Like the one ring ( a magical artifact in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings ),

influencer marketing is gaining dominion and control over other digital marketing strategies.

It is by far one of the most important digital marketing trends.

There isn’t one way or one time to use influencer marketing as there are touch-points at each stage of consumers’ decision making processes.

Using influencer marketing at each stage of the journey creates a more holistic content amplification approach.


https://www.johnmadakin.com/must-read/is-influencer-marketing-the-one-ring-to-rule-them-all/amp/

Below are stats to back the dominance and control of Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing Control and Power

From live video streaming, live events, social media contents: post live streams, video, viral shares, snaps, YouTube videos, twitter parties, Facebook live, blog round up articles, product reviews in form of a blog article or social share.

Influencer marketing is the way forward for brands small and large who want fresh intelligently targeted audience, focused ways to connect and engage with new consumers.

Why is it so important?

Influencer Marketing Vs Traditional Outbound Marketing

In the last 5 years alone, TV viewership fell drastically, while time spent on social media platforms is climbing higher amongst internet users globally.

The efficacy of traditional outbound marketing is getting lesser day by day.
Statistics show a 23% decline in ads viewed due to watchers switching off ads;

9% loss of ad engagement caused by an increase in multitasking
37% saturation-induced reduction in message impact.viewing levels have fallen by almost 50%.

This means advertisers are paying more for less creating a significantly higher cost-per-viewer-reached, a trend also reflected in radio and print.

Influencer Marketing Vs Online Ads

Online ads (display, text, and video) is instrumental in building a robust sales funnel. It is the most popular form of advertising and has since surpassed TV and billboard ads. But the conversion rate still falls short when compared to influencer marketing.

Statistics show:

615 million devices now use adblock applications. That's approximately 11% of the global internet population blocking ads on the web. A 30% increase globally from 2015. Although a meager 2% of mobile users in Nigeria use an adblock browser or third party application, with globalization, we should expect Nigeria to catch up with the rest of the world.

The way to reach these audiences is to provide content they want from people they trust.

25 percent of web traffic is driven by facebook alone. Social is supplanting search for content discovery and facebook's 1.5billion users are helping that happen.



8 in 10 of the most influential people for teen audiences are YouTube stars. That number keeps growing everyday. Giving traditional celebrities a fight for their money.

Why Influencer Marketing is Striving

81 percent of marketers who have used influencer marketing judged it to be effective

37 percent better retention reported for customer acquired through word of mouth advertising. 78 percent of brands increase their content output in the last two years but the average content engagement decreased by 60 percent.
Basically, content marketing really need some form of influencer marketing to succeed.

74 percent of consumer use social media to make buy decisions.
Digital natives do not want to hear about purchasing suggestions directly from brands - 92 percent of people rather trust their peers.

Key Statistics that Support Influencer Marketing

Social influencers were even considered more trustworthy than average people (94 percent vs. 83 percent).
More knowledgeable (94 percent vs 84 percent) and better at explaining how the product works or could be used (92 percent vs. 83 percent).

A recent study found that 82% of consumers would follow the recommendations of a social media influencer.

More brands are realizing that influencers are way more effective than regular users (or even celebrity endorsers) at getting branded messages out there.

Yet, like the one ring, influencer marketing has it flaws.

Cons of Influencer Marketing


Fake followers and engagement: Opportunists are using unethical practices aimed at taking advantage of brands.

Measurement: influencer marketing and its results can be measured or assessed in many different ways. So, marketers will need to determine the KPIs — success, engagement, and conversion metrics on their own or through an influencer marketing agency.

37% percent of female consumers have unfollowed an influencer because they posted too much sponsored content.

30% said posts labeled with the hashtag #ad or #paid are inauthentic.


Do you trust marketing messages more from influencers? let me know in the comment section.