The Value of Social Influencers for Small Brands

From radio to social media, social influencers have become a major part of effective marketing programs. By adding social influencers to their marketing plan, most businesses achieve a return on investment of $6.50 for each dollar spent, according to a Tomoson study. The top performers in the study earned a rather impressive $20 on the dollar, showing the great potential of this top customer-acquisition channel.The effectiveness of influencer marketing is a product of the direct connections they have with target audiences. And small brands can particularly benefit from leveraging social influencers for the following reasons.

1. Increase Brand Awareness

With increased brand awareness, consumers will automatically think of your products or services when faced with a problem they need to solve. Social influencers can help build brand awareness by positioning themselves as ambassadors of your brand. Through authentic and relatable promotion, they can capture your audience’s attention and help your brand stay top of mind.

This is especially beneficial for small brands, as social influencers can help increase awareness by sharing company information to a highly targeted audience. Small brands typically have limited reach, but partnering with a social influencer can significantly increase awareness and visibility with your ideal customers.

2. Improve Reach

Across all mediums, social influencers tend to build a large following of people who check in on a daily basis. These followers may visit their favorite influencer’s blog, listen to their radio shows or check their social media accounts often.

The platform these influencers use can also have a big impact on their ability to reach a large audience with their advertisements. Through radio, social influencers can reach up to 93% of adults in the United States each week, as reported by News Generation. At Hubbard Chicago, for example, we achieve impressive reach with three distinct radio stations that serve millions of engaged Chicago adults each week. Small brands can tap into this large network of consumers and extend the reach of their marketing program by partnering with their favorite social influencers.

3. Boost Trust

As social influencers engage with their loyal followers, they build trust that they can use to promote brands to consumers. Influencer marketing creates a halo effect that transfers the trust consumers have with influencers to the brands they promote. In fact, over one-third of people (38%) who engage with followers put more trust in what an influencer says about the brand more so than what the brand says about itself. Trust is a key factor in customer loyalty, and small brands can quickly foster trust and gain loyal customers by partnering with social influencers.

4. Increase Engagement

To achieve true success in influencer marketing for small brands, efforts to optimize reach must also come with a focus on boosting engagement. Social influencers are masterful at directly engaging with their target audience with relevant content. The content they share can attract the attention of the brand’s target audience and inspire them to make a purchase. Radio influencers take engagement to the next level by interacting with their loyal listeners through on-air conversations, social media, podcasts and community events.

5. Drive Consumer Behavior

When social influencers maintain a loyal following, they can directly inspire their audience to make purchases based on recommendations and endorsements. In fact, almost 50% of people rely on their favorite influencers for product and service recommendations while making key purchase decisions. By partnering with social influencers, small brands can drive their target consumers to take the next step and complete their purchase.

Harness the Power of Influencer Marketing

Through partnerships with social influencers, you can build your brand awareness, reach and engagement with no extra effort on your part. These influencers will help your target audience build trust in your brand and even encourage them to make a purchase. You can simply step back and let the influencers help build your brand using the strong, meaningful connections they have with their loyal followers.