Influencer Marketing: adding value to digital strategies
Social Media platforms attract influencers to a certain degree. Today, Instagram is the most popular platform among influencers. Recent industry research by Influencer Marketing Hub reveals that four out of five brands (79 per cent) use Instagram for influencer campaigns compared to Facebook (46 per cent), YouTube (36 per cent), Twitter (24 per cent) and LinkedIn (12 per cent). With Instagram serving as a dominant platform, other networks are also being used by influencers, resulting in the industry's expected growth of around USD 10 billion by the end of this year, according to Adweek. Other networks like Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok have their own set of influencers with different demographics.
In the GCC region, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Snapchat has a large following. A report posted on the website of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology states that the Kingdom was first among Arab countries and second worldwide in the use of Snapchat. Similarly, studies released by HootSuite and We are Social categorized Saudi nationals as the region’s biggest group of active users on the platform along with Instagram and Twitter. Saudi Arabia, according to the Crowd Analyzer report, has over 16 million Snapchat users, while the UAE boasts of 2.3 million users.
Influencer marketing serves as a great way to openly promote a product or service and ensures that it reaches the intended audiences. This dynamic new concept focuses on leveraging the reach of known personalities who are widely followed by potential consumers on various social media platforms or individuals who have influence over buyers to encourage them into buying a certain brand, product or availing a service. Influencer marketing has the advantage of attracting leads, drive conversions and generate a high Return-on-Investment (ROI).
Simply put, influencer marketing can best be described as evolving from 'Word of Mouth' marketing, which serves as a primary factor behind every purchase made. If utilized properly and effectively, influencer marketing can become an essential aspect of a business.
Performance marketing, which refers to a form of online marketing and advertising programs wherein advertisers (brands and marketing companies) only pay the publisher when a specific action is completed, such as a sale, lead or click. When combined with influencer marketing as a tactic, it allows influencers to be paid for the results they bring in, thereby motivating them further to put in more effort in convincing people to buy or avail of a product or service.
Performance-based influencer marketing gives brands the reach and revenue it aims for without doubting the positive results. A recent report released by Mediakix Data shows that the influencer marketing industry is poised to be valued at around USD 15 billion by the year 2022, which is higher than the USD 8 billion posted in 2019. This vibrancy shows that ROI for influencer marketing, as compared to the other digital methods, is what makes it stand out. Influencer marketing has an ROI that is eleven times higher than any other digital media.
Performance-based influencer marketing is huge in the Middle East region. In fact, the last few years have seen global brands investing a large amount of their advertising spends on Arabic influencers--particularly across the beauty, fashion, entertainment, travel and technology segments. E-commerce companies have also been integrating influencer marketing into their plans and strategies because of its reach and effectiveness in conveying their brand messaging to their target audiences.
Utilizing performance-based influencers reduces the risk of wasted budget for influencer marketing. Before, influencers only had to show their high follower count as proof that they were worth partnering with, but now, companies and brands are looking at performance metrics, strong content minus real conversion or drive-in revenue growth. Followers and post volumes are vanity metrics – they do not tell if the audience is actually bought in. Post engagement rates, which are calculated as average engagements/followers, show much of what their followers are actively following.
The essence of performance-based influencer marketing lies in the outcome of the influencer’s actions. The results determine the degree of her or his compensation, which can be measured across two forms of metrics. The first one is the performance metrics, which include mobile installations, click through rates, sales generated, traffic to a site, newsletter sign-ups, and downloads of a resource. The second metric is the tool or platform for analysis, which covers landing page on website, Google analytics, and Customer Relationship Management, among others.
Performance-based influencer marketing is huge in the Middle East region. In fact, the last few years have seen global brands investing a large amount of their advertising spends on Arabic influencers--particularly across the beauty, fashion, entertainment, travel and technology segments. E-commerce companies have also been integrating influencer marketing into their plans and strategies because of its reach and effectiveness in conveying their brand messaging to their target audiences.
The success that these influencers have achieved just proves that the practice is scalable and shows high-volume profit as well.
