They show flaws, difficulties and genuine experiences with products. Influencer Marketing: The a clear example is when a tech influencer shows not only the qualities of a new smartphone, but also its real limitations in daily use.
This transparency creates a dataset bond that is impossible to replicate through a traditional advertising campaign.
The relationship goes beyond the transactional. When a follower follows an influencer for years, they develop a sense of familiarity and trust similar to that we have with close friends.
This is why an influencer’s recommendation often carries more weight in the final purchase decision.
The Impact of Influencers on the Purchase Decision Process
The game has changed completely. Before, consumers followed a linear decision path. Today, digital influence operates across multiple layers of the purchase funnel.
Research shows that 54% of users love knowing what products and brands their favorite influencers use.
Consider the practical impact: Pedro is considering buying a new pair of running shoes. Instead of Googling and visiting multiple stores, he goes straight to the conversion optimization for your language school stories of the fitness influencer he’s been following for years.
When he sees that his influencer has been using a certain model for months and speaks positively about its durability and comfort, Pedro skips several steps in the traditional decision-making process.
In my experience managing campaigns with creators, we have seen conversion rates up to three times higher when the product is contextualized within the influencer’s real routine, compared to traditional ads from the same brand.
The secret lies in demonstrating real, non-staged use, which generates immediate identification.
Essential Criteria for Choosing the Ideal Influencer for your Brand
The wrong choice is costly. Very costly. The number of followers is just the tip of the iceberg. The metric that really matters is genuine engagement.
An influencer with 10,000 highly engaged followers often delivers superior results than one with 100,000 passive followers.
And here I emphasize that brands need to analyze not only quantitative data, but also qualitative aspects such as the coherence between the influencer’s content and the company’s values.
Imagine a vegan brand sponsoring an influencer who constantly posts about barbecue. The result would be disastrous for both.
One example is the sportswear fax database company that hired a fashion influencer without checking her full background.
After investing significantly in the campaign, they discovered that she had harshly criticized similar products months earlier.
The lack of alignment resulted in a campaign that was perceived as inauthentic by the audience, causing more harm than good to the brand’s reputation.