There will be around 2.13 billion social media users worldwide in 2016, according to a report by Statista.com. There was a time when social media used to be a platform for pleasure seekers only, looking to connect with friends and family. But today, it has become one of the most significant content marketing tools for businesses.

At least 54% of content marketers are facing challenges of creating content that boosts engagement, according to Hubspot. Content marketing has become noisy, ineffective, and focused primarily on bombarding people with content. Quite obviously, capturing the fancy of today's discerning audiences seems to be a piper's dream, no matter how creative you are in your content endeavors.

So, now the question arises, how do you get a word out about your brand and business? This is where influencer marketing comes to the rescue of content marketers. In fact, a fair share of content marketers, believe influencer marketing to be the next big thing.
Let's explore what exactly is influencer marketing and how can it help you add spark to your content endeavors.

What is Influencer Marketing? 
Kyle Wong reveals, in one of his blogs posted on Forbes, that Influencer Marketing is the newest form of marketing that's focused on key individuals rather than the target market as a whole. Influencer marketing involves convincing key personalities with big followings, established credibility and audience to promote your business, products or services. Given the lucrative rewards and returns, it makes sense for content marketers to drive their marketing engine with the fuel of influencer marketing.

So, now you can understand how influencers can yield your brand big success and spread a word about your business and brand. But who are these influencers and where would you find them?

Who are Influencers?
Econsultancy.com explains that influencers are individuals who have the ability to influence the opinionsor buying decisions of your target audience. They may be anyone, celebrities, journalists, or even bloggers. Influencers typically have massive following on social media or blogs. A report reveals that 90% of consumers trust recommendations, especially by influencers. So when an influencer recommends a product or a service, it seems more trustworthy than any other forms of traditional advertising.

How to Find Influencers?
There are no silver bullets to find influencers to get a word out about your brand. Mavrck.co explains that it takes considerable time and efforts to find the right influencers to promote your brand's content. First things first, you'll need to find out people having massive fan following. Find out if they write on topics that are relevant to your target audiences. Then, you'll need to analyze if their content gets shared and the reach of their content. Finally, when you find influencers in your niche, get them to share your branded content.

One-size-fits-all approach doesn't work when it comes to picking right influencers. So, be careful of picking up only those who write about your niche industry. Remember, if someone doesn't have expertise and credibility related to your target audience, they'll never be good influencers for your business, irrespective of their large number of followers.

Why Launch Influencer Marketing Campaign? 
"Influencer marketing is a powerful tool in today's highly competitive business environment. In fact, nurturing relations with influencers is perhaps the best way to get your target audience excited, and engaged and turn them into your brand's promoters" says Rahul Aggarwal, founder and director ofDesignhill.

Are you still hesitant to use influencer marketing? Here, we present you three vital reasons why you must launch an influencer marketing campaign today.

1. To Win the Battle for Attention - With so many businesses out there on social media, the competition has become fierce than ever. You've got to battle it out with other business and other sites. But today's discerning audiences look for and essentially demand content that gets them involved, creating more personalized and memorable experience. This is where influencers can provide you an optimal solution. You can collaborate with the right influencers to push in your brand's content amongst their followers and spark an organic conversation around your brand.

2. To Get To The Top - Besides helping you win the battle for attention on social media, influencer marketing also helps you win the rat race of ranking on the SERPs. Hubspot reveals that user-generated content from social media updates make for 25% of search results. So rest assured, the more people talk about your brand on social media, the better your ranking will be on Google.

3. To Explore The Power of Potential - There are only a few other ways of publicity that work better than word-of-mouth advertising. In fact, word of mouth publicity generates two times more sales than paid advertising. So, what better way to leverage word of mouth publicity for your brand's content than influencer marketing? It provides you with a rare opportunity to promote your brands' content through personalities that consumers already follow and admire.

Are you into influencer marketing for your business? What are the challenges that you're facing? Please share your stories with us in the comments section below!