Influencer Marketing: What is an influencer on social media?

Have you recently come across “Influencer Marketing” in publications or on social media? Do you actually know what it relates to?

Well, it is THE marketing for 2017. A tactic that relies on influencers, key opinion leaders, stars, or whatever you decide to call people with “influence”. Whether they be self-proclaimed or publicly acknowledged as people with influence.

At the end of the day, influencer marketing is little more than actual marketing — or even, advertising.

Do you remember George Clooney sipping a cup of Nespresso on TV?

Influencer marketing is about George Clowney ( ;) ) snapping a picture of his Nespresso cup and posting it on Instagram (or any other channel of influence) with a witty or delighted comment about the brand.

That is influencer marketing in a nutshell.

Of course, the influencers need to have influence (…). The latter being defined by their profile, number of followers, niche, etc… . The criteria vary a lot, showing that the industry still has to get to grips with the concept and define a way to vet said influencers. And that goes beyond the scoring of the likes of Klout, Kred, etc… .

Yet, influencer marketing works. Not only because of audiences but because of the one quality advertising can not offer: trust. This tactic builds on the authority of influencers and the trust they have built with their audience in order to create a “word-of-mouth”-type of advertising which, compare to traditional media publications, boasts far higher conversion rates.

With an average — lowest — return on investment of about three times the funding spent, the road ahead looks quite clear for influencer marketing and the growth potential is basically rocket sitting on the launch pad — ready to soar.

With 2017 already underway, is influencer marketing on your plans? If not, it is time to get take action and shift gears to high growth!

PS: I write this piece while bearing an influencer status (as a Huawei Key Opinion Leader and recent shortlisted member of the Australia Top 50 Influencers Award among others).

Originally published at Samuel Pavin.