Should you be ashamed of yourself for falling victim to influencer marketing? Should you try to cover up the fact that you just bought a luxury item because you saw an influencer use that same item on Instagram? It seems no one is immune from this strangest and newest kind of Lakeland internet marketing.

Although far from novel, influencer marketing is basically the same as marketing on the grander scale. Except this time, the influencer industry has been dominated by local celebrities and social media personalities. They’re not actors, actresses, and models per se (although many of them dabble in these industries, too). Mostly, what influencers do is try to influence people into buying an item because they used it and they said it’s okay.

See just how powerful this type of Lakeland internet marketing is? How did this come to be? Influencer marketing became a powerful advertising tool because traditional methods of advertising and promotions aren’t working anymore. They have become less effective in attracting leads and customers.

A huge portion of your marketing budget will go to influencers this year. The numbers don’t lie. About 80% of marketers said that influencer marketing is effective and 89% said that it works better than traditional marketing channels. More than 71% of marketers believe that the quality of traffic derived from influencer marketing is better compared to other sources. And at least 50% of consumers said they depend on the recommendations of influencers when they do online shopping. Around 60% also said their decision has been influenced by a recommendation from a social media influencer.

Here’s another statistic that should astound you: Google reported that search for the term influencer marketing rose by 1500% in the last three years. If that doesn’t show interest, we don’t know what else does.

If you check out the social media pages of influencers, you will notice one thing about them. They like engaging with their followers. Even a tiny comment that says they look beautiful will get a thank you from most influencers. This is because when marketers try to search for an influencer to partner with, the level of audience engagement is one of the top considerations. The more that influencers engage with their audience, the more a marketer will be interested in doing business with them.

Why? In Lakeland internet marketing, engagement is critical in understanding what the audience seeks and expects. It is through their engagement with these influencers that marketers will get a glimpse of how to reach them more effectively for future campaigns.