How is the effectiveness of influencer marketing campaigns shaping consumer behavior?

The days when in-person buying was a preferred choice of consumers are long behind. Ever since the advent of social media, the interaction, communication, and connection between individuals have increased to a profound level. Today, these platforms have evolved into incredibly significant means for promoting brands and products, making influencers no less than celebrities. Harnessing the power of these platforms, modern marketers are greatly reaping the benefits of enhanced reach through effective influencer marketing campaigns.

The importance of a constructive influencer marketing cannot be denied in this era of digitally sophisticated users. In fact, modern-day individuals are primarily choosing to rely on these social media giants for fair recommendations and feedback before purchasing anything. An ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) survey revealed that 90% of participants had made at least one purchase as a result of recommendations from influencers. Consequently, this provides marketers with no less than a golden opportunity to leverage the influence of these new-age content creators and reach out to potential consumers in a more desired manner, casting a positive impact and influencing their buying behaviour for good.

Impact of influencer marketing campaigns on consumer behaviour

Boost brand awareness:  In a world where businesses constantly battle for consumers' attention and trust, it has become crucial for marketers to look for unique and creative ways to make a lasting impact on them. Here new-age social media experts, aka influencers, come into the picture, providing brands with the opportunity to connect with consumers on a large scale and alter their buying behaviour. Unlike pushy, overt advertisements, influencers provide more subdued recommendations, which makes it easier for customers to relate to and connect with them. Consequently, for brands, developing a positive influencer campaign is the most effective modern marketing strategy to target greater brand awareness, given the rising customer reliance on contemporary influencers.

Generates trust: Over the recommendation of their close kin, individuals are more likely to heed the suggestions of their favourite influencers. Influencer Marketing Hub reports that 61% of customers are more ready to believe recommendations from influencers than 38% of brand-produced content. Therefore, creating positive influencer marketing campaigns is the best method for brands to increase their reach, develop a network of devoted customers, and establish a brand reputation. When an influencer promotes a product or service, consumers are more likely to believe what they say and make a purchase. Hence, the right influencer and an ideal influencer campaign could turn into the most potent arsenal for a marketer looking to make a mark in the digital space.

Emotional association: Influencers create an emotional bond between the target audience and the brand by sharing their own stories and experiences while promoting goods or services. As a result, customers feel inclined to purchase from a brand when they sense an emotional connection to it. This, in turn, not only raises brand awareness and generates brand loyalty but also promotes word-of-mouth advertising wherein consumers put a good word for the brand resulting in greater brand recall. 86% of customers who are devoted to a brand opt to promote it to their friends and family, as per a KPMG survey. For businesses striving for long-term engagement with consumers, developing an engaging influencer marketing campaign with the right influencer targeting an appropriate response and long-term impact on the public is vital.

Boost brand-consumer relationships: In the end, the ultimate goal of every brand is to foster robust long-term consumer relationships. Given the shift in consumer purchasing needs and requirements, it has become essential for modern marketers to design their advertising campaigns in a way that satisfies consumer needs and elicits the best response, leading to improved relationships. In a Salesforce survey, 74% of respondents said that open communication was crucial above everything else. As a result, it has now become critical for businesses to retain open lines of communication with their audience, leveraging the effectiveness of trustworthy influencer marketing initiatives and fostering better brand-consumer relationships.

Influencer marketing campaign: The new-age marketing approach
Influencers have come to rule every sector of interest in our technologically advanced society, including marketing, politics, consumer goods, and the beauty industry. Therefore, influencer marketing as a whole has grown to become a crucial aspect of how contemporary marketers choose to approach their marketing strategies.

Given how influencers affect new-age customers' purchase decisions, it has become essential for marketers to create successful campaigns in order to attract a large audience. In addition to planning the campaign, it is also necessary to periodically assess its effectiveness in order to gain insight into how it is performing in the market and make any required revisions to increase its reach.

This article is authored by Sumit Gupta, Founder, Viral Pitch.