Social commerce refers to the use of social media platforms as a sales channel to facilitate eCommerce sales. It allows companies to engage with customers, build brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales directly through social media platforms. Social commerce sales have particularly taken off in the last several years, and are expected to reach $1.3 trillion this year. As this market is growing, it is vital to take advantage of the benefits that this channel can provide you and your brand.
Influencer marketing is a type of marketing where businesses collaborate with individuals who have a large following on social media to promote their products or services. The goal is to leverage the influencer's popularity and credibility to increase brand awareness, drive traffic, and ultimately boost sales. This is a great way to generate brand loyalty as an influencer’s followers usually have a lot of trust in what the influencer says and promotes. Typically, influencers receive compensation, either in the form of monetary payment or free products, in exchange for promoting the brand.
There are different types of influencers based on their following on social media. Nano-influencers have between 1,000-5,000 followers, micro-influencers between 5,000 and 20,000, macro influencers between20,000and 100,000, mega influencers between 100,000 and 1 million and celebrity influencers have more than 1 million followers. For the most part, brands will work with micro or macro influencers because they tend to have higher engagement rates on their posts as compared to other influencers, seen by the graph to the right.
As influencer marketing is tied to social media activity and following, the success of influencer campaigns is largely dependent on the target audience. The generation most impacted by influencer marketing is Gen Z, as they have the largest social media presence and engage more with content than other generations. Additionally, across all generations, women are more likely than men to engage with or respond to influencer marketing campaigns, as seen in the graph to the left.
Influencers exist across numerous social media platforms, from Facebook to Instagram, TikTok to YouTube,Twitter, and more. However, the most popular platforms for influencer marketing in terms of engagement are Instagram and TikTok. TikTok in particular has grown significantly, citing an 85% user growth rate between 2019 and 2020. The platform currently has the highest influencer engagement rate of any social media platform, as seen by the graph to the right. This marketing channel has grown significantly in the last several years for multiple reasons, including that social media overall has become more popular and traditional advertising channels like television and print ads have become less effective. Additionally, consumers are more likely to make a purchase when they trust the person promoting it, and followers tend to feel a sense of trust or loyalty to the influencers they follow.
Of course, like any marketing strategy, influencer marketing isn't always the answer and may not be appropriate for every brand or situation. It's important to carefully consider the goals of your campaign and the specific influencers you're partnering with to ensure the best possible results for your specific brand.
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