You’ve seen top brands Marketing their products through influential people on social media and you’ve noticed that they seem to be getting a lot of engagement.

But you’re a bit hesitant to try influencer marketing because you think you can’t afford to take the risk. You should know that working with Influencers is much more rewarding than you think.

Here are five ways your brand can benefit from influencer marketing:

Most influencers specialize in a specific industry – whether it’s fashion, technology, fitness, food, or art. There are also lifestyle influencers, who have influence in multiple industries.

Either way, influencers are considered subject matter experts. The people who follow them do so because they’re interested in that specific subject or niche. And the content the influencer produces is relevant to their niche, and therefore their followers.

This makes it easier for you to reach a relevant audience. That’s probably why 51% of marketers in a Tomoson study believe influencer marketing helps them get better customers.

This benefit is especially important since Adblock usage has grown by 30% according to PageFair. With an increasing number of people blocking banner ads, it has become more difficult for brands to reach their target audience.

But with influencer marketing, you can reach a relevant and targeted audience through real human beings.

Another huge benefit of influencer marketing is the level of engagement it helps you generate. Since the audience you reach is highly relevant, there’s a good chance that they’ll be more open to engaging with the influencer’s branded content, and your brand.

If you partner with influencers who excel at engaging others, you’ll end up with even better results. The previous case study also highlighted the massive amount of engagement and impressions. But that’s not just a one-off case. Other companies, like Interac, have been working with influencers to reach and engage a relevant audience.

The Canada-based banking network worked with influential social media influencers, such as Mama Bee, who has 338K followers on Instagram. These influencers posted their experiences using debit or credit cards from Interac.

One of Mama Bee’s posts, which you can see in the screenshot below, has already received more than 12,400 likes.

The campaign has reached more than 8 million people. And the influencers’ posts have gotten more than 670,000 engagements.

The campaign has reached more than 8 million people. And the influencers’ posts have gotten more than 670,000 engagements.

Conversions are another crucial metric that businesses use to measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. And, one of the main benefits of working with influencers is their ability to drive conversions.

You may be able to increase traffic and leads with another type of marketing campaign. But what’s the point if that traffic doesn’t convert?

Influencers have a major impact on people’s purchase decisions. In fact, Twitter and Annalect found that almost 40% of Twitter users have purchased a product after seeing an influencer tweet about it. The study also found that being exposed to promotional content from both the brand and an influencer can increase purchase intent 5.2 times.

This is likely because people view influencers as subject matter experts, as mentioned in the first point. So what they say about a product or service in their area of expertise will be considered trustworthy information. And people will make purchase decisions based on that information.

In some cases, influencer marketing has helped increase sales by as much as 84%. Other brands, like Dorot, experienced a 15% increase in sales after partnering with influencers.

Dorot worked with 60+ influencers, each specializing in food, lifestyle, or parenting. The influencers used Dorot products to come up with new recipes, which they then posted to their blogs. A blog like Life Currents was part of the campaign.

The influencers created more than 2,100 pieces of content, which included blog posts, images, and videos, as well as social media posts. Not only did the campaign result in a 15% increase in sales, it also generated more than 66,000 online engagements.

Your return on investment is one of the most crucial metrics to measure for any kind of marketing campaign. And you won’t be disappointed with influencer marketing in this aspect either.

The previously-cited Tomoson study also found that for every dollar invested in influencer marketing, businesses earn an average of $6.50. The top 13% were able to generate around $20 for every dollar spent on influencer marketing.

Image Source: Tomoson

Rovio Entertainment worked with six influencers to promote their Angry Birds 2 game. The influencers created a total of 51 posts across various social media channels. They generated 214,047 engagements and more than 270,000 clicks to their site. The influencer content received almost 6 million views, and 6,471,574 total interactions.

The campaign helped get the Angry Birds 2 game in the spotlight, and reached a huge audience. It’s currently an Editor’s Choice in both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

In addition to all these results, influencer marketing is also cost-effective. In fact, the Tomoson study revealed that it’s the most cost-effective online customer acquisition channel, along with email marketing. So it can be an ideal channel for startups and businesses with budget constraints.

According to an Influence.co analysis, influencers charge an average of $271 for one Instagram post. The charges may differ according to the platform you’re using, and the influencer’s following size. For example, influencers with 1,000-9,999 followers may charge just over $100 for one Instagram post.

The rate usually increases as the audience size increases. Those with 100,000+ followers may charge around $700 for one post.

If you have a tight budget, you can work with micro-influencers, who can deliver significant engagement at a much lower rate. Bloglovin found that 97% of micro-influencers won’t charge you more than $500 for one branded Instagram post.

Image Source: Bloglovin

For $5000, you could work with micro-influencers to create between 35 and 100 Instagram posts. This will help you reach approximately 200,000 followers. For the same amount, you can get micro-influential bloggers to create 10-35 blog posts. This could help you reach around 315,000 people.

Consumers hate being sold to. That’s why a pushy sales campaign may not necessarily get you the desired results. Influencer marketing helps you promote your products in a way that’s not overly promotional. According to the previously-cited Twitter and Annalect study, people find influencers to be almost as trustworthy as their own friends.

This is likely because they consider influencers to be everyday consumers, just like themselves. And since influencers are excellent content creators, they know how to create content that resonates with their audience. They know how to sell to them without being too salesy.

When influencers showcase how much they genuinely love your products, they can help you maintain authenticity in your marketing campaigns. And that is essential for winning the trust of your audience.

These are some of the best ways your brand can benefit from influencer marketing. As you can see, influencers offer comprehensive and effective results, at minimal cost. Not only can they help you reach a relevant and engaged audience, they can help you drive more sales and maximize ROI.

Got any questions about these points, or influencer marketing benefits to add? Drop us a line.