Do You Trust Influencers?

In recent times, it seems as though everyone is dabbling in influencer marketing, and there's a good reason for it. From doing the promoting to paying for promo, it's a win-win situation for all involved. Though the results and royalties are proof influencer marketing works, we were curious about who's paying attention to those social media placements.

Instagram’s rise has made a new way to market to an incredible number of people over the past decade. I'm talking about a billion users or more.

That is how the social media influencer role arrived.

Who is an Influencer?

An influencer is a person that has the trust of an audience for varying reasons, such as an engaging personality or domain expertise.

Almost everyone wants to be in the influencer role because the pay can range from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per post. You typically work remotely which allows you to be located anywhere in the world.

There are huge benefits to this job. You can receive merchandise or discounts and obviously, the substantial compensation. Sometimes there’s all-expense-paid trips and networking opportunities at significant social events. The influencer lifestyle can have its perks.

Why Brands Pay for Influencers

On the other side of influencer marketing, the brands see a considerable return on investment (ROI). They dish out a good bit of money upfront for their products and services to be shared all over social media in preparation of product launches, rebranding, or events to draw crowds to their business.

It's so much more effective than the traditional method of flyers, billboards and even magazine ads. You can reach people in different parts of the world that you wouldn't usually be able to access.

Consumers have already heard reviews from people they trust about your products, and the orders start rolling in. Brands of all sizes and varying budgets are tapping into this fool-proof method of marketing.

Do Pople Trust Influencers?

We still have to address the question at hand, who cares about the sponsored content? While Instagram influencer marketing is continually growing, inBeat felt it was important to know who was listening to influencers the most. We've put together a visual of the results from past conducted surveys we found through our research.

This infographic looks at the different demographic traits of people and how it affects their overall trust in social media influencers.

Not surprisingly, the 55 to 64 cohort is much less trusting of influencers than the millennial cohort. The reason is online social media influencers are typically younger and more relatable to the 25 to 34 age group.

So, there you have it.

Influencer marketing is relative to a lot of people. For some, it's their livelihood, a brand's way of reaching the masses, or a consumer's method to determine if a product or service is right for them.

With the aid of this infographic, now you know who to target when considering this marketing approach. People are listening to what the influencer has to say, and that won't change anytime soon.