Thinking about whether to invest in influencer marketing or paid social? We’re here to tell you why you should combine the two to maximize your results!

A lot has happened with social media marketing during the past years, and a notable change is the shift in focus – from mainly engagement and brand awareness, to the whole customer journey including click-throughs and conversions. Driving click-throughs and conversions have, traditionally, been goals for the paid social department and not something expected primarily from influencers.

Paid social offers powerful targeting and conversion capabilities, but unfortunately also lacks trust and validation. The online audience frequently use ad-blockers, and the majority prefer to buy and try new things that have been recommended by a real person rather than a traditional ad.

In fact, studies show that people prefer the more personal influencer generated content over the more static content created by a brand. As many as 2 out of 3 consumers state that they trust influencer messages about a brand more than the own company’s advertising about their own brand (1). Influencer marketing is perfect to obtain trust and credibility, but unlike paid social influencers have a reach limit and can’t do A/B-tests for conversions. 

The hybrid between paid social and influencer marketing is therefore a great way to get the best of the two worlds. The question should not longer be paid vs organic social. Rather, the question should be about finding the right balance between the two, in order to reach the right audience with the right message at the right time.

Another disadvantage of only doing influencer marketing is that after a few days, or even 24 hours, all the beautiful content created by the influencers is more or less lost in cyber space. When you combine influencer generated content with paid social you will extend the life span of the content and make it available for more people beyond the influencers’ followers. 

Want to know more about how you can maximize your results by combining influencer marketing and paid social? Don't hesitate to contact us!

(1) https://www.convinceandconvert.com/influencer-marketing/influencer-marketing-statistics/