There was a once a time when it took years, to gain influence on a global scale.
Whether its, political influence or social influence like an actor or actress, photographers, and or even social media stars, influence today seems to be fast becoming the currency for most brands.
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We look at why brands gravitate to you, the person with an increased online social media presence.
There are Mega-influencers with more than a million followers, Macro influencers with around 500k to 1 million followers, mid-tier influencers with more than 50k followers, Micro and Nano-influencers ranging from 1k to 50k followers.
All these influencers are vital to any brands marketing.
Why?
Influencers hit the spot
Brands today are making more working with influencers to deliver real results for the brand than throwing out a marketing net hoping to reach certain groups.
With influencers, brands receive wider and more direct reach to their target market.
No social media marketing strategy is complete without influencers, and brands know this.
They then partner with influencers to better reach their audience while better serving their campaigns.
If you look at the term influencer you quickly realize their role.
What is an influencer?
To influence peoples’ buying decisions, while catering to a specific target audience. This is the soft spot brands use to bridge the gap between seller and consumer.
To partner with social media sensation like Khabi Lame with more than 1.48 million followers means this one person can reach more than 500k followers at the click of the “post” button.
When looking at Khabe Lame’s life story, you realize just how quickly the world of influence has shifted and how fast influence can be gained – a result of this global village.
Behind the sensation
The Senegalese-Italian, and most famous TikToker, was laid off from work during the Covid-19 pandemic only to become TikTok’s most followed influencer.
Lame rose to popularity with his video responses in the form of TikTok’s to videos depicting overly complicated “life hacks”, in which he performs the same task in a simple way.
Here’s a short story on how brands were drawn to him.
In April 2021 he surpassed Gianluca Vacchi as the most followed TikToker.
In August 2021, he appeared as a co-star for Juventus F.C.’s announcement of Manuel Locatelli.
September – attended Venice Film Festival as special guest
January 2022 – signed multi-year partnership with Hugo Boss and featured in a major campaign.
Analyze the pattern and you find your x.
@verifiedtok_ Khaby’s full story #khaby #khabylame #fypシ゚viral
In South Africa, you have the likes of Twitter influencer Michael Bucwa known as Mr Smeg on Twitter, granted a cameo role on etv’s telenovela Durban Gen.
This is not to say he doesn’t have talent, it only means when the opportunity presented itself, the actor, was only ready to grab it. Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
@flo.create_ Influencer marketing 101
#marketingtiktok #influencermarketing #socialmediatips
Influencer – brand objective
Influencers help brands achieve many marketing objectives.
To sell – introduce something new to consumers – brands rely on credibility of the person/influencer; to shift perceptions and introduce the brand, awareness to humanize the brand, and branding to position the brand in a favourable position.
This makes sense.
Bands are fast seeing the benefit of partnering with influencers and segment the influencers according to their followers and their reach.
Brands choose between the mega and micro influencers depending on their niche.
A definite win for both brands and influencers.
@itxmejules Influencer marketing is growing like CRAZY!! #socialmediagrowth #tiktokgrowth #influencertips #creatortips #becomeaninfluencer #instagramalgorithm
What does this mean for you?
It means you must at some point consider working on that online presence, because believe or not, when some recruiter cannot find you anywhere online, it makes better sense to select a candidate with an online presence.
Also read: Shoprite’s secret bank with no branch, fast becoming primary banking solution
Featured image: @KhabeLame/Twitter