By Sarah Cornelisse
As social media sites and their algorithms have become more complex, advertising on social media platforms has increased in importance to businesses’ social strategies. At the same time, the general population of social media users has also become more sophisticated in their understanding of and receptiveness to social media marketing. As a result, businesses are embracing influencer marketing.
A long-valued promotional tactic in marketing strategies is building positive word-of-mouth among consumers. A recent survey indicates that 89% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know (Navarro, 2023). Traditionally word-of-mouth recommendations have occurred in-person, however social media platforms have largely either replaced or complimented in-person recommendations.
As social media sites and their algorithms have become more complex, advertising on social media platforms has increased in importance to businesses’ social strategies.
At the same time, the general population of social media users has also become more sophisticated in their understanding of and receptiveness to social media marketing.
As a result, businesses are embracing influencer marketing. In fact, 71% of survey respondents indicate that they trust advertising about brands and products by influencers; a higher percentage than online video ads (67%), ads on mobile devices (66%), or ads on social networks (64%) (Navarro, 2023).
Influencer marketing can be described as “the practice of encouraging individuals with strong social media reach over your target audience to post positive content relating to your brand” (Vgenopoulos, 2017).
Why consider influencer marketing? Not only do most people seek out the opinions and recommendations of others (friends and family) before making purchases, 67% are “at least a little more likely to purchase a product after a friend or family member shared it via social media” (Kapadia). Think of the potential return if you can tap into even a small number of influencers with high follower (friends and family) engagement.
Influencers can be grouped into the following categories – celebrity, mega, macro, micro, and nano – primarily due to their celebrity status or follower numbers. The table below provides some guidance regarding categorization and follower count, however, there does not appear to be a universally accepted measurement.
While small businesses are unlikely to land a celebrity or mega-influencer, developing relationships with micro- or nano- influencers can be just as beneficial, if not more so. Micro- and nano- influencers have the following identified characteristics:
» “Large” audiences. Individuals “have a large following compared to their peers and have demonstrated experience and success in running their social media accounts—they tell a story, have an eye for good content, and usually rack up likes and comments” (Mintel, 2018).
They have a closer relationship with followers and may feel a responsibility to followers to be authentic and transparent, thus building a level of trust. Nano-influencers have six times the engagement rate of influencers (Talbot, 2018).
» Credible, knowledgeable and trusted. “Influencers were seen FEBRUARY – MARCH 2024 as more impactful compared to an average person based on the following characteristics: more credible and believable (94% vs. 83%), more knowledgeable (94% vs. 84%), and better at explaining how the product works or could be used (92% vs. 83%)” (Kirkpatrick, 2016).
» Relatable. These individuals typically are going through the same, or similar, experiences as their followers.
» Specialization in a topic. For individuals seen as an expert or highly skilled in something (baking, cooking, crafting, etc.), their followers are more likely to trust recommendations that fall in their area of expertise.
Research has found that “the informative value of influencer-generated content, influencer’s trustwor thiness, attractiveness, and similarity to the followers positively affect followers’ trust in influencers’ branded posts, which subsequently influence brand awareness and purchase intentions” (Lou, C. and Yuan, S., 2019).
It’s not uncommon to be able to identify individuals that your customers respect or want to emulate.
Who these individuals are, for you and your business, will depend on your product(s), location, target customer groups, and other factors, but you likely have an idea.
Ideas on how to use micro- and nano-influencers as part of your business’s marketing strategy include:
» If they’re a known customer or user of your products, ask them to share how they use your products on their social media.
» Invite them to special events in hopes they will write something positive about your business.
» Start a paid business relationship with the influencer(s). Micro- and nano- influencers can provide cost effective marketing, with many charging less than $250 per post (Wiltshire, 2018). However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that paid relation ships be transparent with appropriate wording or disclosures in the post, such as the use of the hashtag, “#ad.”
» Connect with causes that you believe in. Influencers who are also connected are likely to share info about these causes and you/your business may benefit as a result.
» Promote influencer(s) by mentioning them in your posts or imbedding their content in yours.
Success with influencer marketing comes from building a mutually beneficial relationship with the influencer(s). Make certain that they understand your business, values, and goals and will represent them well. As it is important that posts from influencers are genuine, authentic, and fit with their other posts and social media activity, take the time to research suitable influencers and once a partnership is created, work together with them to create effective content.
References and sources consulted by the author on the elaboration of this article are available under previous request to our editorial staff.
*Sarah Cornelisse is a Senior Extension Associate of agricultural entrepreneurship and business management at Penn State University in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education.
Sarah has expertise in direct marketing, valueadded dairy entrepreneurship and marketing, the use of digital and social media for agricultural farm and food business marketing, and business and marketing planning and decision making.
Originally from New York State, she has a B.A in mathematics from the State University of New York at Geneseo, and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Economics and Animal Science, both from Penn State University.
Correspondence email: sar243@psu.edu
