Infleuncer Pro

Benefits of Influencer Marketing By: Ashley Hare Feature Editor

What is an influencer? With the rise and popularity of social media, an influencer is someone who uses a unique brand or one-time idea to impact an audience. There are various kinds of influencers ranging from micro-influencers, celebrity influencers, blog influencers and social media influencers. If you read my editorial column, I meet influencers frequently. Some of the biggest influencers I have met are David Dobrik, Lili Reinhart, DaBaby, Post Malone and Ariana Grande. Even if you think the influencers I support are dumb, stupid, and idiotic… I am 100% sure that you are influenced by someone. In reality, everywhere you look there is an influencer even if they aren’t “famous.” So why is it important to support and look up to these influencers? Influencers are changing the way we promote business and buy products. According to www.hireinfluence.com, Millennials are more connected to influencers and brands on a regular basis, due to their heavy use of mobile devices. These influencers create trends that serve a purpose in order to be considered “cool” and enhance lives. In addition, by 2020 the influencer industry is expected to reach up to 10 million dollars. For example, social media influencers Dixie and Charli D’Amelio have risen to fame on Tik Tok for their relatable dances and lip-syncing videos. One of their Tik Tok dances to Roddy Ricch’s song “The Box '' garnered Ricch’s song to be the Billboard Hot 100 number-one song becoming his most popular song worldwide. The dance alone received 4.6 million likes, 182.4K comments, and 166.4K shares. The sisters released a statement saying “"If you told me this is what our life would look like in 2020, I would not have believed it.” Their dances have become so popular that the NBA invited them to NBA All Star Weekend to teach basketball players the moves! And they even got invited to the NFL Super Bowl game to teach more players the moves! David Dobrik, a local native to Vernon Hills, Illinois, became social media famous through the app Vine. Now with over 11.6 million followers on Instagram and 4.5 million followers on Twitter companies such as SeatGeek and Chipotle have partnered with Dobrik. According to www.sideqik.com, SeatGeek approached Dobrik with a partnership where SeatGeek would provide Dobrik with certain amounts of money in exchange for Dobrik giving a promotional speech about the benefits of using SeatGeek. Thanks to Dobrik, SeatGeek has seen a 1,500% increase in their sales since the promotion through Dobrik. In addition, in April of 2019, Chipotle partnered with Dobrik to create a burrito named after the YouTuber for National Burrito Day. Chipotle offered the limited edition burrito menu item made specifically after Dobrik’s own Chipotle order. Influencer marketing is the future and is changing the world by storm. Influencers give brands and businesses an opportunity to connect with audience members, enhance brand awareness, and boost conversions. At one point, David Dobrik and Dixie and Charli D’Amelio were regular people like us. All it takes is one post, video, or blog for your life to change. Influencers are important individuals to look up to and nobody can change my mind. Influencers are changing the way we promote business and buy products." "