Celebrities

The Impact of Social Media Influencers on Brands   by Maanasi RK

The Brand-Influencer Relationship

Unlike before, when social media marketing success meant the number of ‘followers’ or ‘fans’ amassed, today’s marketers know that influencers are imperative to a brand’s success online. According to a study by Meteor Solutions, 30% or more of a website’s actions are determined by influencers. These influencers, who are thought leaders and industry experts, can have significant impact on a brand’s reputation and even affect bottom line sales. A smart marketer, who knows the power of influencer marketing, is investing considerable time in finding these brand advocates, engaging with them and establishing a strong brand-influencer relationship. Why are online influencers so important to a brand?

Consumers, who heavily rely on word-of-mouth recommendations, do not always believe everything a brand says; the influencers have an important role to play in such cases.
Online campaigns and marketing messages promoted by influencers have better chances at success than those that aren’t.
According to a 2010 Forrester study, Mass Influencers were responsible for 80% of the influence impressions and posts about products and services in social channels.
These brand advocates help spread the word about a brand’s site, products, services, and promotions and spur their followers into action.
When it comes to Online Reputation Management, the influencers play a major role in how your audience views your brand.

Who is more influential?A recent study by Vocus shows that influencers with a tighter connection were more important to the respondents than those who simply had a horde of fans and followers with little or no connection. The study, which presented respondents with a question about hypothetical influencers, concludes that influence is directly related to the quality of connection to a given network.

Identifying Influencers

The above study clearly establishes the difference between popularity and influence. Influencers are not determined by the multitude of followers they have; they usually have a dedicated audience who follow these experts because of similar interests and because they are credible in their fields. However, finding the influencers and developing meaningful relationships with them requires some research and listening. While some influencers are famous in their respective industry circles, there are others, who although lesser known, are just as powerful among their followers. According to Brain Solis, “the true movers and shakers of the online marketing universe are less visible than you’d think. They show up when the timing is right, reach out to their medium-sized but strong network, and let the message take its course.” In an overcrowded digital space, what can brands do to identify and pick out true influencers?
The Following vs. Followers Ratio:

This is one of the most basic ways of determining if an individual is a true influencer. It is not uncommon to find people following or friending someone only because they were followed in the first place. Sample Twitter ConversationThe true influencer is followed by at least twice the number of people he follows, and in some cases, a lot more than that. Ashton Kutcher, with his +8,570,000 followers is a highly influential voice in the social media space. The actor, who goes by the @aplusk Twitter handle, is worth $140 million; this means every time Kutcher endorses a brand online, there are greater chances of people actually listening and contemplating a purchase.
The Question of Credibility:

Before going to the next step of engaging with the influencers, online marketers need to first establish the credibility of these people who will go on to become the voice of the brand. Finding answers to these questions is a good start; a) Are they considered to be experts in their field? b) How often are these people getting retweeted? and c) Are they truly engaged? It is important that your potential influencers post frequently and are reasonably active on social media. The content posted by these brand advocates, no matter how compelling, will have little impact if the messages are few and far in between.
Using Social Media Monitoring Tools:

Social Influence ScoreUsing comprehensive social media monitoring tools like Brand Monitorâ

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