“A brand is no longer what we tell consumers it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” (Gensler, Völckner, Liu-Thompkins & Wiertz, 2013)
Accordingly, a good definition of influencer marketing is; using someone who enjoys two main characteristics; influence and popularity, in order to reach their audience via content-driven marketing campaigns. Such campaigns result in awareness, increased perception, and action.
– More affordable, yet effective, an option of celebrities
– Contextual credibility and reach
– Social positioning for your product
– Authority and brand awareness
– Customers’ trust
– Higher return on investment (ROI)
Worldwide statistics show that there are almost 3 billion internet users globally in 2018, of which, 1.7 billion have active social media accounts and the majority of them are the millennials.
Thanks to greater internet accessibility and smartphone connectivity; it became easier for everyone to be present on the internet.
The GCC area isn’t an exception from this huge digital evolution. Consumers are urging the gulf area to impose a huge change in strategy regarding digital media, thanks to the growth of the population under 30 years old.
The GCC Millennials are all hyper-connected and care about experiences more than brands. They are tech-savvy, well educated, assertive, and are willing to spend, which makes them a huge purchasing power.
The best way to deal with this kind of customer is by adopting a customer-centric approach. Such an approach is easily achieved through influencer marketing according to these interesting insights:
– Consumers nowadays prefer social media influencers as their preferred source of information and recommendations.
– Video content is the new high-end material.
– 71% of UAE residents aged between 18 and 40 are happy to take advice from online personalities.
– Watch time of KSA beauty and fashion channels grew by 50% in 2015, and that’s why Saudi Arabia is the top YouTube nation in the world.
The GCC has some of the mega bloggers, especially in the health & beauty industry. Here is a list of a few very familiar names: Huda Kattan (18.4M followers), Joelle Mardinian (5.7M followers), Lojain Omran (5.1M followers), and Noha Nabil (4.4M followers).
In 2018; global spending on Instagram influencer marketing reached $5.67 billion and will further grow to reach $8.08 billion by the end of 2020.
There were 21.7 million brand-sponsored influencer posts on the social platform. The volume of sponsored content is projected to amount to 32.3 million posts in 2019.
The top three popular interests are:
1. Fashion (25%)
2. Food (12%)
3. Entertainment (11%)
This explains why fashion brands are the most active on Instagram when it comes to investing in influencer marketing.
We can add a line or two before the points.
The benefit of using Snapchat is that 80% of its audience are shoppers. Such an insight highlights why the platform stands out in comparison to other platforms.
Snapchat is a great platform to reach a younger audience or just to increase the exposure of your e-commerce brand.
The number of Internet users in Saudi Arabia rose swiftly to reach 30 million people by the beginning of 2018, 9 million of them are active users on Snapchat.
Based on the following facts, Snapchat is considered a primary platform for marketers to reach the youth and increase their brands’ exposure.
You shouldn’t just hire any influencer to do your job, you need to remember some points to select the most fit one:
The only one form of marketing that has ever been consistently successful is word-of-mouth recommendations from one’s surrounding. 92% of consumers around the world trust word-of-mouth.
Over the past decade, influencer marketing evolved because it effectively fills the need.
The journey that buyers go through has four phases; awareness, interest, decision, and action. Many business owners believe that influencer marketing is an awareness step, which really makes sense. However, in reality, influencer marketing can be used effectively at any and every phase of this buyer journey.
With different goals for your marketing campaign, not all metrics are helpful all the time. You need to clearly set your campaign goals whether it’s brand awareness, brand engagement, social media growth, or sales to choose the right metric to indicate your campaign’s success.
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