Influencer marketing, especially around makeup, clothing, and health has exploded over the last few years as social media has become a part of everyday life. You can probably relate to seeking advice or recommendations on products from people on Instagram or YouTube.
Influencer marketing is where brands use influencers to promote their products.
Influencers on social media are often more relatable and trustworthy than traditional celebrities, mainly because social media has given everyone an opportunity to build their own brand. Because influencers are so popular, companies realize they can use social media platforms for their marketing. More often than not, influencers instead of celebrities are getting paid to promote products.
Mackenzie Wiggin, AMUA graduate, shares her story and experience with being an influencer:
“When I first started becoming interested in makeup, the social media aspect of the industry was just getting started. The only makeup I purchased was based off of product recommendations from the many YouTuber’s I watched since I was 12. When I started taking makeup seriously as a sophomore in high school, makeup was slowly shifting over to Instagram so I thought, why not start my own makeup page? I built up enough courage to start @cosmeticsbymackenzie on Instagram and started doing research on how to get followers and high engagement on my photos.
After many many hours of research I started building a following. I used many different methods, such as posting every single day at the same time, posting hashtags under my photos so that other people would stumble across them… I even did giveaways on my page to get people to take a look at my profile in hopes that they would follow me. This consistency, along with tagging brands in all of my posts, eventually got the attention of many major brands such as Laura Mercier, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Too Faced, and many more. It landed me on the PR list of many brands you can find in your local Sephora or Ulta stores.”
70% of teens trust influencers more than traditional celebrities. It makes sense for brands to use influencers in their marketing strategies. 4 out of 10 millennial subscribers say their favorite influencer understands them better than their friends. And just think about what a smart marketing move this is: all brands need to do is use influencers to speak on their behalf.
Here are a few more interesting statistics that show the power of influencer marketing:
- 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice. Over half of women made purchases due to influencer posts on Facebook and Instagram, being the preferred platforms.
- 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations, and 40% had purchased something after seeing it on Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
- Influencer marketing campaigns earn $6.50 for every dollar spent
- Influencer marketing is the fastest-growing online customer-acquisition method. Brands see the value in building relationships with influencers who resonate with their brand.
- 57% of fashion and beauty companies engage in influencer marketing. As organic growth for brands has become more challenging, fashion and beauty are industries that rely heavily on influencer marketing. Especially YouTube celebrities who are used to promote their products.
- Major brands plan to increase their budget for influencer marketing. As more and more brands are realizing the results that influencers can produce for them, 67% of marketers are planning to increase their budgets, particularly on Instagram.
You can see that influencer marketing is quickly becoming the number one strategy for many marketers and major brands.
Mackenzie shares the ‘behind the scenes’ of being an influencer – is it actually worth all the work?
“You’re not required to speak about the products you receive for free in PR, but most people do because it’s really cool! I have had the opportunity to speak out on products I like and don’t like before the products launch and a lot of the people who follow me started to trust my opinion as well. These brands get free promotion and don’t have to spend thousands on advertising each year. Depending on how extravagant the PR box is along with the product, they are only spending a couple of hundred dollars max on every box they send out.
I never got paid to promote any products, but had I continued building my Instagram page, I’m sure I could have gotten to that level. Eventually I switched my Instagram to all client-based, where I post photos of my work. I still receive PR and I post my opinions on products I receive, but I no longer post photos of makeup I do on myself. I enjoyed my time being an “influencer” but it definitely wasn’t for me. It’s time-consuming, mentally draining, and your creativity can burn out really quickly when trying to keep up a social media page.”