Influence marketing: online influencers in the U.S. 2014, by industry
Influence marketing– additional information
Influence marketing is a recent development in the marketing industry that utilizes social media and customer reviews to advertise products and services to other customers. Today’s consumers are likely to share brand information and experiences with companies through numerous channels. The majority prefers to do it in person but the ‘next best thing‘ are social media. Such social influencers can be found in various industries; however the ones that have the highest representation at this point are food, lifestyle and parenting.
According to marketing professionals an effective influencer has to be able to mobilize opinions and create reactions when talking about a specific topic. Apart from that, 73 percent of marketers believe an influencer has to have a significant audience and 62 percent think active and frequent participation in conversations is what makes influencers successful. Leading marketing scenarios when industry professionals prefer to involve influencers are usually product launching and content promotion, however, 44 percent of respondents also said influencers were beneficial in crisis management.
While social media and blogs were perceived by marketers as the most effective platforms for influencer marketing , it was e-mail that was the preferred channel used to contact potential or existing influencers according to 66 percent of industry professionals. Twitter and blogs were chosen by 57 and 52 percent, respectively. In terms of remuneration, the majority of consumers who engage in influence marketing expected cash and 25 percent would enjoy a free product in exchange for a positive brand promotion on their social media.