Influencer marketing services: the benefits and the opportunities
Introduction: The New Frontier of Influence
What are influencer marketing services?
Let’s start with the fundamentals. What are influencer marketing services?
Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that involves collaborating with individuals, known as influencers, who have a dedicated and engaged following on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, or blogs. These influencers have built trust with their audience, and they can shape opinions or influence purchasing decisions through content that feels authentic and personal. Influencer marketing services are what influencers provide to brands as their offering.
According to the latest data from the Q1 2025 Sprout Pulse Survey, teams say influencer marketing services are essential for boosting brand awareness, building audience engagement and trust, and driving revenue.
What are the key characteristics of influencer marketing?
Trust and Authenticity: Influencers are seen as relatable and trustworthy, often more so than traditional ads.
Niche Audiences: Influencers often specialise in topics (e.g., interiors, fashion, tech, business, wellness), allowing brands to target specific audiences.
Content-Driven: Campaigns are usually delivered through creative content, including photos, videos, blog posts, livestreams, etc.
Platform-Driven: The strategy varies depending on the platform: TikTok for short-form entertainment, LinkedIn for B2B thought leadership, YouTube for deep dives or reviews, and so on.
The Rise of Influencer Marketing in B2C and B2B
Over the past decade, influencer marketing has evolved from a niche tactic to a mainstream strategy across both consumer (B2C) and business (B2B) sectors. In B2C, social media influencers have become trusted voices for product discovery and lifestyle inspiration, especially on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Brands now rely on these creators to drive engagement and foster authentic connections with targeted audiences.
In B2B, the growth has been more recent but equally significant. Professionals with niche expertise and strong industry followings, particularly on LinkedIn, are increasingly being seen as credible brand advocates. Rather than flashy promotions, B2B influencer marketing focuses on thought leadership, education, and peer-to-peer trust.
As digital noise grows, both B2C and B2B brands are turning to influencers to cut through the clutter and communicate with credibility. In 2025, this approach is becoming a central pillar of modern marketing strategies.
According to Sprout Social:
For B2B marketers, investments in influencer marketing aim to increase brand awareness (67% of respondents), build credibility and trust (54%), improve audience engagement and loyalty (37%), co-develop products together (29%) and grow revenue (24%).
The shift in platform preference
As we mentioned, different platforms serve different strategies, with LinkedIn becoming the preferred platform for thought-leadership content. With the recent demise of X, other brands have also sought to compete with LinkedIn. Platforms such as BlueSky and Threads promote short-form content, much like X, and we’ve seen an exodus to these platforms from many social media users, in particular, design journalists and industry figures.
Why Influencer Marketing Matters in 2025
Influencer marketing is no longer a fringe strategy—it has become a cornerstone of brand communication in both consumer and professional spheres. A Sprout Social’s 2025 report notes that 60% of brands plan to increase their influencer marketing budgets, signalling a strong vote of confidence in its effectiveness. But what’s driving this momentum?
Decline of Traditional Advertising Trust
Consumers and professionals alike are increasingly sceptical of traditional ads. Instead, they turn to trusted voices — people they follow, admire and relate to. Influencers bridge the gap between brands and audiences with authenticity, storytelling, and real-life context that banner ads can’t replicate.
Algorithm-Friendly and Engaging
Social platforms reward personal content over brand-generated posts. Influencers, with their high engagement rates and active communities, often outperform brand pages in reach and resonance. By tapping into influencer content, brands ride the wave of algorithmic preference and gain broader visibility.
Micro and Niche Influence
2025 is seeing a surge in micro- and nano-influencers, creators with smaller, tightly engaged audiences. These influencers offer highly targeted reach and often deliver better ROI than celebrities or mega-influencers, particularly for niche products or services.
Evolving Platforms and Audiences
With platforms like Bluesky attracting a growing base of news and cultural influencers, and others like TikTok, LinkedIn, and Instagram continuing to evolve, the influencer landscape is becoming increasingly diverse. Brands now have more strategic options for reaching audiences in contextually relevant ways, whether through short-form video, professional thought leadership or community discussion.
The BBC recently reported that in the US alone, more than half (54%) of people get news from networks like Facebook, X and YouTube, overtaking TV (50%) and news sites and apps (48%), according to the Reuters Institute. This might not come as a surprise to many in today’s digital age, but for brands, it emphasises the importance of having a more diverse approach to media and communications, with digital channels being integrated more consistently into communication plans.
At Sandford, we set up our digital marketing team 8 years ago in response to what we saw back then as a growing and important need. Our diverse skill sets and expertise enable us to think beyond traditional media, balancing both traditional and digital opportunities to maximise success across publications and on social media.
Influence Beyond Sales
Influencer marketing in 2025 isn’t just about product promotion. It supports broader brand goals like reputation building, community engagement, and thought leadership. This is especially true in B2B, where long-term trust is more valuable than instant conversions.
In essence, influencer marketing matters in 2025 because it meets modern audiences where they are: seeking authenticity, value, and connection, rather than a sales pitch.
According to Sprout Social, the best brand and influencer collaborations are:
The Expanding Opportunities for Brands
Platform Evolution
It’s no secret that as a platform, X has seen a sharp decline, with the noted “X-odus” being seen as a cultural moment. The Financial Times reported that X’s global user base decreased from 368 million in 2022 to 335 million in 2024, losing approximately 33 million users. With Elon Musk’s heavy involvement in US politics, this has seemingly declined further since.
Conversely, by January 29, 2025, Threads had hit 320 million monthly users, marking steady growth in the platform’s first 18 months (Source: Wikipedia), and Bluesky soared from 13 million users in October 2024 to over 33 million by March 2025, doubling in just a few months.
Audience Segmentation
One of the most powerful advantages of influencer marketing in 2025 is precision targeting. Through micro-influencers (typically 10k–100k followers) and nano-influencers (under 10k followers), brands can connect with highly specific audience segments that are often difficult to reach through traditional media or broader digital advertising.
These smaller-scale influencers tend to have stronger community ties and higher engagement rates, making their recommendations feel more personal and credible. Whether it’s a vegan food blogger with a hyper-local following or a LinkedIn sustainability expert with an audience of ESG professionals, micro- and nano-influencers offer authentic access to well-defined, interest-based communities.
For PR and marketing teams, this means campaigns can be tailored not just by age or geography, but by lifestyle, values, profession, or even cultural subgroups, enabling message relevance at scale.
Cross-Channel Integration: Syncing Influencer Campaigns Across Paid, Owned, and Earned Media
In 2025, influencer marketing services are no longer operating in a silo; they are a fully integrated part of a brand’s broader communications ecosystem. Today’s most effective campaigns are designed to work across multiple channels, combining influencer-generated content with paid media amplification, social engagement, event activations, and press coverage.
For example:
An interior design studio partners with a home decor influencer to showcase their new furniture line. The influencer creates a series of Instagram Reels and Pinterest boards featuring styled spaces, which the brand then boosts via paid social ads to reach a wider audience. Simultaneously, the content is adapted for the brand’s website, email marketing, and even referenced in press outreach to lifestyle and design publications, creating a seamless narrative across paid, owned, and earned channels.
An architecture firm collaborates with a well-known design critic or architecture content creator on LinkedIn to share insights about a new sustainable project. That collaboration includes an on-site walkthrough video, which is published on YouTube and embedded in a thought leadership blog post on the firm’s site. The same influencer also hosts a live Q&A during a design week event, generating real-time engagement and follow-up articles in industry media, extending the campaign’s impact well beyond the initial post.
PR teams can use influencer posts as social proof to strengthen media pitches or crisis recovery narratives.
This cross-channel synergy increases reach, reinforces messaging consistency, and boosts ROI by maximising the lifespan and impact of influencer content. It also helps ensure that audiences encounter a brand’s narrative in multiple, mutually reinforcing ways.
Influencer Marketing in B2B: The LinkedIn Shift
Influencer marketing isn’t just for consumer brands anymore. In B2B, professionals are increasingly turning to LinkedIn influencers—industry experts, analysts, and creators with niche authority and engaged followings. According to LinkedIn’s new guide, these influencers drive real impact in areas like thought leadership, product credibility, and peer-to-peer trust.
What sets B2B influencer marketing apart is its focus on insight over aesthetics. Think data-backed opinions, expert commentary, and long-form content that sparks meaningful dialogue. It’s not about going viral; it’s about earning trust and influencing decisions among buyers, partners, and stakeholders.
For PR and marketing teams, this shift opens up fresh opportunities to position clients alongside respected voices and turn expertise into influence.
Strategic Benefits for PR and Communications Teams
Influencer marketing is fast becoming a secret weapon for modern PR teams, building relationships, boosting credibility, and helping shape how brands are perceived.
Authentic storytelling: Influencers turn key messages into engaging, audience-first content that travels further than a press release ever could.
Third-party validation: A well-placed post from a respected voice carries the weight of earned media, adding trust and visibility.
Reputation building: Influencers can humanise a brand, soften a crisis, or help steer public opinion during sensitive moments.
Thought leadership: In B2B, influencer alignment can elevate executives and reinforce expertise in niche professional circles.
Long-term value: Ongoing partnerships create lasting advocacy, an asset for brand equity and sustained media momentum.
All the above is relevant when you consider what consumers are looking for from influencers:
Challenges and Considerations
While influencer marketing offers major opportunities, it’s not without pitfalls. Brands must navigate authenticity vs. control, ensuring messaging feels genuine without losing alignment.
Measuring ROI remains a challenge, especially beyond vanity metrics. Compliance with disclosure guidelines, managing brand safety, and avoiding misalignment with influencer values are also key concerns. Success requires a clear strategy, careful vetting, and a long-term view.
How Sandford PR Can Help
At Sandford, we help brands unlock the full potential of influencer marketing, from strategy and talent sourcing to campaign integration and measurement.
Whether you’re launching a product, building thought leadership, or enhancing brand reputation, we connect you with the right voices to make your message matter. Our team ensures every collaboration is authentic, on-brand, and aligned with your wider communications goals.
Take a look at a recent case study with Penrose Tilbury to find out more.
Conclusion: The Power of Influence in a Fragmented World
In 2025, influence is currency, and the brands that harness it strategically will lead the conversation. With the right voices, the right message, and the right partnerships, influencer marketing can do more than boost visibility. It can build trust, shape perception, and drive meaningful results.
Ready to make influence work for your brand? Get in touch with the Sandford team to find out how we can help you connect, collaborate, and communicate with impact.
