Did you know that as a small business investigating Influencer marketing, you have things in your favour that the larger brands don’t? It’s true! Even if you feel there’s no way that your marketing budget will match theirs, you can still gain so much from influencer markets. Your small business has agility in its marketing, speed to make reactive decisions and the ability to engage with great influencers with highly loyal and engaged audiences.
Growing businesses can harness the power of social media, and can play to their strengths when working with influencers, in a way that larger brands can’t. There is a real opportunity to create mutually beneficial relationships with key people, that allow you to grow in tandem with nano and micro-influencers who may have fewer followers, but are extremely loyal, and have equally as loyal audiences.
So, what is influencer marketing?
Let’s wind it back a little bit. Influencer marketing is the classic ‘referral’ model, where one person gives a product/service their stamp of approval, before recommending it to someone else. An influencer will most likely do this online through their social media, website and blog channels.
Influencers will promote your products or services to their audience, leveraging their credibility and reach, to boost your brand's visibility and sales. But not all ‘influencers’ are the same, and it’s important to know the kind of person you’re looking to engage with. Influencers can be categorised based on their number of followers, which could impact the price they charge for individual pieces of content.
- Nano-influencers: 1,000-10,000 followers.
- Micro-influencers: 10,000-50,000 followers.
- Mid-tier influencers: 50,000-500,000 followers.
- Macro-influencers: 500,000-1 million followers.
- Mega-Influencers: 1 million+ followers.
Don’t be fooled though – high following doesn’t always mean greater conversions. We’d generally advise small businesses to focus on nano and micro-influencers as these will most likely have a greater engaged following and niche audiences. The audience is more likely to trust their expertise, which could result in real sales. If a nano-influencer's interests align with a brand's ideas, they're more likely to have a following that's similar to the brand's target audience. Smaller influencers are experts and enthusiasts in their niches, whereas celebrities with millions of followers are broader with their approach, therefore promoting your brand may only resonate with a small chunk of their audience.
Different ways to collaborate
Working with an influencer of any size isn’t just confined to one route to market. Brands can collaborate in a number of ways including:
- Sponsored posts: Influencers create content about your product or service in exchange for a fee or product. This could include a product review in the form of a video or image, which will be shared on their platforms, with their followers. If your products are listed on TikTok shop, Instagram shop or Facebook shop, they could tag the products in and get paid commission for every sale that has come from their content.
- Featured content: Influencers can create content for you, which you can share to your company profile. Viewers will recognise the influencer, but see that it is shared to your account, and likely engage with you.
- Brand ambassadors: Influencers can promote your products on an ongoing basis, sharing their experiences using the products and being an advocate of your brand.
In all instances, influencers must legally state their collaboration with your company. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), categorise posts relating to a gifted product, experience or service in the same way as paid partnerships. As a result of this, influencers always need to state that the content they are creating for a company is an ad, by either adding #ad to their content, stating it in the video / photo or tagging the content as a paid partnership or disclose that commission has been paid.
A shift in buyer habits
In 2023, it was no surprise to learn that social media had become a major competitor to Google. A large percentage of consumers worldwide are shifting towards platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook as their primary search engines – and purchasing platforms.
A study by TikTok showed that 43% of platform users have purchased a product after seeing a creator/influencer video in the UK. This highlights that building trust with consumers is crucial, and this can be achieved by providing honest and authentic engagement with them – through content that reflects their interests.
The TikTok Marketing Science Global Shopping Ad Products Study 2022 also highlighted a few more key stats, including:
- 28% of users agree that TikTok inspired impulse purchases, more than any other platform
- 60% of Gen Z TikTok users have bought a product because they saw it on TikTok in the past year
- 34% of Gen X social/video platform users have purchased a product after seeing a creator/influencer video.
- 1 in 2 TikTok users are open to making purchases directly from TikTok.
- 65% of social/video platform users in the UK agree that TikTok Creators seem approachable.
Should I invest in influencers?
As a growing B2C company – collaborating with small influencers can be a brilliant way to get your products out there, especially on TikTok and Instagram. As a new business, buyers may be sceptical to purchase from you if you have just started up and don’t have many reviews or buzz around your brand.
Influencer marketing can bring lots of benefits, including:
- Increase brand awareness
- Gain social proof and credibility
- Drive qualified leads
- Create better connection with your audience
Over the years, many social media users have had trouble with fake reviews, been scammed by fake sellers, and been pushed to buy an item that turns out to be rubbish that’s nowhere close to the advertised product. As a result, audiences have become accustomed to fresh and authentic content that connects them to the brand – which is exactly what you can get from influencer marketing on social media… or at least that’s what the buyer thinks!
Are there any drawbacks to working with influencers?
Yes of course there are. With any marketing activity or investment from your business – there’s a risk. You could send products (which has a value) and invest time nurturing relationships, and no content may be generated. You could even align with an individual and then learn later they’re not as credible as you thought, or even promote a competitor 2 weeks later. Your gut feeling, building trust and speaking to experts can help you navigate building influencer relationships. As an agency, we can also support you with finding the right partnerships, agents or key people that could support your brand.
In summary:
In an era where authenticity and trust is paramount, influencers offer a direct and credible way to reach and resonate with potential customers. It can be a powerful tool for small B2C businesses to amplify their brand presence and drive sales. With the potential to significantly foster deeper connections with your audience and bring clear conversions, utilising influencers to talk to your customers can be a very clever way to reel in qualified leads, as it draws on the influencer's best skill: creating a sense of community.
If you’re interested in leaping into the world of influencer marketing, get in touch with our marketing consultancy team on hello@youbeemedia.co.uk or join one of our marketing workshops and we can have a chat about what (or who) might work well with your brand to master your social media management.
