Seems 2018 was the year of the influencer marketers…or at least that appears to be who consumers react to the most.

As social media becomes a more integrated part of our lives, influencer marketing has exploded.

Consumers are turning to their favorite local LinkedIn influencer, Twitter personalities and YouTube stars for recommendations on purchasing decisions.  This makes local influencers more influential since they specialize in marketing one region or location.

Local Influencers Are More Influential

Makes sense, since the most influential way for an influencer to influence anyone is to be seen attending a local event instead of global events.

Yes, it is impressive for an influence marketer to attend a huge regional, national or global event, but that usually means all of the influence marketers will be all together in one place.  when this happens their sponsors start questioning who is influencing who?

Who Is Influencing Who

Influence marketings influence falls off the further away from where they reside.

Why is local influencer marketing more important that global influence?

Having local knowledge of an area of a state or entire city comes out in their content and updates.  Having knowledge where all the best places to hang out during a local conference puts that influencer in a strong position to influence both local and global consumers.  Brands are more interested in influence marketers who influence consumers online and offline…not just online. 

Influencing consumers is what Influence Marketing is all about.  The more consumers an influencer can influence the more a sponsor wants to hire them.

Yes, Influencer Marketing is a new way of marketing.  Since it has been used for a few years, how to use it effectively is starting to formulate.  

To Influence You Have to be Social

Unfortunately, the many people I see online who are calling themselves an influencer marketer have one big problem.  They really are not social.  They don’t like to be around the people in their market who have a real influence on the market.  They do not engage online and they just are not a “People Person”. 

However, they look good on video…when they use a camera and not a smartphone. And they can produce decent content.  

How to Tell Who is a Real Influencer

Finding a real influencer of a local market is not easy.  Someone you would think would be influential of a large group of consumers usually turns out to not be a real person.  They may appear to have a huge following, but their connections are usually BOT’s…or not real people.

Someone who has a real influence on people in a local market usually is someone who was raised in that market.  They know the atmosphere of the area and what is tolerated and what is not.  They will know where to market and where to not to market.  And more importantly, a local influencer marketer will know how to market to their market.

It is tough for a business or a brand to find a real influencer marketer.  Most of the time it takes contacting a local digital marketing agency to help in the search.  Many times the best strategy for a national or global brand is to develop or train someone in a specific market to be their influencer marketer.  

If you are a business, local influencer marketing will be a must-do starting in 2019. 

Let me know how I can help.