How Successful Is Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing has, in recent years, been considered as one of the most powerful marketing tools, not only in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, but all over the world. As the use of social media has spread exponentially over the years, social media personalities have gained tremendous influence and clout across a very wide audience and potential market base.
Data has shown that influencer marketing has been very successful despite still being in its infancy, and the trend seems to show that it will still evolve and become one of the key strategies for businesses and brands to better connect with and attract more audiences.
So, how successful is influencer marketing, really? Read on as we discuss just how impactful and effective influencer marketing is, and why it is one of the most essential marketing methods included in businesses’ toolkits in the MENA region.
How Popular is Influencer Marketing in the MENA Region?
Due to the popularity of social media platforms such as Tiktok, YouTube, and Instagram, influencer marketing has pretty much dominated the marketing landscape, quickly narrowing the gap with traditional advertising and marketing means.
This means that reaching consumers has become much more efficient and instantaneous, especially in the MENA region where the majority of the market utilize tech gadgets and are connected to the Internet 24/7.
A prime example of this is the UAE where it is reported that 99% of its population uses one or more of the most popular social media platforms, a rate widely considered as one of the highest in the world.
In addition, 94% of consumers in the MENA region actually trust and prefer influencers over traditional advertising media when making purchase decisions. This trend has opened doors for social media influencers to reach and engage with their audiences that are hyper-engaged and are heavily consuming social media content.
Particularly, platform such as Instagram and Tiktok are where most influencers thrive, and where businesses focus more on their influencer marketing efforts.
Why is Influencer Marketing So Effective?
Compared to other traditional forms of advertising, influencer marketing can be done on a more personal level as there is a more personal connection between the influencer and the consumer. For this reason, influencer marketing is considered nowadays to be more effective than other conventional marketing methods.
Through social media platforms, the audience can engage directly through likes and comments. They can also make content “viral” through sharing using their own accounts. This provides a more organic methods of spreading campaigns and media that would otherwise be considered as a one-way street.
In the MENA region where personal relationships are often regarded as key aspects of marketing, influencer marketing has been shown to generate more trust as well as customer quality, the latter of which can be measured via engagement and actual sales.
Influencer marketing also seems to stand out despite the constant stream of ads due to their sense of authenticity and relatability.
In fact, a survey has revealed that 80% of marketers believe influencer marketing to be the superior form of marketing for this reason and more. In addition, when it comes to customer quality, 71% of marketers believe that influencer marketing produces better results as well.
How to Measure Influencer Marketing Success?
In the MENA region as well as around the world, influencer marketing campaigns are measured through the following metrics:
Engagement Rates: Engagement rates pertain to how much interaction your content gets from your audience. Typically, influencer content have higher engagement rates than content coming from a particular brand. Consideration for a “good” engagement rate may vary, but can range from anywhere between 1 to 3 percent, with some content getting 7% engagement rate or even more.
Return on Investment: Return of Investment, or ROI, pertains to the amount earned based on a certain amount spent. For influencer marketing, studies have shown an average of $5.78 ROI for every dollar spent. This can vary from region to region, with numbers possibly being higher in the MENA region due to the high rates of success of influencer marketing in the area, specifically in fields such as lifestyle, fashion, and beauty, among others.
Brand Awareness: While not exactly measurable, an increase in brand visibility is a great indicator of influencer marketing success. Just like word-of-mouth, influencer marketing helps improve brand recall and plays a significant factor for purchasing decisions.
Brand Awareness: Influencer marketing enhances brand visibility. When influencers mention or promote a brand, their followers are likely to remember it. This is particularly useful in the MENA region, where word-of-mouth plays a significant role in buying decisions.
The Future of Influencer Marketing in MENA
Influencer marketing in the MENA region will continue to evolve, especially as the number of social media users continue to rise. In Saudi Arabia alone, 83% of the population are social media users. This represents over 29 million potential consumers.
We will also see a further increase of influencer marketing campaigns in platforms such as Tiktok, as it has been slowly but surely catching up with the social media giants such as Instagram and Youtube. Currently, there are over 125 million Tiktok users in the MENA region alone, and the platform itself provides more creative and engaging ways to provide content with high engagement value.
Culture and tradition-specific content may also be focused upon more, particularly in areas where Western lifestyles and beliefs are not the generally accepted norms. Endorsements and campaigns featuring local instead of international celebrities may become more prevalent especially in the MENA region as they would become more relatable due to religious or traditional similarities, among other factors, with the target audience.
As launching influencer marketing campaigns become much more accessible and less financially cumbersome, we may also see the rise of micro-influencers, who mostly have a smaller but more engaged group of loyal followers, as well as smaller local businesses that will aim to partner with these influencers to start their own campaigns to help keep up with the stiff market competition.
Lastly, there will also be challenges that influencer marketing will face, such as ensuring appropriate content based on commonly accepted traditions and values, licensing requirements, as well as the demand for transparency and full disclosure when in comes to paid promotions and endorsements.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing is not a fad, and it has been proven to be a very effective way for businesses to get the messages across. This applies not only for the MENA region, but all over the world.
As the number of social media users continues to rise, influencer marketing will also continue to thrive and evolve to fit the needs of the times and adapt based on arising technologies and trends.
Considered as the modern form of marketing, influencer marketing has been proven to foster more trust, create better connections with the audience, and, perhaps more importantly, deliver metrics important to businesses such as brand recognition and increase in sales performance.