There’s no denying that influencer marketing has become an established part of brands’ budgets. It’s anticipated that by 2025 the industry will reach a value of $22.2 billion. Brands have witnessed firsthand the effectiveness of influencer marketing in engaging audiences and building authenticity and trust. Just ask Dunkin’ Donuts who saw a 57% increase in app downloads and a 45% increase in cold brew sales after partnering with TikTok sensation Charli D’Amelio.
But as influencers continue to grow their audience, is the power shifting away from organisations? Savvy influencers are relying less on affiliate marketing and instead focusing on using their social platforms to launch their own businesses and diversify their revenue streams. And brands had best take note. Because these influencer-turned-founders are serving up some stiff competition, especially when it comes to the customer experience.
A captive audience
Unlike brands that are constantly searching for new ways to feed the funnel, influencers come with a ready-made audience. An audience that exists across multiple channels, and one that has voluntarily ‘subscribed and liked’ for more of the same. And therein lies the clue. Influencers are using their social platforms to build fool-proof roadmaps for solo digital ventures. Take The Doctor’s Kitchen, for example.
Dr Rupy Aujila used his existing audience to test and rate recipes before deciding which to include in an upcoming cookbook. This ‘sneak preview’ content not only boosted engagement but it also created a buzz about the upcoming release, solving the distribution problem faced by many early-stage businesses.
Granted, some brands have taken inspiration from the influencer approach to content, ditching corporate accounts with obvious agendas for those that inspire, educate, and add real value. Just look at @tescofood, which uses its channels almost exclusively to deliver quick, easy and accessible recipes to its 500k followers.
But brands shouldn’t just focus on one channel. Building an omnichannel strategy ensures a consistent customer experience across multiple touch points. Brands should be thinking outside the box when it comes to their omnichannel strategy. You’ve added a TikTok strategy. Great. But what about building a channel that’s entirely your own? Consider Caroline Hirons, who leveraged her 100K strong community to launch the Skin Rocks app, which is essentially her own Google. But for skincare.
Zero party data
If the ever-changing algorithms on social platforms have taught us anything, it’s that nothing is quite as powerful as good data. And since the advent of GDPR back in 2018, data capture has become an even bigger player in digital marketing strategies. But according to recent research from Merkle, brands are still missing the CX mark when it comes to customer data, with only 14% of consumers saying brands ”greatly” know them, remember them, and understand their needs.
In fact, 61% of consumers say they trust influencers’ recommendations as opposed to just 38% who trust branded social media content. Why? Because influencers are the ultimate social listening tool. With a simple click of the follow button, influencers are able to capture data and feedback most brands only dream of. Using platform functionality such as comments, DMs, and live videos, influencers can quickly uncover customer issues, wants and needs that extend beyond their immediate specialism to complementary and adjacent fields. What this ultimately means is content creators have a head start in the digital product innovation space because user feedback is second nature to them. Clever content creators have already realised this and are using this data to build their own digital empires.
So how can brands compete, or at the very least learn from influencers’ ability to easily tap into the needs and wants of their consumers? Follow their lead. Take Caroline Hirons again. While building the Skin Rocks app she used surveys and interviews to identify must-have features from the customer point of view. None of these techniques are new. In fact, most brands will already be employing them as part of their VoC strategy. What is new is the level of trust built up between influencer and consumer, which brands often lack.
So, how can brands compete?
According to Statistica, there’s been a steady increase in the number of agencies offering influencer marketing services. This makes sense when you consider industry spend reached an all-time high of $16.4 billion in 2022. What this means is that influencers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. But brands must innovate if they want to compete with influencers or use their audiences to create meaningful customer relationships. And re-imagining the role of the influencer in digital marketing strategies is the best place to start.
Instead of using influencer marketing as a brand awareness or acquisition tool, brands should be using those audiences and platforms as part of their research strategy. They should also forget flash-in-the-pan sponsored posts; that’s yesterday’s newsfeed.
Today, brands need to collaborate with influencers on the creation of new products and services. Because beyond obvious benefits like the increased reach and revenue that come with a vested interest, having the right personality attached to a product or service is proven to build trust. And as for those brands looking to take it up a notch? Consider co-building a bespoke digital product that can deliver for customers, brands, and influencers simultaneously.