Social Media Influencers

Social Media Influencers – Who They are and Why You Need to Work with Them! Influencer Marketing has been one of the most effective social media strategies businesses are using. Over the years, influencer marketing has developed, and it has been tried and tested to work.

 

But who are these influencers? And why do you need to work with them?

 

Who are influencers?

 

Influencers are people who:

 

Has the power to influence the purchasing decisions of their followers. Because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his or her audience

Has a large following in his/her distinct niche. The size of his/her following will depend on his/her specialization.

 

What are Social Media Influencers?

The rise of social media influencers has become a trend over the past years. It is a marketing strategy that emerged because of people’s active use of social media. In fact, in a January 29, We Are Social report, around 45% or the world’s population is engaged in social media – that accounts for 3.5 billion people.

 

Social Media Influencers are people who have built a reputation because of their knowledge and expertise of a particular topic. Since their followers are people who are likely to have the same interests as them, then there is a bigger chance that they can influence their purchase decisions.

 

Types of Influencers

 

There are Facebook Influencers, Instagram Influencers, YouTube Influencers, and other social networks you need to gain exposure on. There are different types of influencers, and we can categorize them based on (a) number of followers, (b) types of content and (c) level of influence.

Let’s discuss each of them.

 

(A) Number of Followers

• Mega influencers

 

Mega influencers are social media influencers who have more than 1 million followers. They are likely to be celebrities or people who have gained popularity offline because of their online and social activities.

 

Since they have a “mega” following, their services can be pretty expensive so only major brands should approach these influencers.

 

• Macro-Influencers

 

Macro-Influencers are people with a following between 40,000 to a million. Usually, these are celebrities who are yet to gain popularity of online experts that have successfully achieved a following. It will be easier for brands to approach them since they are high profile and can help a lot with brand awareness.

 

• Micro-Influencers

 

These are ordinary people who gained following because of their specialized expertise. Therefore, their followers are likely to be interested in that expertise. For this kind of influencer, you’ll have to look at the relationship he/she has with her followers.

 

• Nano-Influencers

 

Nano-influencers are people who might have a small number of followers (usually below 1,000), but their followers are keen, interested and will listen to their opinions. They are the perfect influencers to approach for highly specialized and niche products.

 

(B) Type of Content

• Bloggers

 

These are people who write most of their content. They have active relationships with their fans, and they can be highly influential based on the topics they are interested and good at – travel, finance, music, politics etc.

 

• YouTubers/Vloggers

 

These are influencers who mainly use visuals or videos in their content. They are particularly significant to visual people. Vloggers can create their site and post their contents there. They can also be people who gained popularity in other social media platforms, and this popularity will become their push to make their own Youtube accounts.

 

• Podcasts

Podcasts have been gaining popularity fast. These are for people who are more in tune wiht audio content.

 

(C) By Level of Influence

• Celebrities

 

Celebrities are considered to be the original influencers. This is evident with their commercials in traditional media platforms. But the advent of social media has changed this landscape.

 

Brands must be keen on identifying the celebrity that would be a perfect ambassador/ambassadress of their brand because we know they come with a price tag.

 

• Key Opinion Leaders

 

These are people who gained respect because of their qualifications, position, experience or expertise. These experts can be journalists, academics, industry experts or professional advisors.

 

These are people with authority and experience significant enough to merit their credibility.

 

 

Why Work with Social Influencers?

 

The answer is simple: because they can influence your target audiences’ purchase decision. Once you get the right influencer for your brand, their followers (who believe or have high respect for them) will likely be convinced that your product or service is worth their money.

 

If you need help connecting with NYC influencers or want to learn more about Advertising in NYC connect with Local NYC now.