3 ways peer influence boosts local businesses
Local influencers and celebrity influencers are not the same thing. Most of us have seen a celebrity or famous influencer share a product on social media, and no matter how many times they say it’s their “new favorite workout outfit,” we tend to feel like they’re just trying to sell us something. Because they are.
On the other hand, when a close friend, family member, or neighbor shares a favorite product or talks about their experience with a business, we tend to trust them. These people don’t consider themselves influencers, but when they share brands they love with their social media followers, that’s peer influencer marketing in action.
Harnessing this type of local influence is an affordable and effective marketing strategy, but it can be difficult to tap into without the right resources. Learn how creator platforms like Hummingbirds are transforming the way businesses grow their brands using local imafluencers.
who are local influencers?
Local influence occurs when someone, active in their community, shares about products, services, restaurants and other happenings in that one geographic area. Many of them, called local influencers, have smaller followings on social media (500 - 10,000) because they actually know and have relationships with most of their followers. Although their reach is limited, their smaller audience is highly active, engaged, and always looks forward to their posts.
Because there is trust between the creator and their audience, they can meaningfully influence their followers everyday lives. Many of these locals create content about what they’re doing on the weekends, what new sweater they just bought from a boutique downtown, or their experience at the new coffee shop.
How do local influencers work?
While many larger influencers rely on big brand sponsorships and affiliate links to make a living, many local influencers do not rely on their platform for income. Most have jobs outside of social media and see social sharing as a fun way to connect with their friends, family, and community.
Why Small Businesses Succeed with Local Marketing
1. Local Focus
Working with local creators generates a huge amount of buzz for your business within a specific, geographic community. When a local content creator shares about your brand on social media, you gain traction online, and news of your business also spreads in the community through word of mouth recommendations - an extremely powerful marketing tool that’s difficult to harness.
2. Local marketing is authentic
Mega influencers may have more followers than smaller, local people, but there’s no inherent trust built with their audience. One survey found 47% of respondents were tired of repetitive sponsored content from influencers. Even when presented in a casual, approachable way, it’s obvious when an influencer is promoting a brand that they don’t use themselves.
“In many ways, influencer marketing has become the antithesis of authenticity,” writes Kian Bakhtiari for Forbes.
To build authenticity, turn to local people and content creators within your community. According to Nielsen, 92 percent of consumers say they trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising.
3. working with locals is more affordable than influencers
It might cost half of your marketing budget to get just one post from an influencer with followers spread all over the world. And if you’re a locally-based brand, you won’t see much of an ROI by promoting your business to users living outside your community.
With a local creator or hummingbird, your budget goes a long way — and so does your reach. Most local creators don’t expect a big paycheck when working with a brand. Simply gifting a product, service, or experience is enough to get people excited to share about your business and support their community.
Hummingbirds have Local Influence in multiple cities Across the United States
The Hummingbirds platform helps drive local awareness and behavior in cities across the US by connecting place-based businesses with people in their community. These locals spread positive opinions in a genuine way, so the influence is authentic and long-lasting.
How to partner with Hummingbirds:
Chat with our sales team and selecting a pricing package that works for your brand.
Set up a campaign yourself or let our team do the work.
Select local content creators who already expressed interest in participating in your campaign.
Give them your ‘perk’ to experience your brand.
Watch as the buzz around your brand builds in the community though social media posts and word of mouth conversations!
Ready to learn more about how local marketing and peer influence can work for your company? Book a call or watch our free demo!
