Move over brand awareness, get influencers to up your sales, too

Authored by Vipul Talwar , Co-Founder at Voxxy Media 

In the modern digital era, social media has become an increasingly important platform for younger generations to seek entertainment, news, and advice from influencers and online content creators. As a result, influencer marketing has emerged as a significant strategy for businesses aiming to reach this audience. Unlike traditional advertising, influencer marketing is more personalized and authentic, as influencers have built trust and credibility with their followers, making them more likely to take action based on their recommendations. As a result, companies are turning to influencer marketing to not only increase their brand awareness, but also to build long term advocacy and higher consideration, which help in a higher audience conversion over a period of time. Customers expect more from a brand than just the knowledge of its existence; they want to have a connection with it and be convinced that its offerings are worth their time and money. This is where influencers come into play, as they can expand brand awareness and with long term partnerships with KOLs it helps to boost credibility, loyalty and enhance the overall brand and customer experience and in turn increase sales.

In addition, the growth of social commerce and live commerce has created new opportunities for brands to talk to their customers more effectively, showcase the usability and application of products and connect with the target audience seamlessly, enhancing user-friendliness and creating a smooth purchasing process. Furthermore, the social commerce market has also expanded significantly along with the constant development in e-commerce sales, not to mention the e-commerce and media explosion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social Commerce: The Intersection of Social Media and E-Commerce

Social commerce came into existence due to the intersection of social media and e-commerce, where people can use these social networking sites to sell products directly to consumers. By utilizing social commerce, businesses can easily take advantage of the purchasing habits of their audience and make it simpler for them to place orders from social media platforms. Influencer marketing and social commerce go hand in hand, businesses use influencers to promote their products on social platforms and generate more traffic to their e-commerce websites. 

Live Commerce: The Future of Online Shopping

Live commerce is an emerging trend that combines e-commerce and live video streaming. It involves broadcasting live video content to showcase products and allow people to buy them in real-time. It is an excellent way for brands to create a more engaging customer shopping experience. Furthermore, Influencer marketing plays a significant role in live commerce. Thus, by partnering with influencers who are subject-matter experts can create massive opportunities for brands to sell products effectively on social platforms, businesses can leverage their influence to promote their live commerce events and drive sales. It is anticipated that influencer marketing will extend into  real-world commerce as e-commerce continues to grow. It involves influencers recommending products to their followers and live-streaming them to demonstrate their benefits and features. This concept is rapidly expanding in India and has already gained momentum. As a result, businesses evaluate the effectiveness of influencers beyond vanity metrics and measuring the effectiveness through real interactions, conversations, and conversions.

Furthermore, nano and micro-influencers who have fewer followers but a higher engagement and a more specialized audience, are another emerging trend which are used by brands to run affiliate programs and more so as catalysts to build long term advocates which help them build higher consideration and loyalty. Thus, collaborations with these influencers are expected to rise as brands realize their ability to reach specific target audiences. It is imperative for brands and agencies to build a long term Influencer strategy including all things Influencers, content, and commerce to create a customer journey from awareness to sales.