In recent years social media influencers have become one of the most popular ways to advertise your business to the masses, with Bloomberg estimating that roughly $255 million is spent on influencer marketing each month, with that number expected to continue to rise. But are they actually worth the money? The rise of bots and bought followers means that any influence these “influencers” actually have, can be difficult to assess. Online followers can be bought for as little as 3c a follower, with likes and comments costing roughly the same amount. So why are businesses still spending money on advertising that might only get seen by robots? Studies have shown that consumers have a lot more trust in online influencers than they do in traditional advertisements and celebrity endorsements, with roughly 92% of consumers trusting influencers over advertisers. Statistics also show that roughly 30% of Internet users use some sort of ad blocker, which can have a big impact on the reach of any traditional digital advertising. As well as having more consumers trust, influencers can often be a lot more cost effective than traditional advertising. Posts from “micro-influencers” can cost under $100 and get you a reach of around 200,000 people. However just because someone has a lot of real followers, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have a lot of influence. Profiles of super celebrities usually have millions upon millions of followers and interaction between them and their followers is often non-existent, which in turn makes their recommendations seem a lot less authentic, causing people to just scroll straight past. The hard part is choosing the right influencer for your brand. At Haines we can go deep into an influencers profile and assess the types of followers they have, where they’re located and their level of engagement with the influencer. This allows us to find the best people to promote your brand, and make sure that all our clients are getting the most out of their advertising spend.