“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” ~ Jeff Bezos. This statement has been proven true time and again and no matter how sophisticated or data-driven marketing apparatus gets, word-of-mouth marketing is the age-old tool that never rusts. In the digital age, however, spreading the word around has got a new meaning in the form of influencer marketing. 

Although influencer marketing has been dominating the digital space for a while now, there are still a lot of myths and misconceptions about it. For instance, it is believed that influencer marketing primarily deals in fashion or lifestyle and for a software company or SaaS-based organization, this marketing tool will not work. This assumption is far from true as several influencers are creating a buzz in the tech world. 

Boasting 16.2 million subscribers on YouTube, Marques Brownlee is one of the most popular tech influencers on the web. Brownlee regularly posts software and phone reviews on his platform which garners millions of views each time. The tech Guru is not just known for his insightful content, he has also hosted big names like Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama, Sundar Pichai, Bill Gates and many more on his channel. Such is his impact on the online community. 

Similar to Marques, several tech influencers may be working on a small scale, but are inspiring their audience with their knowledge and expertise. It, therefore, makes absolute sense for Saas companies to work with these influencers to promote their services and products on the web. 

It is becoming more and more imperative that Saas organisations keep aside an “influencer marketing budget” as it will benefit them in the following ways -

#1 Self-promotion can be limiting 

In the advertising world, self-promotion has definitely taken a backseat in the last few years mainly because of its limiting nature. While self-promotion may not necessarily be a bad thing, it often doesn't translate to customer trust. It makes a bigger impact if a third party talks about the brand, product or service. Influencer marketing does exactly that. SaaS companies can partner with social media influencers to review their products in a fair capacity. This brings in more credibility at the end of the consumer, as they can make informed decisions. 

 #2 Best way to reach out to the target audience

Influencer marketing allows marketers to directly connect with their audience. Most influencers have a very niche audience base. The interest of their audience aligns with their own. Therefore an influencer marketing campaign is a very targeted form of marketing. SaaS marketers can directly reach out to the target audience and effectively measure engagement rate and ROI. 

#3 Helps build trust and credibility

Trust is a big factor in the domain of influencer content marketing. A good majority of creators don't work for money and will decline endorsement deals if it isn't relevant to their persona. This particular nature of influencer marketing enables brands to build trust and credibility amongst the target audience which sponsored ads on Instagram and Facebook are unable to create. 

#4 The scope is not just limited to tech influencers 

Tech influencers may seem to be the best fit for influencer marketing for most Saas-based products, however, the scope is not just limited to them. For instance, a company that makes photo/video editing software can also target content creators in the domain of fashion, travel, beauty etc. Influencer marketing definitely offers a wider audience reach. 

#5 Robust content creation 

Whenever any brand or a SaaS organization ties up with a social media influencer, the onus of creating the content lies on the influencer. Most influencers are thorough with the job and create really innovative and interesting content on behalf of the brand or the product company. 

Although the company vets the content that finally gets published, the entire process of brand plug-in, shoot and video editing is done by the influencer themselves. They are also open to suggestions and improvements in the content. This is both time and effort-saving. 

Final Thoughts

Influencer marketing is the best fit for both large and small enterprises that are looking for engaging, fast and relevant ways to create brand awareness. An organization with any size budget can start with influencer marketing. It is a time-saving and cost-effective strategy which can also be measured and quantified. galleri5 creator stack has a varied set of influencers and a powerful dashboard that helps SaaS organizations collaborate with content creators across platforms to achieve and exceed campaign goals!