What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is simply having somebody tell your story for you. When you utilize influencer marketing, you are relying on reputable influencers to share their thoughts about your products and services with their audience to gain exposure and grow your sales.

For a comprehensive guide to Influencer Marketing for brands written and produced by Intellifluence CEO Joe Sinkwitz, click here.

There are three main types of influencers that you can utilize to promote your product or service and they are known as aspirational, authoritative and peer-level influencers.

Aspirational influencers are best described as those that others strive to be like. An example of this would be the Kardashian family. Certain members of the family promote brands from Jimmy Choo and YEEZY SUPPLY to Kylie Cosmetics and Tiffany & Co. as well as many other brands. The Kardashians fall under the aspirational influencer category because they are so well-known and many people strive to have their success and own the brand name products that they promote.

An authoritative influencer is a specialist in a field and people hold their opinion in high regard as they know these authoritative influencers are experienced in that field. An example of this would be Harry Kane promoting a certain type of soccer gear or athletic gear due to the fact that he is a professional soccer player for England and also has participated in multiple World Cups. Harry Kane has a background in soccer which makes him a specialist in that field and if he were to promote a certain soccer ball or other athletic gear, odds are sales would increase for that brand.

Sometimes there can be overlap within these categories. Harry Kane is an example of somebody who can also fall under the category as aspirational influencer since many young soccer players hope to one day play professional soccer and play in the World Cup.

A peer-level influencer would be someone who another individual might consider their equal. This is considered one of the most powerful influencer types as peers tend to value the opinions of others in their circle the most. Many consumers rely on peer-level influencers because these consumers can trust the influencer and will likely not be led astray.

An example of this would be a student talking about the amazing qualities of a certain computer brand to another student who is in the market for a new machine. After hearing the amazing qualities about a specific brand, the student who is in the market for a new computer would be influenced to buy a model produced by the brand that their peer raved about.

Influencer marketing is a great strategy for any business, whether it be large or small. It is also more affordable for brands than print marketing, as print marketing costs can skyrocket quickly. Brands that utilize influencer marketing are paying a smaller fee for peer-level influencers and seeing better results in sales of their products and services.

This is due to the inherent trust that comes with a qualified peer influencer. Whose opinion would you trust more than that of a friend? The answer is likely nobody. More and more influencers are appearing across numerous social platforms which means there are more individuals for brands to partner with and brands are constantly reaching a new audience.

So to summarize, influencer marketing is all about partnering with trusted influencers to build awareness. Intellifluence makes it easy to find trusted influencers and collaborate with them across a wide variety of campaigns. It's an influencer marketing service that brands can actually afford.