3 reasons why businesses need to team up with influencers right now

Influencer-owned brands are set to shake up the retail landscape this year as their social media dominance sees product sales surge. And savvy businesses can also reap the rewards.

Influencer and content creator success means major brands will soon be faced with two choices: to work with these content creators in a mutually beneficial way, or compete with them.

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Here are three advantages influencer-owned brands have, which are seeing sales go through the roof.

1. The unbeatable trust factor

Successful influencers have a direct connection with their target audience.

Thanks to years (or decades) of hard work, influencers usually have a loyal following of fans who trust and listen to opinion and recommendation.

Influencers can reach this audience directly and offer products and services that they know their followers will love.

This level of trust is very difficult for a traditional retail brand to replicate.

2. The advertising advantage

When it comes to marketing costs, influencer-run companies are often far more cost-effective to run.

Influencers can leverage their social media following to promote their products and services from very early on, eliminating the need for expensive marketing and advertising campaigns.

This cost advantage means some influencers are able to offer higher quality products at a much more affordable price.

And a more affordable price means the product is more accessible to a wider audience.

Influencers and content creators also have the added cost advantage of having a relationship with other influencers and content creators in the same industry.

Why pay for advertising if one of your ‘friends’ is willing to advertise your product to their following for free?

Many large businesses aren’t able to do this due to a conflict of interest.

3. The herd mentality

Influencer-owned brands are often able to create a surge in demand for products, with followers doing anything it takes to get their hands on whatever is being sold.

Why? The herd mentality.

Here’s a couple of examples:

Water bottle business Prime Hydration, run by YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI, experienced such a huge demand for its product that sales have appeared on the black market at inflated prices.

The $2.50 hydration drink was reportedly being sold at a UK store for over $120 a bottle and it's rumoured some fans have paid as much as $1,200 for a pack of 12.

In fact, demand is so high that the business owners took to YouTube to ask fans to stop buying their products, Forbes reported.

And then there is Mr Beast’s fast food competitor Beast Burger which has created over $100 million in revenue.

Or even top YouTuber, Emma Chamberlain and her coffee company Chamberlain Coffee which in August of last year closed a $7 million dollar funding round.

It’s not surprising that creators are following this path and creating their own brands - celebrities have been doing it for years.

Kendall Jenner has a tequila brand called 818.

The Rock has a tequila brand and an energy drink brand Zoa.

In fact, tequila seems to be a popular one - Breaking Bad’s stars Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston’s tequila also released their version: Dos Hombres.

Either way, the traditional retail landscape is more than ripe for hungry entrepreneurs to take their influence and go up against some business giants.

Who will be next?

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