If you didn't already know, companies have moved away from traditional forms of advertising like radio announcements, billboards, and commercial ads. Social media is so prominent amongst Millennials, Generation Zers, and despite what many may assume, social media usage has tremendously increased amongst Generation Xers and Baby Boomers. Click here to read more about social media usage and age. This leads to the question: Why should marketers seek to utilize social media as a strategy to market? Well, we are collectively spending significantly more time on social media. So why not use a platform that has high usership as a form of advertisement?
Now, you can scroll on #Instagram and see your favorite celebrity or #influencer advertising a novel or well-known product or brand. Before we get into how to effectively use this to your business' advantage, we would first like to highlight some facts about the upward trend of #influencermarketing and what that will look like in the upcoming years.
In fact, influencer marketing has become a sophisticated form of #advertising in which companies allocated budget towards this form of advertising, and intend to increase the frequency of such campaigns. According to the State of Influencer Marketing 2020 report brought to us by Linqia, Instagram continues to be the top platform for influencer marketing because it allows the influencer and marketer to tell their story effectively, appealing to the audience easily and visually. The Marketing Benchmark Report 2020 brought to us by Influencer Marketing Pub in partnership with CreatorIQ illustrates the prevalence and wide use of influence marketing. This report was generated from their 2020 survey that sampled 4,000 people from various backgrounds. Here are 5 of their relevant influencer marketing highlights worth noting:
1. The Influencer marketing industry is set to grow approximately $9.7 Billion in 2020
2. More than 380 new influencer marketing-focused agencies and platforms created in 2019
3. Nearly 90% of all influencer campaigns include Instagram as a part of the marketing mix
4. Large companies have nearly doubled the amount of creators they activate per campaign in the past 2 years
5. 91% of respondents believe influencer marketing to be an effective form of marketing
Black Girl Digital couldn't give you these facts without acknowledging an influencer campaign that we felt was effectively put into action. We see that influencer marketing is at an all-time high, and we also see the upward trend of using Instagram as the go-to marketing platform. There are many influencer campaigns that aren't that successful, but when influencer marketing is beautifully orchestrated, it is easy to recognize. There is one influencer marketing campaign that was quite effective, and that is the partnership between Melissa Alcantara and Lululemon. Before we dive into why this was an effective campaign, we first would love to highlight Melissa and why she is such an (inspirational) influencer.
Melissa Alcantara, @fitgurlmel | 971K Instagram Followers
Meet Melissa Alcantara, @fitgurlmel (Instagram) she is an #athlete, #Latina, elite #trainer, social media #influencer, #creator, #mother.... just to name a few. To sum her up, she has brought her followers along with her on her journey of personal and professional growth, as well as her health and wellness endeavors. What her supporters love most about her is her authenticity, resilience, perseverance and dedication.
Melissa partnered with Lululemon and released #thesweatlife ad which was posted on her Instagram in January 2020. Already having a good rapport with her supporters, Lululemon allowed Melissa to bring her personal and fitness journey to the ad. The ad begins with her making such a powerful and well-articulated statement:
"I'm not just some fit chick. I'm so much more than that."
She proceeds this statement by taking the viewers on this visual journey with her, as she vocalizes the power of that statement. Beautifully orchestrated, she appears to be in her own home, writes daily affirmation, picks her daughter up from school, bringing the audience along with her on this journey. While appearing in her own home, making her morning coffee and writing her daily affirmation, picking up her daughter from school, she continues with this powerful message:
"I am a mother.
I am a fighter.
I share my journey with you,
because I know what it's like,
to not be motivated,
to want to give up.
I'm just like you,
I love myself enough to not give up. Remember that at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, being 'fit' is just a part of all of that."
Connecting this back to how influencer marketing can be done effectively as shown above, here are 5 reasons to diversify your influencer marketing campaign:
Expose your brand to new diverse audiences
Authentically build meaningful relationships
Collaborate with influencers of color allows you to leverage their content and repurpose
Allows your brands' message to be told from another voice
Promotes inclusivity
How we can all make influential impact
By definition, an influencer is someone who has established credibility in a specific industry, has access to a large audience, and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach. The reality is that whether we know it or not, there is someone always watching. Use this as an opportunity to be a positive influence to others. This can be done by finding your niche, and authentically displaying it with the world. Black Girl Digital leaves you with the question:
How will you be a positive #influence in 2020?
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