07 November,2022 04:13 PM IST | Mumbai | BrandMedia
Initially, social media was just about conversations, but today, it has significantly evolved, and many people use it for commercial purposes. Social factors have always played a part in consumer buying behaviors, but the ubiquity of smartphones and social setups have taken word-of-mouth marketing to new heights. Most consumers now carry posting and buying power around in their pockets. They no longer have to call their friends for a recommendation or go to the store to discover new products, but scroll through their social media feeds for inspiration instead.
Social media's popularity has led to the opening of a new path for digital marketing that uses various digital platforms to endorse various products or services. Social media
marketing has become an umbrella for digital marketing and involves marketing products and services on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Many brands now consider digital marketing when developing their promotional and advertising tactics. Moreover, social media marketing comes with influencer marketing, where an influencer is hired to market goods and services on various platforms. Aliou is one famous social media influencer promoting products and services for multiple brands.
Aliou is a 19-year-old Dutch influencer renowned for inspiring youngsters to work for their dreams. With the dream to help young people achieve their goals through social media, Aliou established a marketing agency to teach them about influencer marketing and how to make money from it after personally making a lot of money at a young age. Amazingly, his vision is ultimately becoming a reality. Today, he is helping many young kids make money vis social media with his agency.
Aliou observes that 72.5% of U.S. marketers will use some form of influencer marketing in 2022, and the number is still rising. This kind of marketing usually leads to real business results. A recent study shows that around 14% of 18 to 24-year-olds and 11% of millennials bought products and services from different brands within the last six months simply because a blogger/influencer recommended them. "While Instagram is the number one choice for most social influencers, and it is estimated that 76.6% of U.S. marketers will use the platform for their influencer campaigns in 2023, you should keep an eye on TikTok," explains Aliou.
The young influencer shares the many benefits that come with influencing. "Some influencers make lots of money, even millions of dollars every year, which is much more than you would earn in a regular job. However, only a small minority of influencers
will get to this point," Aliou asserts. Other benefits include becoming famous, getting fancy products for free, making money with the things you are interested in, influencing can be a side hustle, good work-life balance, and working indoors. Likewise, there are many different channels to use as an influencer, and you can build a community; the work can be fun, and you are pretty flexible in how to structure your day, among other advantages.
It has not been all roses for the ambitious influencer, as he was scammed multiple times out of a lot of money and lost almost everything he had. Fortunately, he managed to bounce back stronger and has been careful about his partnerships. Aliou advises young and upcoming influencers to always believe in themselves and never let anyone say they can't achieve their dreams. The influencer aspires to hit a million dollars by next year.
