It is clear that we have entered a new era of marketing – one wherein anyone who has an Instagram account can influence purchase decisions just as much as say, the lifestyle editor of an online publication.
Influence 2.0
Today, social media influencers have the same power as journalists, if not more. Altimeter’s State of Influence 2.0 says as much,
“When customers or employees need information, direction or meaningful engagement, they go to the people they trust. As most consumers live in digital or mobile-first worlds, their networks of trusted authorities and peers reflect personal and professional interests. Many go online first to make decisions and seek the guidance of their networks… they are open to relevant engagement by the people they follow or those whom their friends follow.”
Narratrs has been executing successful influencer marketing campaigns around the globe since 2015 and we believe that the potential for this is set to be stronger in 2019. Our Founder and CEO Laurent Verrier highlights this, “More marketing budget is being put into tapping individuals with smaller but more tightly-woven circles of influence. The size of the global Instagram influencer market is set to grow to $2.38B in 2019, according to Statista, more than double what it was in 2017 ($1.07B).”
And while we are confident that influencer marketing is here to stay, it also needs to evolve. Beyond the vanity metrics of likes, shares, and reach, the objective of each campaign is to answer these questions:
• Did we receive consumer inquiries regarding the product or service?
• How many people reached out to the influencer to ask more details regarding the post? And what kind of questions and comments did they have?
• How did the audience feel after seeing the post?
• Did it spark more online conversation for the product or service?
• Are we able to engage the right target audience?
When we ask the right questions, we get the data that provides accurate and actionable insights – data that matters. And even if data tells us that we are indeed reaching the right people, the only way to really know that a campaign is effective is when we measure the type of response we get.
