In this ‘internet era’ where information technologies such as wearable devices, personal computers and smart phones in conjunction with internet-based social networking sites e.g. Facebook, Twitter and Skype, have really empowered and innovated online social media sites. This has changed the way that consumers and businesses interact with each other. Consumers are seeking information and advice from people with high online statuses, also known as influencers, and brands are looking to identify suitable influencers which can be valuable for e-commerce marketing campaigns to enhance electronic word-of-mouth (Liu, S. 2015). In support of this, Katz and Lazarsfeld’s (1955) Two Step Flow theory describe how certain people or individuals known as opinion leaders interpret media information they have received and then it is passed on to others. It states that the opinion leaders have the ability to mediate the transmission of the information received. Bloggers are considered opinion leaders that can disseminate messages quickly and easily with a potential viral effect.

 

With the growth of online social networks (ONS), trust in brands is an important social concept and a significant part of consumers purchasing decisions. According to Nielsen’s 2012 ‘Global Survey of Trust in Advertising’, around 92% of consumers globally stated that they would trust word-of-mouth recommendations from influential peers, enormously exceeding any other forms of marketing, hence the importance for brands to not only work with social media influencers because they are seen as a trusted source and an impact on consumer spending, but to work with one that is suitable and relevant to the brand (Hamman, H. 2017).

Tip 1 – Relevance:

For brands, relevance is key; an influencer’s content must be aligned with the message the brand wants to portray. By reading through a blogger’s archive and content to get a sense of the type of consumer they are is a good way of understanding the influencer better and seeing if they suit the brand and the brand values. This is important, just like the influencer’s audience is. Inevitably their audience is going to the ones receiving the marketing message, and if the brand is not appropriate for the audience demographic then it will not be effective (Newman, D. 2014).

Here is a link to a blog post about 5 successful brand and influencer collaborations in the beauty industry: https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/beauty-influencer-collaboration-examples/

Tip 2 – Engagement:

Engagement is the measure of how interactive an influencer’s audience is with the marketed content. Responses, comments and shares are ways that the audience can engage and connect with the influencer – it shows how meaningful the relationship is as well as their return rate. A high level of engagement is ideal as it reflects how well received and effective the collaboration was (Bichler, M. 2008).

Tip 3 – Reach:

Reach is not the most important metric; however, it is a valid consideration. Unique visitors are not the only measure of reach; it is only meaningful to the extent that it is reaching the brand’s target audience. An influencer with a small but frequent reach is more valuable than one with thousands of unique monthly visits as it shows that the audience is engaged and more inclined to listen to their opinion and advice (Li, Y.M et al 2011).

Tip 4 – Frequency:

There is a direct correlation between how frequently an influencer creates content, for example a blog post or a YouTube video and their traffic as well as rate of return visitors. With any type of marketing website, it normally requires multiple exposures in order to get visitors to click on the site. If an influencer consistently creates high quality content, audiences are more likely to return and ‘share’ the content. For those who are inconsistent, they tend to have a higher turnover rate, fewer returning visitors and less loyalty (Li, Y.M et al 2011). Therefore it is essential that the influencer brands choose to work with, are regular and consistent with their uploads to keep their audience engaged and returning.

Tip 5 – Authenticity:

Whilst authenticity seems counter-intuitive, influencers that have a smaller number of sponsored content are assumed to be more authentic and trusted. The use of personal stories that involve a genuine use of a product or service, tend to be seen as more legitimate than a plain product review. Influencers that use engaging stories are those that tend to get more comments and shares; it helps to connect with the viewer and seem more authentic (Kip, S.M. et al, 2014).

Here is an article by Forbes talking about how to ensure authenticity when working with influencers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2015/12/17/build-authentic-audience-experiences-through-influencer-marketing/#46db10e44ff2

What Brands should keep in mind when working with an influencer:

When working with social media influencers, seeing results or return on investment (ROI) from your collaboration will take time and the effects may not even be noticeable, for example a brand may see a growth in sales for a particular item, however it will not be a significant revenue gain. In order for a company to see any differences, they would have to see a sell out of a product everyday to see an impact from the campaign (Brousell, L. 2015). In addition to this, there are questions over authenticity of influencer marketing; many consumers will be able to ‘see through’ the marketing strategy and may not appreciate the leverage influencers have to promote a brand they may not necessarily have endorsed in if it were not sponsored (Archer, C et al. 2016), which goes back to ensuring that companies choose to work with the right influencer for the brand in order for the collaboration to be authentic and something that the influencer genuinely has an interest in.

Here is an article by LinkedIn which talks about what influencer marketing is and the advantages and disadvantages of it: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-influencer-marketing-why-successful-strategy-kate-gould

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Archer, C. et al (2016) Show me the money: how bloggers as stakeholders are challenging theories of relationship building in public relations. Media International Australia. Vol. 160, No. 1, p67-77.

Bichler, M. (2008) Identification of Influencers – Measuring Influence in Customer Networks. Journal of Decision Support Systems. Vol. 46, No. 1, p233-253.

Brousell, L. (2015) Inside the murky world of ‘social media influencers’ [online] Available at: < http://www.cio.com/article/2945780/marketing/inside-the-murky-world-of-social-media-influencers.html > [Accessed 3 May2017].

Hamann, H. (2017) 5 Tips for Finding the Right Social Influencers for your Brand [online] Available at: < http://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/5-tips-for-finding-the-right-social-influencers-for-your-brand/  >[Accessed 3 May 2017].

Kip, S.M. et al (2014) Brand Communication through Digital Influencers: Leveraging Blogger Engagement. International Journal of Information Management. Vol. 34, No. 5, p592-602.

Li, Y.M. et al (2011) Discovering Influencers for Marketing in the Blogosphere. Journal of Information Sciences. Vol. 181, No. 23, p5143-5157.

Liu, S. et al (2015) Identifying Effective Influencers Based on Trust for Electronic Word-of-Mouth Marketing: A Domain Aware Approach. Journal of Information Sciences. Vol. 306, p34-52.

Newman, D. (2014) Brands: Choose Influencers and Advocates Wisely [online] Available at: < https://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2014/02/11/brands-choose-influencers-and-advocates-wisely/#4809c38b305c > [Accessed 3 May 2017].