I speak the language of millennials and they respond.

— Paul Logan

60 Minutes -Influencer Interview- 2016

I was born in 1985 and am considered a “millennial” unfortunately, I am not one to follow on social media like most millennials are known for. Being a mother of soon to be 3 children, a military spouse, disabled combat veteran, full-time student and full time career woman, I can barely find the time eat most days. So, following an influencer doesn’t quite fit in our crazy family schedule at the moment. My career does consist of posting on social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook for work related postings. If I do decide to follow a group or person most of time it is politically related, since we are a military family following and keeping up to date with current world events are very important not just for our family but also for our careers.

The influencer marketing approach through social media is becoming the most common marketing strategy since we’ve been in a social media/mobile boom the past few years. For most companies it is more cost efficient to take the influencer / social media marketing route. Paul Logan couldn’t have been more correct when he said in his 60 minutes Interview-Influencer, “I speak the language of millennials and they respond.” Most millennials are glued to their phones and glued to multiple social media outlets through out the day, making social media marketing using an influencer most effective. Influencers like Paul Logan, Huda Kattan, and Lele Pons only to name a few, have the most influence in todays society, reaching followers in the millions. Combine their millions of followers with todays top brands in the industry and BAM! target markets reached world wide. It’s a formula that just can’t fail in todays digital age.

Companies using influencers to market can utilize multiple marketing strategies. Some effective goals companies can consider when using influencers are, brand awareness: this strategy allows the influencers millions of followers to notice the companies brand, audience building: companies will have the influencers audience then follow the companies brand and become the companies followers, link building: I’m sure many of you have heard in influencers videos, “click on the link below,” with this strategy you can millions of followers to get linked back to a companies site, and most important, sales: using the following goals listed above can eventually lead to an increase in a companies sales.

A strong influencer can have multiple effective roles in a companies marketing strategy. They can be used a collaborator, as mentioned above, top brands in the industry who collaborate with a strong influencer whose followers reach the millions will make a great impact on a companies marketing strategy. Companies can use influencers as an inspirer, a top brand name such as Nike, their overall goal in their ad campaigns are to simply inspire their consumers. Another role an influencer can have is an amplifier, companies can identify influencers who are key players in a specific community to boost the effectiveness of their overall marketing campaign.

According to a generation survey conducted in 2018 millennials are projected to overtake baby-boomers as America’s largest generation. Consumers in todays society are inspired by the all things digital. In order for companies to keep up, they must keep up with the many fast changing digital technologies in order to remain relevant.