Know why as an audience, recommendations coming from an influencer are more trusted than brand promotions
The best way to gain your audience’s trust is to show that you truly understand who they are and what it is that they are looking for. As a brand selling products online, understanding the impact of social recommendations is crucial to your success. It is certain that one is more likely to trust an individual who they ought to know, follow or admire rather than some own brand bragging about their products. For people, the most important thing is emotional bonding and trust which is probably the reason why it is easier for influencers to connect with an audience rather than a brand.
In this article, we will understand why as an audience recommendations received from an individual are way more tempting and trusted rather than one by a brand
Why influencer recommendations work for consumers
With any recommendation, there is a human element involved. An algorithm can’t tell you if the product the recommendation is coming from someone you would like to follow, or if it’s from a brand you’d never want to follow. A recommendation from someone that you like and aspire to be like has more credibility than a recommendation from the brand itself. The algorithm has no idea how well that person knows you or how much they enjoy what they’re recommending.
Why influencer recommendations work for brands
Brands constantly try to appear more human and relatable. They want consumers to see their brand as a friend. Likewise, recommendations from influencers can be used for marketing purposes if they’re genuine and enthusiastic. These recommendations from actual people should make it much easier for the consumer to take action on your content than a recommendation from the brand itself would. It is for a fact known that a brand will obviously promote itself and its products but when the same recommendation comes from any individual or an influencer it appears to be more indulging and are likely to generate more action.
Influencers’ form connection and trust with their audience
Influencers are everywhere and connect with their audience just like a friend. They interact with them and form social and emotional bonding. This makes the audience trust them and their recommendations, to a great extent. The audience also trusts influencers because they think that influencers will give an unbiased opinion and their suggestions will always be with the motive of its audience’s benefits. Influencers for example work for social causes and hence form a reputed public image, this, in turn, makes their audience start looking up to them and makes them their role model. The emotional bond is reciprocal- it builds both ways and the more time people spend on their accounts/pages, the more emotion they feel towards these influencers and vice versa.
Influencers’ role in impacting customer purchasing decisions
It is evident that people trust influencers and their recommendations impact customer purchasing decisions. The role of celebrities is no different in the digital world. Their ability to influence purchasing decisions remains significant and they can do so through both traditional means such as TV, print and social media, but also through more modern mediums like blogs, podcasts, and vlogs. More importantly, it is undeniable that potential customers are less likely to purchase something without first seeing a recommendation from any individual who has already tried the product. Research has shown that millennials are more likely to make an immediate purchase with little more than a photo or story on Instagram with 1 out of 5 millennials using this app for their recommendations alone.
Therefore, in order to be effective in your marketing strategy, it’s essential to understand how social media and the recommendations we see there are affecting our buyers habits.
Since the idea of social recommendations is still relatively new, there’s no real way to tell if we’re more likely to take action on a recommendation from an individual than from an actual brand. But, I’m sure the next few years will give us more insights into how these platforms make recommendations and how they affect our purchasing decisions.
The bottom line is that you need to remember that consumers trust individual recommendations more than they trust brand promotions. You also need to remember that most people are cautious about who they add as ‘friends’ and the brands they follow on Social Media. Your brand needs to be more human and relatable than your competitors in order to grow your following.
If you as a brand are facing difficulties regarding your influencer marketing campaigns or need help with searching influencers or forming an overall digital marketing strategy then SavvyTree is the perfect match for you. We will provide you with expert insights and work on your campaign from scratch.
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