What Brand Influencers & Sales Reps Have In Common [+When to Use Each]
In today‘s digital age, consumers are bombarded with more branded content and advertising than ever before. Cutting through the noise to reach potential customers requires a strategic mix of marketing tactics – and two of the most persuasive are brand influencers and sales representatives.
While influencers and sales reps may seem like they belong to totally different worlds, the two groups actually have more in common than you might think. Both serve as the human face of a brand, tasked with building relationships and personally convincing consumers to make a purchase.
However, influencer marketing and sales reps also differ in some key ways in terms of their specific roles, campaign execution, and ideal use cases. In this post, we‘ll dive deep into the psychology of social selling to unpack what really makes influencers and sales reps so persuasive. We‘ll also highlight where they diverge to help you determine when to tap an influencer vs a sales rep to meet your business goals.
Defining Influencers and Sales Reps
Before we jump into comparing and contrasting influencers and sales reps, let‘s align on what exactly we mean by each term:
Influencers are social media users who have built up a substantial following in a particular niche. They have established credibility and relationships with their audience, who view them as a trusted voice and tastemaker. Brands partner with influencers to create sponsored content that exposes their products to the influencer‘s engaged community.
Some key influencer statistics:
- There are over 500,000 active influencers on Instagram alone (Source: MediaKix)
- 70% of millennial consumers are influenced by the recommendations of their peers in buying decisions (Source: Collective Bias)
- 89% of marketers say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels (Source: MediaKix)
Sales representatives are employees hired specifically to sell a company‘s products or services to customers. Traditionally, sales reps engaged in a lot of cold calling and in-person pitches. With the rise of online research and digital communication, modern sales reps focus more on warm outreach and guiding prospects through the buyer‘s journey.
Some key sales rep statistics:
- There are over 5 million sales reps employed in the US (Source: US Bureau of Labor)
- Sales reps spend 35.2% of their time selling (vs administrative work, travel, etc.) (Source: Docurated)
- Top performing sales reps generate over 8x their annual salary in revenue (Source: Salesforce)
The Psychology of Social Selling
Now that we know who influencers and sales reps are, let‘s explore the psychological factors that make both so persuasive at driving conversions. While their specific approaches may differ, influencers and sales reps rely on many of the same core principles of social selling:
Cultivating Trust and Credibility
Both influencers and sales reps understand that people buy from people they know, like, and trust.
Influencers build trust by sharing authentic, personal content and interacting directly with followers. 62% of consumers say they trust influencer messages about a brand more than a company‘s advertising about itself (ION).
Sales reps establish trust through a consultative selling approach, focusing on listening to the customer to provide relevant solutions rather than pushing a hard sell. 79% of buyers say it‘s absolutely critical or very important to interact with a salesperson who is a trusted advisor (Salesforce).
Emotional Appeals and Storytelling
We make purchase decisions based on emotions first and rationalize them with logic later. Smart influencers and sales reps tap into this by highlighting the aspirational lifestyle or transformation a product can provide.
Influencers are master storytellers, weaving a captivating narrative around how a product has impacted their life. Similarly, great sales reps paint a picture of how a customer‘s life will change if they buy – and the risks of missing out on the opportunity.
Providing Social Proof
Social proof is the psychological phenomenon where people reference the behavior of others to guide their own actions. Influencers serve as living, breathing testimonials for the products they promote. For example, an influencer unboxing video showcases someone actually using a product – and their enthusiasm and endorsement signals the product‘s value to viewers.
Sales reps leverage social proof by sharing case studies and customer reviews. Connecting prospects with satisfied customers who match their use case is extremely powerful for overcoming objections and instilling confidence.
Expert Authority and Exclusivity
Influencers are viewed as authorities in their specific verticals like fashion, beauty, fitness, business, parenting, gaming, etc. Their followers trust their recommendations and take pride in discovering new products through them.
Sales reps cultivate a similar expert authority as trusted advisors intimately familiar with their industry and products. Offering exclusive perks, like a demo, consultation, or discount that can only be accessed by talking to a rep, taps into the principles of scarcity and exclusivity that are so psychologically compelling.
The Customer Journey: Influencers vs Sales Reps
Influencers and sales reps don‘t just rely on the same persuasion techniques – they also operate at similar stages along the buyer journey:
| Journey Stage | Influencer Role | Sales Rep Role |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Posts product reviews, mentions, and tutorial content to introduce their audience to the brand | Engages in social selling and targeted outreach to connect with potential customers and generate leads |
| Consideration | Includes CTAs and trackable affiliate links for followers to learn more; answers questions and compares alternatives in comments/DMs | Delivers personalized demos and consultations to help prospects evaluate options; customizes solutions to address buyer needs |
| Decision | Provides limited-time discounts or bonus offers to incentivize followers to purchase; showcases real use cases and results | Provides proposals and drafts contracts; offers tailored pricing and special terms to close the deal |
Key Differences in Influencer and Sales Rep Marketing
Despite their similar approaches to social selling, there are some important distinctions between influencers and sales reps to consider:
Permanent vs. Temporary Arrangements
Sales reps are full-time employees and official representatives of the brand. This means they make a long-term investment in learning the ins and outs of the company‘s offerings and competitive positioning.
On the flip side, most influencers are contractors who promote many different brands, even competitors, over time. Their product knowledge tends to be more high-level and experiential based on their own usage vs insider expertise.
Compensation and Success Metrics
Traditional sales reps are compensated through a combination of base salary, commission, and bonuses tied to their quota attainment. Successful reps are measured by their activity (calls, meetings), pipeline value and management, and closed won deals that turn into revenue.
Influencers are typically compensated on a per-post or per-campaign basis, with rates tied to their reach and engagement levels. The primary success metric is Brand Awareness, though some campaigns may focus on lower-funnel metrics like purchases made with affiliate links or promo codes.
Organic vs Sponsored Content
While influencer marketing blends mentions of a brand or product into their regular content, this content is ultimately sponsored and in some ways scripted to include key messaging.
Sales conversations are more dynamic and personalized in real-time. Reps are equipped with enablement content like decks, one-pagers, and battle cards. But their pitches aren‘t word-for-word the same each time. Skilled reps tailor their approach based on research of the specific buyer and evolving the conversation based on the prospect‘s responses.
Proactive vs Reactive Engagement
Influencers maintain an ongoing relationship with their audience by proactively posting content, often daily. But the bulk of their product-related engagement is reactive – responding to follower questions and comments on their sponsored posts.
In contrast, successful sales reps focus on proactive, outbound prospecting to fill their pipeline. They identify target accounts, research key stakeholders, and reach out to introduce themselves and offer value. Only after a lead has progressed do they switch to more of a reactive mode of following up and answering questions.
When to Use Influencers vs Sales Reps
With an understanding of how brand influencers and sales reps differ, you can be more strategic about when to use each in your marketing mix:
Objectives and KPIs
Align your choice of influencers or sales reps to your primary campaign objective and how you‘ll measure success. If your main goal is building brand awareness and reach, influencers and their large, engaged audiences are the way to go. If you‘re focused on lead generation or hitting a certain revenue number, a sales rep following up on marketing qualified leads is the better bet.
Target Audience
Consider where your ideal customer is most likely to encounter and engage with your brand. If you‘re targeting a younger audience active on social media, influencers are a natural choice to reach them where they‘re already consuming content. For a more enterprise B2B audience, buyers will likely expect to talk to a sales rep to answer technical questions and discuss contract terms.
Marketing Strategy and Budget
Influencer marketing requires dedicated budget and creative resources to source influencers, ship products, and create content briefs and contracts. It can be a great complement to your social media and content marketing but likely won‘t completely replace a sales team.
Evaluate your overall marketing mix and budget – if you‘re just dipping your toe into influencer marketing, consider starting with just a few micro-influencers in a pilot program. As you build out a robust online presence and see results, you can scale up to more extensive influencer campaigns. But be sure to maintain a baseline sales staff to handle inbound inquiries and outbound prospecting.
Product Complexity
The more complex, technical, or expensive your product is, the more likely customers will need to talk to a sales rep to feel confident buying it. A simple, self-serve SaaS tool can easily be promoted by influencers with a special sign-up code. But a multi-year, enterprise software contract will require sales reps to navigate a lengthy procurement process.
Influencers are best for introducing your solution and communicating its high-level value in an engaging way to a broad audience. Sales reps are best suited for walking qualified buyers through the nitty gritty of how your product works, how it will meet their specific needs, and what it costs.
A New Model: Influencer Sales Reps
Forward-thinking brands don‘t look at influencer marketing and sales as siloed teams, but opportunities for collaboration and integration.
Some ways influencers and sales reps can work together:
- Influencer-generated content (IGC) as sales collateral: Authentic reviews and posts from influencers serve as powerful social proof. Equip your sales reps with IGC to share in their outreach and help build credibility.
- Influencer whitelisting for paid social: Influencers can grant brands access to promote content through their handle, making it seem like the influencer is promoting your products directly to a prospect. The familiarity and authority can boost conversion rates.
- Sales reps as influencer wranglers: Enlist reps‘ help in identifying top customers who could serve as effective influencers. Reps can introduce them to the opportunity and even help manage the relationship.
- Co-created content: Plan content like webinars, AMAs, or interviews where influencers and sales reps combine their expertise. Influencers can attract the audience and sales reps can provide deeper product information.
We predict that more brands will look to create hybrid roles that blend characteristics of influencers and sales reps. These "Influencer Sales Reps" would have the social media savvy and content creation skills of an influencer, with the product knowledge and business acumen of a sales rep.
This role would focus on social selling – identifying opportunities and engaging prospects via social media. They would leverage their personal brand and following to capture interest, and their sales skills to nurture leads and close deals.
The Future of Social Selling
As technology, platforms, and consumer behavior continue to evolve, so will the approaches of influencers and sales reps. But the psychology of social selling and the importance of human connection in the buying process is here to stay.
No matter the medium, buyers will continue to crave authentic, trustworthy voices to help guide their decisions. Influencers and sales reps are poised to step into this role in complementary ways – building a brand‘s credibility and consideration from the top of the funnel to the bottom.
The lines between sales and marketing will keep blurring as the two functions collaborate more closely to drive a seamless customer journey. Influencers and sales reps will work together more frequently and even start to merge into hybrid roles.
To stay ahead of the curve, growth-focused businesses must prioritize both influencer marketing and sales enablement. Build out a diverse, engaging influencer program to capture attention, while also equipping sales reps with the training and content they need to engage socially-savvy buyers.
Embrace a culture of experimentation to test out new social selling strategies, technology, and partnerships. Analyze what moves the needle, and be ready to adapt as the landscape shifts. The future of social selling is still unfolding – but it starts with recognizing the potential in both influencer marketing and sales.
