The Buzz Involving Influencers
Advertising is virtually everywhere whether we recognize it or not. Think about all the billboards we pass by on an everyday driving to work each day, radio ads, ads that pop up on our favorite streaming services, and perhaps the most important way, through social media. Promoting a brand and its products digitally through different outlets like social media can create massive exposure and draw in from current and new audiences. One thing that has grown in popularity the past few years is social media influencers. According to Statista, the market size for influencer marketing has grown from $1.7 billion in 2016 to $21.1 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach a record of $24 billion by the end of 2024 (Dencheva, 2024).
Let’s dive into the different examples I’ve come across of my feed of influencers, why they are effective at influencing others, and how they could propel a brand forward.
To start, what are influencers on social media? Well, there are different levels and kinds of influencer levels based on their followers and popularity. Essentially, influencers are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic. They have found their niche and generated followings of enthusiastic, engaged people who pay close attention to the influencer by viewing various posts social media channels. From a marketing perspective, collaborating and working with social media influencers is a huge opportunity for their brands. Influencers can create different trends as well as encourage their followers to buy products they promote (Geyser, 2024).
Based on follower counts, there are 4 different categories of influencers, and we will cover some of them as we dive into successful brands and influencers.
Let’s dive into mega-influencers and some examples (from my own social media feeds). They tend to have a massive following on social media platforms (at least 1 million on on) and are typically celebrities who have gained their fame offline through movies, music, sports, etc.
First is Bailey Zimmerman and BZMotorsports. He grew to fame with his music through social media back in 2021 and since then, toured with Morgan Wallen, released his own album, and is currently on his own solo tour. He has 2.9 million followers on Tik Tok and 1.5 million followers on Instagram. In October of last year, he announced that BZMotorsports LLC was live, where they do giveaways of custom and souped-up trucks and $20,000 to one lucky person. The more merch someone buys off their website, the more entries and chances they get to win the truck. The winner is then picked, flown to Nashville, and meets Bailey to pick up the truck.
Why does it work? Bailey is a rising musician with a growing fanbase and likeable personality. Anyone who is already a fan of him and his music will most likely carry their support over to the motorsports company and purchase merchandise for chances to meet him and win money and a truck. Throughout his most recent giveaways, he did mini promotions like winning money in every order, giving away a pair of Apple Vision googles, and a meet and greet experience at one of his upcoming shows in Nashville.
Another example is of him and his crew repping “Reckless Rodeo” merchandise on the road. Fans love to see what artists are wearing and if they like something or know the artist supports a specific brand, they may just go browse and shop. So, talking about macro-influencers would be Bailey’s openers on tour like Josh Ross. He is a new and upcoming Canadian artist with a smaller overall following on socials, but his fans will be interested in checking out the business because he wears the hats all the time. So even if it doesn't lead to conversions, it will still definitely bring exposure to the brand.
Another mega-influencer with a large following on Tik Tok 1.8 million followers and 550K on Instagram is Darcy McQueeny. She is known for fashion and beauty product videos and just her content creation in general. One of her biggest brand collaborations is Amazon and White Fox Boutique. When she buys things off Amazon, she showcases them out in a video and always mentions it is linked in her Amazon storefront. This is a great way to get interested followers off social media and onto Amazon to see what Darcy recommends. With White Fox, she is always modeling and creating content in clothing from the boutique and even had her own limited edition clothing line with the brand. In posts, she’ll provide a link that her followers can use to get discounts on the clothes they like at White Fox. For me, I came across a video of her showing items she loved from Abercrombie & Fitch, which resonated with me as a viewer because I like that brand and their clothing.
Collaborating with influencers is a smart marketing move for a brand to not only gain more brand exposure but also appeal to new audiences too. When people know their favorite artists or content creators support a business, the more interest and trust is gained for brand and its products, which will likely correlate to more conversions down the road.
Resources:
Dencheva, V. (2024, February 6). Global Influencer Market Size 2024. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1092819/global-influencer-market-size/
Geyser, W. (2024, February 14). What is an influencer? - social media influencers defined [updated 2024]. Influencer Marketing Hub. https://influencermarketinghub.com/what-is-an-influencer/#:~:text=Influencers%20in%20social%20media%20are%20people%20who%20have,people%20who%20pay%20close%20attention%20to%20their%20views.