The human element of influencer marketing

Social media has become a vital component of any brand’s marketing strategy. Not because it’s the top internet activity, with users globally spending more than two hours and 29 minutes daily on social media platforms. And not because of the immense potential for reach on the platforms, which can put your brand in front of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of people in just a few clicks.

Rather, the importance of social media in your marketing strategy is that it has the ability to humanise your brand in a way no other marketing medium can. And one of the most effective and effective ways to optimise this is through influencer marketing.

Take a moment to think about a brand you love. For many of us, the brands that first come to mind are those that have mastered the art of humanisation – those that include the human side in their marketing, allowing us to understand more about them than about what they sell; giving us invaluable insight into their reason for being and their values; and letting us know, through reviews and opinions shared by human voices, how people feel about the brand both in the real world and in online communities.

At its core, marketing is about forming a connection with your customers that promotes enough trust and brand knowledge to lead to a conversion, a subscription, a sale. By humanising your marketing through the inclusion of influencers, you can build that trust while inspiring positive connotations and emotions that turn the people you talk to into customers for life.

When it comes to the concept of brand advocacy, research company Digital Marketing Today reveals that consumers are 92% more likely to trust recommendations if they are made by people they know, while a 2016 study from Twitter found that consumers seek recommendations from influencers almost as much as they do from friends. This means the decision to include influencer marketing in your strategy has less to do with whether you should do it than how best to do it.

When trying to leverage influencer marketing, the temptation can be to use celebrities and influencers with a huge following – irrespective of whether there’s an organic “fit” between them and your brand. Because your objective is to generate brand trust and advocacy that is authentic, your approach to the influencers you work with should be rooted in ensuring they match your brand vision, and that their interests, personality and ways of posting align with your target audience, mission and brand value proposition.

Choosing to include the human element of influencers in your social media strategy makes it so much more than marketing. It’s a human experience that’s rooted in human connection, and it’s an element of your brand your customers won’t soon forget.

Albert Makoeng is sales director at TheSALT, a digital platform that uses in-depth lifestyle information to connect businesses and brands with the right influencers.