This is a guest blog from guest author, Sarah Gian. 

A hot topic trend in marketing has been the use of influencers when it comes to marketing and promoting new products or services. Influencer marketing is known as a “strategy that businesses use to promote their products and services by partnering with popular social media users or bloggers.” Celebrities always been used to market products, but in this era, it is much different because of the use of social media and all the platforms. Companies are using social media influencers or bloggers to get their products more publicity because they know they have an engaged, large number of followers, and their brand or product can rapidly increase in sales using this technique. Influencers are constantly showing off their every move, snacks, activities, and they daily life. It is impossible not to see what they are doing and what products they are using.

The biggest platforms that are being used as of right now to market products are Tik Tok and YouTube. It is crazy how Tik Tok users have become major influencers in the public eye and are making millions of dollars doing this. Marketers who want to gain publicity on a product that is appealing to the younger generation have a great chance of selling their product if it’s on Tik Tok especially since this app has boomed in users in 2021. I personally have purchased and know so many people who have purchased things because they saw them on Tik Tok or got new ideas/recipes from Tik Tok as well. To people following them, they are seen as exports, and consumers like hearing their opinions on the products because they feel it is more genuine coming from them over advertisements or endorsements that the brands are putting out themselves. They also are fans of these influencers and want to do exactly what they do and buy exactly what they use. Marketers often also use influencers to develop new ideas and create new content. They track the return on investments to see how well influencers are doing based on the followers the gain and the feedback they receive on their posts on social media platforms such as Instagram, snapchat, Tik Tok and twitter. Influencers will continue to help marketers sell their products and get sponsors on all platforms of social media. 

Fun Facts

· 49 % of consumers depend on influencer recommendations

· Tik Tok has created a $1 billion creator fund to nurture influencers

· 86% of woman use social media for purchasing advice

· 70% of teens trust influencers even over celebrities

· 57% of beauty companies engage in influencer marketing

Are your buying behaviors influenced by social media influencers? Let us know in the comments or DM us on social media.