙂