Influencer marketing is a 6.5-billion-dollar industry and the best marketing tool for businesses today.
As this online marketing strategy evolves, businesses are foregoing celebrity endorsements in favor of collaborating with local influencers in their community. Here's why.
Benefit 1: Increases Brand Awareness
First and foremost, local influencers bring the names of businesses to the attention of people who were previously unaware of their existence.
Obviously, all types of influencers do this, but local influencers are more effective and successful for businesses in specific geographic areas.
Plus, local businesses can turn their favorite customers into their own personal influencers for a fairly low cost by offering small incentives, like food & drink or merchandise.
Benefit 2: Improves Engagement
Local influencers tend to have a deeper, more genuine connection with their followers than macro and celebrity influencers. They are more likely to know and connect with their followers on a more personal level.
Influencers with 100k or fewer followers, tend to make time for thoughtful responses and engagement.
According to research, influencers with 1,000 followers have the highest engagement ratio so don't count them out because the ratio of engagement to followers is more important than the number of followers!
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri is considering removing 'likes' from the social media platform entirely
"We want people to worry a little bit less about how many likes they're getting on Instagram and spend a bit more time connecting with the people that they care about."
This potential evolution will make engagement an even more potent tool in the world of influencers.
Benefit 3: Less Expensive
Contrary to what you may think, local influencers do not need to be paid thousands of dollars to endorse your business. Many people are willing to be influencers in exchange for smaller incentives.
"When I post a photo for taco Tuesday, I get free queso? Please sign me up!"
Giving people the opportunity to try your product and share it with their friends and family is a great way to generate repeat business. It's a win-win situation for both parties.
Influencers gain credibility for their recommendation, businesses gain new customers, and both gain exposure.
Benefit 4: Gives You Access to New Followers
Local influencers are ideal for small businesses because the majority of their followers will live in the same area and have never heard of your brand.
This means an influencer collaboration will allow you to reach a larger market of people who are close to your business but have never heard of our brand!
No matter how fantastic a local pizza joint is, it's unlikely that someone will fly across the country to try it unless they're already in town.
Maybe, unless they really love pizza, have a lot of spare cash, and are dying to go on a world's best pizza tour. I mean come on. Never, ever say never, right?
However, if someone local is scrolling through Instagram and sees a friend raving about it, they may decide to check it out on their next date night or if visitors from out of town see rave reviews about how delicious your pizza is while searching for food on Google, they are likely to want to see for themselves
Benefit 5: Enhances Authenticity
Marketing professionals have long recognized that word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective form of marketing. Local influencers do this without making it appear as if the company is bragging about itself.
It's not salesy or gimmicky; it's just a person sharing something they enjoy with the people in their network. As a result, people are much more likely to respond to a sponsored post from a business page or influencer with a million followers.
Benefit 6: Generates Fresh Content
Giving up some control and allowing an influencer to create their own content promoting your business accomplishes two important things.
It reduces the workload on marketing campaigns. Your business can provide gu...