Influencer marketing has become an increasingly important online marketing tool. It allows brands a vehicle to promote their product less overtly and offers a validated endorsement from those who are considered tastemakers and influential among their network.  Here’s why this marketing tool is so effective:

1. Online Acquisition: marketers have found influencer marketing to be the fastest online acquisition method (22 percent), when compared to organic search (17 percent), email marketing (15 percent), paid search (14 percent), and display advertising (9 percent)
2. Cost Effective: influencer marketing is tied with email marketing as the most cost effective online acquisition method (22 percent), when compared to organic search (19 percent), paid search (10 percent), display advertising (10 percent), etc.
3. Strong ROI: businesses typically realize $6.50 in revenue for each $1 spent on influencer marketing
4. Attracts Better Customers: social media users tend to be more affluent and more likely to recommend products to family and friends.  According to Tomoson (an influencer management agency), influencer marketing is perceived by brands to attract 51% better customers (than other forms of advertising)
5. Increased Budgets = Increased Demand: nearly 60 percent of companies are increasing their influencer budgets, so now is a good time to book influencers for your brand before they are overwhelmed with the increased demand

As for where your influencer content is best utilized, blogs & Facebook are the most effective platforms, by far, when compared to Twitter, IG and YouTube. Thirty seven percent of companies reported that blogs were the most effective, followed by 25 percent having the most impact on Facebook.  For more information and stats, check out: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/influencer-marketing-for-businesses/

Flickr / Photo by Yoel Ben-Avraham.