Powerful Impact of Social Media Influencers on Consumer Behavior

Firstly, The impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior is huge and plays a big role on the brands we pick and buy on a daily basis.

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An influencer is someone with a large following on various social media platforms i.e. youtube, tiktok, instagram, twitter, etc. These people have the power to affect the opinions of millions. This is the reason why brands hire influencers to promote certain products or services either to launch something new or increase the sales of a product or service that already exists.

Their followers have a sense of loyalty and trust towards them. This leads them to believe that their favorite influencers will never promote a product or service if it isn’t good quality and reliable.

Read Also: How to become a TikTok Influencer?

What is Consumer Behavior?

Consumer Behavior refers to the purchasing decisions of people. Influencers have the power to affect consumer behavior in both negative as well as positive ways. Companies pick influencers based on the type and quantity of audiences they want to reach. This is a powerful marketing tool in order to make people adopt certain trends set by their favorite influencers.

There have been numerous occasions when a company has used the shoulders of influencers or celebrities as a stepping stone to launch a new product or service or make an existing one popular. Following are five examples of the same:

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna
FitTea and Instagram Fitness Influencers
Daniel Wellington Watches
The TikTok Leggings
MrBeast’s Burger Launch

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna

Rihanna is a popular singer in Hollywood. Fenty Beauty is a brand founded by Rihanna in 2017. The brand focuses on cosmetics, but mainly, inclusive beauty. Her vision for this brand was “Beauty For All”. The brand had 40 shades of foundations and now has 50. It is inclusive of all skin tones i.e. from the lightest shades of caucasians to the darkest shade that exists.

Since Rihanna was a famous singer/ celebrity herself, she acted as the main influencer to reach larger audiences and promote and launch her brand. She used Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter and collaborated with various other influencers as well that belonged to different ethnicities and races. Her goal was simple, to represent the beauties of all races and embrace diversity.

FitTea and Instagram Fitness Influencers

Michael Gonzalez, CEO founded FitTea in 1995. The company sells detox teas focusing on audiences that have concerns about making their lifestyle healthier and controlling weight. FitTea collaborated with fitness influencers on Instagram in order to promote their product.

This was a smart marketing tool as the audience that follows fitness influencers are exactly the kind of people who would be interested in detox teas for weight control and better overall health. The goal of this campaign was to associate with instagram influencers who have a trusting loyal audience and have them share their positive experiences about the product.

In the end, they were successful in building awareness about the brand among people interested in fitness and making changes to enhance their lifestyle.

Daniel Wellington Watches

Filip Tysander founded Daniel Wellington Watches in 2011. The brand is known for its simple and stylish designs in watches. The brand sells watches with interchangeable straps, making the product flexible for various occasions be it formal and casual.

The brand decided to associate with instagram influencers and had them wear the product making it a part of their personal style. The goal of this campaign was to create a trend for Daniel Wellington Watches and increase demand.

They also gave discount codes to the influencers that they shared with their audience. This increased sales and made the brand popular and well known amongst the social media audience.

The TikTok Leggings

The TikTok Leggings are by the brand Seasum. These were introduced in November 2020 and went viral on TikTok. The product was also called Booty Leggings as they claimed to make the butt of whoever wears it seem bigger. They were made from a combination of fabrics polyester, nylon, Lycra and spandex and could stretch in all four directions.

The goal of the campaign was for influencers to create a trend around the leggings by wearing them and making it part of their personal style. It became one of the most talked about products on TikTok. Once they were successful in creating a trend, the later success of the product was because of comfort as well as affordability.

However, they got banned around 2021 for promoting toxic beauty standards due to the shapeshifting feature of the leggings.

Mr.Beast’s Burger Launch

Mr.Beast, the famous youtuber launched a fast food brand in December 2020. It was a partnership between Mr.Beast and Virtual Dining Concepts, LLC. It is a virtual chain with a menu consisting of fries, burgers, beverages etc. They use ghost kitchens and food delivery platforms like UberEats, DoorDash and PostMates.

This gives opportunity to already existing kitchens without a dining area and reduces overhead cost. Mr.Beast himself promoted his brand to his huge following and was successful in building excitement quickly. Mr.Beast Burger then spread in many cities in the US and in some international areas as well.

Conclusion

In conclusion, social media influencers play a powerful and undeniable role in shaping our minds. This gives companies and brands a chance to reach a specific set of audiences based on which they choose which influencer should promote their product or service.