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Influencer marketing, once thought to be just a hot buzzword, is proving to be a force to be reckoned with in 2018.  Over 90 percent of marketers who employ an influencer marketing strategy believe it is successful. Companies like North Face and Rolex use social media–based influencer marketing strategies to connect with new audiences and improve engagement with existing audiences.

In 2017, brands like Abercrombie & Fitch that opted for traditional advertising strategies, struggled to connect to social media users.  it is likely that more brands will embrace influencer marketing as a way to connect with audiences who tend to ignore traditional strategies

Influencer marketing is one of the best ways to quickly build your brand online and raise awareness among your target audience. According to Forbes, influencer marketing is growing faster than digital ads, with emphasis placed on leveraging an industry leaders’ followers to foster growth in your own business. The best part of influencer marketing is that the audience is already there; you just need to establish a partnership that maximizes the value to each audience.

According to Entrepreneur, some of the biggest brands in the world fail at influencer marketing because they tend to miss the mark. Done correctly, integrating influencer marketing into your social strategy can take your brand from mediocre to exceptional.  How you ask?

Establish and Build Trust

One of the best parts of influencer marketing is that the influencers have established relationships, trust, and credibility with their fans. Followers respect their content and recommendations. By sharing an influencer’s content, you can gain their attention and if you provide value they may begin sharing yours, putting your message in front of an actively engaged audience.

Expand Brand Awareness

Influencer marketing has the potential to expand your reach and positioning online. Social users will begin to know more about your brand, your story, who you are, and the solutions you offer. The key to doing this correctly is ensure you provide valuable content that adds to the influencer’s social media presence as well. Think about this:  some influencers are so popular on their various social media platforms that a single post can reach more than 60 million people Hence proving  influencer marketing is unmatched in reach, cost, and effectiveness.

Enhance Content Strategy

Sharing influencer content provides a way to fill in the gaps of your own content. Face it, all writers hit a wall once in a while and having an influencer as a partner can help get you over the hump, especially on social media.

Reach Out and Grab Your Target Audience (Personally, I think this is the number one benefit)

By choosing the right influencers, your content lands in front of social users that are already interested in your niche. You don’t have to spend additional funds on testing and finding your audience – the influencer has already fostered this audience on social media.

Value For Your Audience

Because influencers are in tune with the needs of their audience, they can help you deliver content that solves problems, educates and inspires your intended audience. In turn, you can easily leverage their content to give value to your audience.

Relationships That Matter

Connecting and engaging with an influencer is the beginning of a relationships that matter. If you stick with it, you never know how many other relationships will develop.

Final Thoughts

I believe influencer marketing is changing the way the game is played. It will continue to grow rapidly, especially once more studies are conducted that can reveal a definitive return on investment.

As influencer marketing continues to grow this year, you do not want to be left behind. Take the time to learn and understand how influencer marketing can boost and improve your online presence. Build new relationships to impact customer perception and develop trust.