An overview of influence marketing
The fashion industry has used various digital marketing avenues to reach their target audience in recent years, one method which is increasingly popular is influence marketing, also known as influencer marketing. An influencer can cast their influence through various digital media forms, although this report will be focused on social media influencers.
Social media are a massive form of media today, with daily social media usage of global internet users hitting 135 minutes per day in 2017, up from 126 minutes in 2016, and social media usage at only 90 minutes per day in 2012 (Statista, 2019). As social media consumption is on the rise, so is the rise of the use of ‘influencers’ for brands to target their niches and breakthrough into a market which at one point had little means of entry for small fashion companies.
Acquiring an influencer
According to a journal entry on influencer marketing, “the overall goals of influencer marketing include aligning a brand with an influencers social media profile” (Kemp, McDougal, Syrdal, 2018).
Picking the right influencer is vital for the success of the marketing campaign, for example, you would not pick a someone of ill health to promote a product that claims to give its consumers increased health as it would not appeal to the target market. There are companies out there that can help to identify the right influencer for your brand using algorithms and research, although just because someone gets a sufficient amount of likes and comments on their posts doesn’t mean they are the right influencer for you.
In order for an influencer to be successful they must appeal to the target market of the company or product they are promoting, an example of this is Anthony Joshua and Underarmour. Anthony Joshua who is a unified world heavyweight champion is promoting Underarmour which is a sports clothing brand. Anthony Joshua will appeal to the athletes around the world, making Joshua a suitable match for Underarmour.
Managing influencers
It is important to monitor your influencers, to make sure they are not missing any important opportunities to show off your latest seasonal collection. Also to monitor that their content is aligned with the brand’s image and morals. It is rare for an influencer to come up with their own content all of the time, they need to be provided with content and direction from whoever they are promoting. To manage an influencer in the fashion industry, you must provide them with the fashion to wear and ensure that they convey it to their followers, your target market, whether that be through Instagram, Facebook or a blog.
Reporting results of influencers is key to determine their effectiveness. It is difficult to measure the true effectiveness of influencers, although there is software which can monitor how many likes and comments influencers get on their posts, it also monitors the number of page visits. These are good statistics to go off when determining the effectiveness of your influencer.
Keeping track of your influencers is vital, especially when there are 10, 20, 50 of them that need to be managed. To ensure that your message is being distributed consistently and effectively, regular contact must be made with all influencers. If one or two influencers are left to their own accord, they may be spreading the wrong image and consequently hurting the brand.
Building relationships with influencers is key to relish healthy and long term partnerships. By working directly with influencers, they will get to know the business, brand, and image more and subsequently will be able to provide better content to consumers. Treating influencers well and gifting them new clothes from the brand will make sure they will enjoy the experience and will be much more positive when addressing the target market.
Conclusion
With the right research, consideration, and partnerships, influencer marketing can be successful for your fashion company. When picking people to work with, make sure that their social media presence is one that is likely to stimulate your target market as this is key to success. Constant management of influencers is vital to ensure that your brand image is consistently communicated.
References/ Further reading
Kemp, A., McDougal, E. R. and Syrdal, H. (2018) ‘The Matchmaking Activity: An Experiential Learning Exercise on Influencer Marketing for the Digital Marketing Classroom’, Journal of Marketing Education. doi: 10.1177/0273475318803415.
Oxford Dictionaries | English. (2019). influencer | Definition of influencer in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/influencer [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
Statista. (2019). Global time spent on social media daily 2017 | Statista. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
Tile, D. (2019). Top 5 Ways to Manage Your Influencers – Nimble Media. [online] Nimblemedia.ca. Available at: http://nimblemedia.ca/top-5-ways-manage-influencers/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2019].
