Truth be told, big businesses around the world have at one time or another contracted services of experts in their niche to fulfil their goals such as scaling their business, launching their products and services into new markets, or growing a brand and so forth.
These experts and consultants are what we refer to here in this article as business influencers. Business influencers are not to be confused with other influencers such as social media influencers.
Today registering a startup may be as easy as singing your favourite song in the shower, however, the hard part is steering it to profitable growth and maintaining the running costs low.
This is where business influencers come in handy, with their expertise and ability to spot opportunities and business trends for startups to tap into. In addition, business influencers provide better ways to manage and run a business that can give a startup a major advantage over its competitors.
E-commerce and Business influencers: Worth tapping into for struggling startups or hype?
With the current wave of technological innovations, it is not business as usual on many fronts. E-commerce has become like lemonade, with both a sweet and sour taste in the mouth of many a business. As many cash in on the benefits of e-commerce others are nursing wounds with plummeting stock prices and high turnovers and vanishing customers. Attracting new customers has become a burden and a curse for startups and well-established businesses as well.
However, all is not doom, as e-commerce has also ushered in marketing strategies, tactics and trends. One such trend and tactic is the concept of business influencers who are salvaging businesses, among them startups with a shaky start or whose boat is rocking in the current troubled financial waters.
In this article, we will delve into the world of business influencer marketing to understand its concept, benefits, and importance for businesses, and whether the trend is mere hype or here to stay.
What is a business influencer?
A business influencer has authority and expertise in a given niche and by sharing what they know are able to influence others’ actions in a positive way be it a company or audience.
Business influencers use online and offline means to share a mix of knowledge and new trends in their area of focus/industry. The best business influencers are like trusted advisors and what they say is significant and can only be ignored at one’s peril.
Some of the well-known top business influencers are industry experts who also double as coaches, mentors, consultants, speakers and authors among them are Karl Lillrud, Tonny Robins, Simon Sinek, Gary ‘Vee’ Vaynerchuck, Ashley Dudarenok, Grant Cardone, Jordan Belfort, Igor Beuker, Saygin Yalcin, Peng Joon, to mention but a few).
Marketing and building your startup using business influencers marketing helps impact the visibility of a brand in a positive way, helps reach the target audience and creates or improves awareness.
12 benefits that startups can ignore at their own peril from bizinfluencing if they want to grow
Business influencing is becoming popular due to its sizeable benefits among them:
1. More awareness and visibility for the brand
When startups partner with business influencers, they are able to reach a wider audience and therefore increase awareness and visibility of their brand. Business influencers also have a following, that startups can tap into, as these followers often trust their recommendations, and as such a valuable asset for businesses looking to reach new customers.
2. Building a community and forming relationships
Business influencers not only promote products but also build relationships with audiences. By sharing content and insights, they create and establish strong relationships with their community of followers. This will then give startups a platform to engage with their target audience and form meaningful and loyal relationships.
3. Opportunities for partnering and collaboration
Business influencers work with businesses and brands and in our case startups to create mutually beneficial collaborations and partnerships. Collaborations can be in such areas as product development. Startups can leverage these collaborations to create brand awareness, generate sales and reach new customers.
4. Generate leads and make sales
A business influencer’s goal is to help generate leads and make sales for businesses in addition to the overall growth of a company. Business influencers in e-commerce have the expertise and know-how to help businesses reach their target audience and convert them into paying customers.
Business influencer marketing has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to generate sales and increase conversion rates, making it a valuable tool for businesses looking to grow. According to Businesswire news out of 10 buyers, an overwhelming 8 went on to shop for something recommended by an influencer. Even though the statistics were from a study conducted during the pandemic when because of quarantines people ordered most online leading to a spur in sales e-commerce has not slowed down.
5. Expertise and gain valuable insights
Startups can follow appropriate strategies and make informed business decisions by drawing from the expertise and insights of business influencers that have a great understanding of their industry.
6. Enhance startups’ content marketing efforts
Most business influencers also being great thought leaders can help startups in creating valuable content for a company’s marketing efforts, such as social media posts, website articles, or podcasts through their expertise and years of experience in their niche industry.
7. Create a better customer experience
Top business influencers understand that they need to add value to customer preferences, this will then help a startup to create a better customer experience.
8. Help to increase social media engagement
Most business influencers have a following of sorts online and offline, startups can tap into this to help to market their product or service.
9. Enhance customer loyalty
Startups that are struggling in finding loyal customers can collaborate with business influencers to build customer loyalty. This is because business influencers have a reputation and a voice of credibility in their industry and associating with these business influencers that are reputable will show potential clients that a startup values the opinions and insights of industry experts.
10. Generate media coverage
Imagine a heading that Robert Kiyosaki was at your startup webinar… it may just be a dream but imagine the benefits media publicity collaborating with a business influencer can help create for your products and services.
11. Search engine rankings can improve
Some renowned business influencers around the world who are also motivational speakers and thought leaders have a loyal following. This means collaborating with these top business influencers through backlinks to their website can help implicitly to improve a startup’s search engine ranking.
12. Shaping consumer behaviour
Business influencers in their work aid in shaping consumers’ behaviour. Since business influencers are seen as trusted advisors with expertise in their respective niches, potential customers are more likely to trust what a business influencer says than a post from a brand.
Business influencers can provide valuable insights and recommendations that may influence purchasing decisions of their audiences. Therefore, startups should not ignore business influencer marketing as they influence consumer behaviour and drive sales.
Is the Trend Here to Stay?
Is business influencer marketing in e-commerce a gimmick or some kind of hype one may wonder. Business influencer marketing suggests that the trend is here to stay and evolving. Thanks to online media business influencer marketing have become a valuable tool for businesses.
However, that said, the longevity of the trend may depend on some factors, the most important being if businesses are able to find and partner with the right business influencers, how sophisticated e-commerce innovation gets, the growth of social media, and how effective is business influencer marketing in driving sales for businesses.
One thing remains though, startups must be creative in using business influencers to increase awareness and brand visibility to reach their target potential clients in addition to the growth of their companies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, business influencer marketing provides businesses with a cost-effective way to reach their target audience, generate leads and drive sales, and shape consumer behaviour.
Businesses that are looking to grow and succeed in the e-commerce space will need to embrace business influencer marketing and find ways to leverage it to reach their target audience and drive sales. It is an investment that businesses can afford to ignore at their own peril, and it is a trend that is here to stay.
