It’s an exciting time for established businesses to broaden their marketing efforts. Instead of relying solely on the channels that have worked for decades, smart businesses are now adding influencers to the mix. These brands have proven themselves across generations and built other channels into their reputations over time. This isn’t a sign of desperation or letting go of what’s always worked. Instead, it’s a natural expansion for brand growth.
For decades, established businesses have found a home within effective marketing channels. The fact that they are now transitioning to include influencer marketing shows that these are forward-thinking brands that know how to capitalize upon their existing achievements.
People Love Personal Recommendations
Established businesses know how to brand themselves through traditional channels like television and print. With these channels still bringing results, there’s now an added layer that makes the message all the more effective. If a creator uses the product and personally recommends it, their peer appeal adds a human touch that connects beautifully with their previously sponsored content.
For example, say an established financial services company has been around for decades. While a commercial they produce is polished and appropriate for the most sophisticated clients to trust, when a finance creator essentially breaks down what they offer in more relatable terms, it’s a two-pronged approach. Both rely on authority, but one is firmly established, and the other is an accessible peer recommendation. They serve on the same side of the coin to build trust.
Meeting Audiences Where They Are
Established businesses know where their consumers are today. Young professionals engage and interact via Instagram and TikTok. Parents see things through creator content. Even B2B employees look to niche influencers for insights and social recommendations.
When businesses add influencers to their marketing mixes, it gives them access to maintaining existence in the spaces where they already thrive while also showing up in the naturally frequented spaces where these consumers spend their time. Many companies seek out an influencer marketing agency in London or similar locations where these professionals can benefit from their expertise in this new space while simultaneously keeping their other marketing approaches intact.
Expanding Content Opportunities
Established businesses boast impressive in-house creative teams that produce great branding opportunities. Adding creator partnerships brings another layer of synergistic talent—people creating content on social platforms with great frequency on various channels and knowing what will work best for their audiences.
So, when they come together, it’s a powerful combination. The established company provides brand knowledge, quality products, and established presence. Creators provide intelligence about the new platforms, content creation skills, and authentic passion about their audiences. Together they create something neither could create as successfully alone.
Testing New Possibilities
One of the most exciting elements of influencer partnerships is the opportunity to test new possibilities for established businesses. A beauty brand that’s determinedly successful in one demographic can easily see whether its products work for different ages. A B2B software company can determine, through creator partnerships, that different businesses can benefit from its offerings.
These possibilities happen with speed—and real-time results show not only interest but purchase behavior. It’s like market testing on overdrive—and at no cost to the business, although it definitely comes with sales support.
Authentic Storytelling
Established consumers want authenticity today. Creators who tell their own stories authentically are masters at it. When a productivity creator, for example, partners with a project management tool they’ve explored over years of content creation, to their audience it’s a natural progression of content they’ve already been valuing.
An established business brings products that have proven reliable and a strong reputation from the get-go. The creator brings storytelling abilities and authentic voice. Together they create something that feels like public service rather than hard-sold marketing—something people genuinely want to watch.
The Ability To Go Deeper
Traditional advertising has always successfully cast a wide net of awareness, but when creators get involved, there’s another layer—the access to audiences who have already been built around reputable interests. When an established business partners with someone who’s been doing this successfully for a while, it’s not just an added number boost; it’s a number that has proven deeper engagement thanks to popularity.
For companies who rely on broadcast-style marketing, this opens up a whole new world of two-way communication—where consumers ask questions in comments, share their experiences, and ultimately become advocates. It’s a much deeper relationship established than what traditional advertising can provide from awareness.
Strong ROI
Savvy businesses venture into expanded avenues when they’ve seen positive results that render the investment worthwhile. Creator partnerships are generating incredible metrics that established businesses appreciate—with redemptions for discount codes often exceeding expectations and tutorial-based content showing clear engagement rates and viewer retention time through completion.
Thus, consumer acquisition costs are valuable comparison points against other channels over time for businesses established in these non-influencer venues for decades upon decades.
These companies analyze their investments methodically, yet they’re not just testing for influencer marketing; they’re growing influencer programs annually, and showing success across the boards.
There’s No Replacement—Only Supplementation
What’s most interesting is that these successful companies aren’t abandoning what’s always worked; they’re strategically using both efforts concurrently for greater good. Commercials create wide-spread interest among crowds; print ads offer prestige; digital efforts promote conversion; creator partnerships create personal recommendations with community conversation.
Businesses that are thriving today recognize there’s no need to abandon what has worked tirelessly in the past by complementing it with something new. Instead, it all adds up to a more complete picture across the board as part of the marketing mix that reaches consumers for multiple touch points—including various agendas easily interpreted from all angles—all reinforcing each other.