By remaining transparent and authentic, influencers have gained the trust of their followers, ultimately giving their messages more credibility than any brand message. According to CyberAlert, the rapid rise and adoption of social media has resulted in a bigger demand for word of mouth marketing which has been led by digital influencers.

Word of mouth marketing remains a relevant and valuable way for brands to grow and build brand awareness, it has simply evolved with the emergence of digital technology. Before technology, a housewife may have recommended a product she saw in an advertisement to a friend, and because her friend valued her opinion and trusted her word to be true, she would have most likely gone out and tried the product. In the digital world, that housewife now has a blog and the ability to influence even more of her friends on a daily basis. Word of mouth has always been tricky for brands to measure as it’s not something brands can’t track offline. It takes time for the brand to become credible enough for people to recommend their products or even mention them at all. Offline, this is a much slower process.

So how are influencers able to shorten the path to purchase?

Highly influential bloggers/YouTubers generally upload content on a daily or weekly basis. With the help of influencers, word of mouth is a more frequent occurrence. Influencers have the ability to sway the purchasing decisions of their followers by not only showing and telling them how great the products are but also making it super easy and quick to purchase them.

If you’re watching a tutorial on a makeup look or DIY item, you need to purchase the products to achieve that very look or DIY item. Consumers look to influencers for social proof, “if they’re saying the product's good, it must be”. If your favourite Youtuber used those products and said they were great, we are more inclined to purchase the product than if the brand themselves said the product was great.

By sharing links to websites where you can purchase the product they just reviewed in a post, influencers are making it easier for consumers to click on the link and purchase the product immediately.

Studies have revealed that beauty vloggers are contributing significantly to the influencer marketing industry. According to a recent study, conducted by Fashion and Beauty Monitor in association with Econsultancy, the changing markets of the fashion and beauty industry as a result of digital technology has been most impacted by influencers.

With Influencers being able to add so much value to campaigns, beauty brand L’Oréal recently enlisted five beauty bloggers with a combined reach of 5.5-million, to create exciting and engaging content around the brand and key fashion and beauty events.

While traditional advertising methods often involved scripted messages that came off as inauthentic, influencer marketing is far more successful as the influencer’s audience does not feel like they are being bombarded by inauthentic brand messages. In the same breath, influencers aren’t going to jeopardise their followings which they have worked so hard to build for the sake of delivering a brand's message.  

The rise of social media has resulted in a demand for social proof, influencers provide that social proof in the form of online reviews.

While online reviews and product mentions have become so common, the Federal Trade Commission has clamped down on brands and influencers. Influencers and brands, by law, are required to disclose when posts are sponsored. As a brand, you cannot try fool people into thinking they are not receiving some form of advertising message. On the other hand, people do not care if the post was sponsored if the content is great.

And with sponsored posts, comes promo codes. Consumers can get discounts off the items mentioned by the influencer, once again incentivising consumers to purchase the goods.

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