By: Joshua Finley
Would you follow the advice of a marketing company and sponsor Cristiano Ronaldo as the spokesperson for your brand of exclusive cookware? After all, he has 639.6M followers on Instagram. If you were unconvinced that Renaldo, although gifted with a soccer ball, might not be the ideal choice to be the spokesperson for your bespoke kitchen products, you’d be right.
Influencers contribute to an industry worth $24 billion by 2024, and, as marketers are finding, an effective and strategically sound influencer marketing program is not all about the number of followers. There are many other considerations to take into account before a company signs with an influencer.
Making the right choice is important. Done right, influencer marketing is a cost-effective way for businesses to boost brand awareness and sales.
SMBs are dedicating larger portions of their budgets to influencer campaigns, especially on platforms like TikTok, where 69% of brands are active. TikTok, with high engagement from nano-influencers, is considered the profitable platform, outperforming Instagram and YouTube.
The success of influencer-driven marketing hinges on choosing the right spokesperson. While many creators can boost your brand’s visibility, achieving a strong ROI requires a thoughtful match. Partnering with influencers whose values and content align with your brand ensures their messaging feels authentic.
When businesses get this alignment right, they tap into influencers’ power to create genuine connections, transforming those relationships into targeted, results-driven strategies that resonate with the desired audience.
LaToya Shambo, CEO of Black Girl Digital, has elevated influencer marketing to a science. She brokers partnerships between multimillion-dollar brands and Black female influencers while helping brands refine their creative and messaging to authentically connect with both influencers and the Black audience.
According to Shambo, organizations need to be extremely focused when it comes to influencer marketing. Although the use of influencers is extremely cost-effective, it is also possible for an organization to waste scarce resources on campaigns that are unfocused, and provide very little return on investment.
The Follower Fallacy
The number of influencers in the United States continues to grow. In 2022, 3% of the U.S. population qualified as influencers, up from 2% in 2020. While these percentages appear small, the U.S. ‘influencer density’ – the share of influencers in the population is nearly double that of Europe, where it’s 1.6%.
These influencers offer marketing companies a wealth of choice and influencers who can stay the distance boast stable or growing numbers of followers. According to Shambo, the key to effective influencer-driven marketing success depends on selecting the right spokesperson, and it’s not all about the number of followers they have.
Shambo explains, “While many creators can elevate your brand, achieving strong ROI requires a strategic match. Partnering with influencers whose values and content align with your brand ensures authentic messaging. When businesses get this right, they tap into influencers’ ability to create genuine connections, turning them into focused, results-driven strategies that resonate with target audiences.”
Black Girl Digital helps brands build deeper relationships with creators and their audiences. Shambo emphasizes it’s not just about follower count. “Choosing an influencer based on followers alone is a mistake. Selection must be guided by focus and consumer needs. Marketers need to shift toward measuring the impact of messaging and the influencer-consumer relationship.”
“At Black Girl Digital, we say, ‘In a world full of noise, we don’t just create content; we create connections.’ Our mission is to find the right person and ensure they deliver value. While data on reach and engagement is important, relying solely on numbers isn’t enough. It’s about balancing reach with cost-effectiveness and understanding your audience.”
Caveat Emptor – Beware the Buyer
The thriving influencer ecosystem functions without clear regulation, making it next to impossible for marketers to make a risk-free influencer choice.
The absence of oversight results in misuse: platforms regulate content exposure with little or no transparency, there is no payment regulation, and marketers (as well as the influencers themselves) play with statistics. Influencers may mislead about their credentials or exaggerate their engagement with followers and ability to grow brands.
Without suitable control, everyone faces risks, emphasizing the necessity of legislation to ensure fairness and reliability.
As demand for influencer marketing services grows, so does the need for skilled professionals to manage campaigns. However, the limited pool of suitable talent makes meeting this demand drought with peril.
Shambo notes the real consequences for organizations looking to leverage influencers:
“While influencer marketing can deliver exceptional ROI, it can also become a money pit. Regulation is overdue. It’s time the IAB and FTC unite to provide a framework that offers peace of mind to reputable influencers and marketing companies.”
Black influencers hold significant power in shaping consumer decisions, with their trusted recommendations influencing followers. Through social media, they foster community and loyalty, giving brands access to valuable insights that help tailor products and services. In essence, Black influencers bridge the gap between brands and their audiences, driving meaningful connections and consumer behavior.
However, navigating the complex and often chaotic world of influencer relations requires a deft touch, especially when addressing a highly focused demographic. Organizations like LaToya Shambo’s Black Girl Digital provide a specialized service that can prevent costly mistakes when it comes to choosing influencers.
A lack of focus can doom an influencer campaign, as seen with Cristiano Ronaldo (mentioned earlier in this article).
In the real world, Ronaldo partnered with a Japanese brand to promote the ‘Facial Fitness Pao,’ a mouthpiece with propellers meant to strengthen facial muscles. It’s a classic case of marketers being dazzled by follower numbers, leading to confusion among fans as to why a soccer star would endorse a questionable facial product. While it attracted attention on social media, it wasn’t the kind the brand hoped for, and sales were lackluster.
For successful influencer programs, sound advice and basic logic are key. Discover more about Black Girl Digital and LaToya Shambo’s audience-focused strategy by visiting her LinkedIn page.
Published By: Aize Perez
