Influencer marketing is reshaping digital strategies, helping brands build trust, connect with target audiences, and spark meaningful engagement through authentic, creator-driven content. As consumer habits shift, businesses are adapting - and it’s working. In fact, 78% of UK consumers now trust influencer recommendations more than traditional ads.
In this guide, we’ll explore what influencer marketing is, understand why it’s booming, how to choose the right influencer for your brand, and where this strategy is heading as time evolves.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing is when a brand teams up with an individual with a social media presence to promote its products or services to that person’s followers. Influencer marketing has changed the way businesses connect with its customers. Instead of faceless ads, brands can speak through real people, who already have the trust of their audiences, making their messages feel more authentic and relatable.
For example, DFDS tapped into the power of influencer marketing by teaming up with Alfie Watts, a rising travel content creator with over 200,000 Instagram followers. Following his appearance on Race Across the World, Alfie began sharing his low-budget travel adventures to various destinations.
DFDS launched a challenge-style campaign with Alfie, daring him to visit as many countries as possible in 24 hours. He kicked off the journey using a DFDS ferry, which showcased the flexibility of DFDS’s transport options while allowing him to create engaging content for his followers. The partnership helped DFDS reach a younger, travel-hungry audience in a fun and authentic way.
Why has influencer marketing become so popular?
Influencers are a cost-effective marketing tool
Influencer marketing is often cheaper than traditional advertising, especially when using micro-influencers who have engaged and loyal followers. This can free up budget to invest in other areas of the business.
Influencers can reach a high volume of existing and targeted audiences
With influencer marketing, businesses can strengthen their connection with existing customers and tap into new audience segments. By selecting the right influencer, brands can reach highly targeted audiences with personalised tailored messages.
Influencers can boost businesses’ SEO and online presence
Influencer marketing boosts a brand’s online visibility and reputation by generating valuable mentions, backlinks, and social shares. Through the increased engagement, businesses can improve its search engine rankings, which helps build a stronger online presence.
Influencers have established trust and reliability from followers
Consumers tend to trust recommendations from influencers they follow. By building personal, authentic relationships with their audiences, influencers have been able to develop trust with their followers, so their endorsements feel more genuine and persuasive. When a business works with an influencer, their genuine connection with their followers makes your products feel real and relatable.
How to choose the right influencer for your business
Set out your goals
It’s important to set clear goals from the start, whether you're aiming to drive sales, boost brand awareness, or enhance content creation. These goals will guide you in choosing the right influencer who can deliver the results you need.
Understand your target audience
You need to identify exactly who you want to reach. You should focus on traits like age, gender, location, interests, and values. Then, identify which platforms they use most, whether it’s Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. This will allow you to select influencers whose followers closely match your ideal customer and ensure your message lands with the right people in the right places.
Consider the type of influencer you’re looking for
You should match your influencer choice to your budget and goals. Work with nano-influencers (1K–10K followers) for high engagement in niche communities or choose micro-influencers (10K–100K) to target specific audiences. Go with macro-influencers (100K–1M) for broader exposure, or partner with mega-influencers (1M+) to reach massive audiences and boost visibility fast.
Make sure the influencer aligns with your brand
Businesses should check the influencer’s tone and style to make sure it fits your brand. This is to ensure you align with their values and messaging, as well as reviewing past partnerships to avoid conflicts with competitors. It’s best to choose someone who genuinely represents your brand.
Look into the influencer’s engagement metrics
Ask influencers for key performance metrics before you commit. Review their audience demographics, check engagement rates, and look at past campaign results. If possible, get click-through or conversion data to see how well they drive action. You can use these insights to choose influencers who can deliver real impact.
How to get influencers to promote your brand
Businesses can pay influencers in a few simple ways. You might offer a fixed fee for a post, negotiate pay based on performance like clicks or sales, or give a commission through affiliate links. Alternatively, you may send free products instead of money, especially to smaller influencers. For ongoing work, you can pay a monthly fee or bundle several posts into one package. Payment can be agreed based on views, clicks, or actions to track results.
It’s important to actively brief influencers before any content goes live. Clearly outline your key messages, brand guidelines, and campaign objectives so they understand what you want to achieve and how to represent your brand. Define the tone, visual style, and any required elements like hashtags or calls to action. Set expectations around timelines, content formats, and approval processes to keep everything on track and aligned. A strong brief helps influencers create content that feels authentic while still delivering on your goals.
What is the future of influencer marketing?
Increased opportunity for businesses working with micro-influencers
Smaller influencers from 1,000 to up to 100,000 followers are delivering strong results for brands. Their authentic content and niche target audiences often lead to higher trust and better conversion rates than larger creators.
Influencer platforms will continue to evolve into sales channels
TikTok and Instagram now let influencers sell your products in real time through live shopping. This allows them to turn their content into direct sales and driving faster results for your business.
Influencers are shifting from scripted to personalised storytelling
Influencers are focusing less on perfect content and more on real, personal stories that build trust and boost engagement. When influencers share real their emotions, their followers are more likely to trust their recommendations. This can lead to higher brand credibility.
Performance-based partnerships
Brands are shifting to pay influencers based on results as opposed to fixed payments. This puts greater emphasis on metrics such as clicks, sales, or engagement. This allows both sides to benefit directly if the partnership is successful.
If you’re looking for finance to help with influencer marketing or cover other costs involved in starting or growing a business, get in touch with us to find out more.
