Consider these two scenarios. In one, you’re shouting out “I’m awesome” to all who will listen. In the other, someone quietly, without you being present says “Do you know who’s awesome? Them”. Which scenario do you think will be more effective?

The latter is the basic concept of influencer marketing and the statistics that support it are compelling.

• 74% of people rely on social media for information on the purchasing decisions.
• 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations
• Only 33% of people trust advertising
• Two-thirds of people say they feel deceived by sponsored ads on social media

What all this means is that people want information about products from social media, they just don’t want to hear it from you. Here are three reasons engaging an influencer makes sense.

The social media party is kicking on; it’s just hard for brands to get invited

Social media usage is still going as strong as ever. According to the last Sensis study nearly 70% of Australian’s use Facebook every day, with the average daily time spent on Facebook roughly 8 hours.

The challenge for businesses is that people are savvier than ever when it comes to advertising. Worse still, Facebook is continuing to change its algorithm in ways that restrict organic reach, making it harder for businesses to reach people online.

Social influencers hold captive audiences that they understand and cater to and because they aren’t branded they are able to build real trust and authority. In the social world, influencers are the ones throwing the parties with all the guests you want to meet.

Influencers are an invite only party

How many times have you run a social ad campaign with strict audience targeting only to find engagement from people who did not fit your targeting? Using an influencer to access your market is a truly focused method because your content is only reaching people who share the specific niche interests that are relevant to that influencer. To put it simply, if you partner with a fashion blogger who writes exclusively about fashion trends, then you know that almost all of their audience will be interested in fashion related things.

The recommendations are still authentic

Even though social influencers ask for a sizable sum to partner with brands, good social influencers are still extremely picky over which partnerships they accept. They know that a poor partnership will lose them their greatest asset – the trust of their audience. As a result, social influencers tend to only partner with products that they genuinely endorse and as a result their audience trusts these endorsements.

A successful partnership with a social influencer is a fantastic way to introduce your brand to a captive audience and add weight to your ongoing digital marketing activities.