Influencer marketing is essential for brands.  It’s a strategy by which brands become known using influencers:  people who are able to persuade their followers and increase brand awareness though their posts on social media or blogs.  In some ways they are the link between the brand and its target audience.

But we believe that an influencer marketing strategy goes even further   And that’s why we too have gone beyond this.  With the advent of  SocialPubli.com, the micro-influencers have arrived.   This is a generation of Twitterers, bloggers, Instagrammers, YouTubers,–  people who have communities of fewer than 5,000 followers on social media who share their same uncertainties and passions on their social networks.  They reach a more specific and segmented public.  In other words, they are regular people, people who are not famous and don’t have legions of fans.  It’s our friends who we trust, who we think of as “if he/she believes it, then why not?”.  But before we go deeper into the revolution which SocialPubi.com proposes, let’s begin at the beginning.

When did the first influencers appear?

Influencers have existed since the beginning of time, and now is the time to take advantage of this.  A clear example of an influencer was Isadora Duncan,- the American dancer who reinvented modern dance and became the first “it-girl”,  whose Greek style became a trend setter.

There were many public personalities who became models to be imitated and who continue to influence us even today.  We are talking about John Lennon, Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe or Frida Kahlo, among so many others.  Even though there was no social media in their times, their ideas and thoughts were, and still are, acclaimed by millions of followers around the word. And in some cases, even their very image has been transformed into an icon.  (Who hasn’t seen t-shirts and posters of Einstein sticking his tongue out?)  Any one of them, if they were alive today, would certainly have millions of followers and brands would be lining up to include them in their influencer marketing strategy.

The different kinds of Influencer Marketing

There are three types of influential people within social media advertising.

In first place are the celebrities, who influence simply by being famous and who have the ability to attract the attention of the general public as well as the news media.  Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, or Carmen Lomana charge astronomical fees for advertising on their social networks.

After them, comes the influences or opinion leaders who have a strong presence on social media and who can generate reactions and changes of opinion among their followers.  This is fundamental and brands keep this in mind for their marketing plans.

And to reach into every last corner, there are the micro influencers,- the latest category of marketing influencers and the ones who SocialPubli.com has used to reach an audience of more than 500 million people.

The differentiating value among these three types resides in the level of trust.  As was confirmed by the Nielsen study – Global Trust in Adverting, 83% of consumers trust completely or partially the recommendations of friends or family.  We understand from this study why the use of micro influencers to advertise on social media is so effective.

Additionally, the Mintel study in 2015 on lifestyles reveals that 7 out of 10 people in the United States seek out the opinions of others before making a buying decision, and 72% rely on their contacts on social media.

But this isn’t all.  Influencer Marketing is beneficial for both parties:  while the influencers earn money on their social networks, the brands win with the audience reach and the repercussion that they generate when they post their messages.

And they solve some of the current problems with digital marketing, such as ad-blockers.   While a banner ad on a website might not be seen because of these programs, what an influencer says on their social media channel will be seen by their followers, whether they have an ad-blocker or not.

Why is it so important to advertise on social media?

Ads on social media are posts which are shared in real time and whose audience reach is also achieved in real time.  It arrives in a way that is natural, reaching an already segmented public (interested in fashion, movies, video games, music…).  The messages arrive via the influencers and the micro influencers who serve as spokespersons for the brand and who impact a public that is already receptive to their messages:  their fans.

But how are influencers useful on social media?  Facebook is the main channel to search for product information, prior to making a purchase, followed by YouTube and Twitter. On Instagram, consumers satisfy their appetite for information by seeing, with their own eyes, the product or service which interests them.  And, don’t forget that between 16% and 24% of users follow brands on social media, commenting on their purchases and participating in contests.

But there’s still more.

 Advantages of working with micro influencers

Influencer Marketing is necessary for a brand to soar above the rest and become known by consumers.  The power of micro influencers offers a series of advantages for the company’s strategy by bringing a value which is different from the rest:

• Greater commitment: their community interacts with discussions and conversations around the content published by the micro influencer.
• Greater engagement: their community is loyal and segmented, which means they generate more interactions.
• Accessibility: their budget is infinitely less than that of a celebrity.  And the campaigns that are created achieve a greater audience reach and impact. They are shared by more than one micro influencer, which lets the campaigns reach different targets.
• Authenticity: the level of credibility of micro influencers is very high, because their publications are seen as honest, truthful, and sincere.

They bring greater trust to the brand, more engagement, greater reach and a major return on their investment.

 But how to find these micro influencers?

This is very easy.  The micro influencers are waiting for the brands to contact them so they can do their work, but due to the sheer size of social media and the number of users, it’s important to contact them using a specialized platform which also controls the quality of their posts.  And this is where SocialPubli.com comes in.  It has over 50,000 micro influencers on its platform, in 20 countries, and has surpassed an audience reach of 500 million.

What are you waiting for?  Your brand will win with micro influencers and now you know how to make it happen!