As a Marketing Strategist, these days, you cannot afford to lose out on the upcoming trends. To stay ahead of the competition, adopt and integrate influencer marketing in your overall marketing strategy.

1. ADOPT THE TREND OF
INFLUENCER MARKETING
TO BETTER COMMUNICATE
WITH YOUR CONSUMERS.

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
 What is Influencer Marketing?..........................................................................1
 Why is Influencer Marketing a perfect opportunity today?.........................2
 Where to start?....................................................................................................3
 How are Canadians perceiving Influencers?...................................................4
 The role that Word-of-Mouth plays in driving sales for brands……………..5
 How has Covid-19 increased the importance of Influencer Marketing?...6
 How are brands leveraging their Influencer Marketing in the midst of
Covid-19?..................................................................................................................7
 A few last words……………………………………………………………………………....8

3. WHAT IS THE TREND ALL ABOUT?
Influencer Marketing has taken over the steering wheel in driving revenues for
brands in the past few years.
People usually look for recommendations from people who have used the
product and their reaction towards it.
Influential Marketers give out their honest opinion and feedback about a
product as a part of interaction with their audiences; audiences who look
forward to these recommendations because of the influencers’ knowledge
about a particular line of products.
This knowledge helps them engage with and advice their followers about ‘what
products are suitable for what kind of people’ which makes them conversation
catalysts.
1

4. Ed Keller and Brad Fray describe influencers as:
“Everyday consumers who are substantially more likely than the average
to seek out information and to share ideas, information, and
recommendations with other people.”
WHO ARE INFLUENCERS?
2

5. WHY IS INFLUENCER MARKETING A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY?
79% of marketers in the retail industry
are allocating greater share of resources
towards Influencer Marketing in Europe
and US.
The market size of influencer marketing
platform worldwide grew from $129
Million U.S. in 2017 to $161 Million U.S. in
2020.
The trend is expecting a continued
growth in the upcoming years. It is
expected to reach close to $375 Million
U.S. in 2027.
Note(s): Worldwide; 2017 to 2019
Further information regarding this statistic can be found on page 8.
Source(s): The Insight Partners; ID 1036560
129
137.1
148
161.9
179.1
200
225.1
254.4
288.6
328.1
373.5
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021* 2022* 2023* 2024* 2025* 2026* 2027*
Market
size
in
million
U.S.
dollars
3
(Insight Partners 2019)

6. Note(s): Canada; 2019
Further information regarding this statistic can be found on page 8.
Source(s): Retail Council of Canada; Salesforce.com; ID 992693
48%
34%
19%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Millennials & Generation Z Generation X Boomers & Traditionalists
Share
of
respondents
HOW ARE CANADIANS PERCEIVING ‘INFLUENCERS’?
A significant amount, close to a half, of
Millennials and Generation Z say that
they would likely buy products from
retailers who work with influencers.
This is solely because they trust these
influencers because of their authenticity
and honest feedback about a particular
product.
Thus, influencer marketing brings in a
good chunk of revenues for retailers as
the process is highly involving and gives
the consumers a broader perspective on
the products that they are going to buy.
4
(Retail Council of Canada 2019)

7. WORD OF MOUTH HAS PLAYED A KEY ROLE
IN DRIVING SALES FOR NUMEROUS BRANDS.
 Everyday consumers (influencers) are more likely to engage
into conversations with people, may it be digital or offline.
 Rather than focusing on the channel, a brand needs to be
people oriented.
 A lot of brands are often agitated about the negative word of
mouth, however the positive reviews outweigh the negative
ones by 8 to 1.
 Influencers generally look for information that other people
normally tend to overlook.
5

8. INFLUENCER MARKETING DROVE SALES
EVEN IN THE HOUR OF CRISIS:
 The restrictions that were placed in the midst of Covid-19 were for
all, including the influencers. So, it drove the influencers to focus
more on realism over routine.
 Thus, the influencers started making videos about how to stay fit,
what are the new skills that one can develop, how technology can be
used to our advantage.
 Influencers witnessed a 67.1% increase in likes and a 51.3% hike in
number of people that commented on their posts.
 This resulted into an enormous 72% increase in influencer #ad when
Covid-19 struck.
6

9. HOW ARE BRANDS LEVERAGING THEIR
INFLUENCER MARKETING IN THE MIDST OF
COVID-19?
a. Nordstorm, with the help of
their influencers,
communicated through
their videos on Instagram
on how shopping while
wearing masks is the new
normal.
b. Kroger used TikTok’s
platform to invite students
to transform their dorms
with the resources that
were available in their local
stores.
c. Ford invited influencers and
artists to a special event so
that they could drive pre-
orders for their newest
electric SUV: Mustang
Mach-E.
d. MADE, a British furniture
brand utilised their
customers and employees
as their influencers.
7

10. NEW WAY FORWARD?
 Influencer Marketing is undeniably the most
desired way forward, moving forward, for any
marketing strategist.
 Communication with consumers becomes
relatively easier. Arguably, influencers help
companies gain an insight into what customers
want.
 Looking at the current trend analysis, we can
definitely say that trend is on the rise and it’ll
bring in substantial amount of revenues for any
company that adopts the approach
8

11. Appendix
Insight Partners. (2019, July). Influencer marketing platform market size worldwide from 2017 to 2027 (in
million U.S. dollars). Statista. https://www-statista-
com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/statistics/1036560/global-influencer-marketing-platform-market-size/.
Keller, E., & Fay, B. (2016, April). How to use influencers to drive a word-of-mouth strategy. https://www-
warc-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/content/article/bestprac/how-to-use-influencers-to-drive-a-word-
of-mouth-strategy/107290.
Maduako, J. (2020, August). Influencer marketing strategies during COVID-19: the new landscape. www.
https://www-warc-com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/content/article/warc-exclusive/influencer-marketing-
strategies-during-covid-19-the-new-landscape/133821.
Tighe, D. (2020, November 27). Consumers who are more likely to buy from retailers or brands who
collaborate with influencers in Canada in 2019, by generation. https://www-statista-
com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/statistics/992693/effect-of-influencer-collaborations-on-retailer-brand-
choice-canada-by-generation/.
What's working in influencer marketing? www. (2020, September). https://www-warc-
com.libaccess.senecacollege.ca/content/article/warc-wwi/whats-working-in-influencer-
marketing/133930.