Let’s start with a simple question. Why do companies nowadays decide to use social media and, in particular, influencers to enter the market and attract customers? Because the information and data coming in indicates that consumers prefer to believe in this form of communication. In fact, some research claims that those who use social media listen more to the influencer than to the journalist. As a result, if before the dream of many young people was to become a pilot, a doctor or a footballer, nowadays many teenagers wish they could be influencer marketers. In this context, the role of influencer marketing is evolving: this figure is turning into a crucial channel for many brands’ strategies. The role of the content creator is in fact totally changing the way companies communicate with customers: thanks to their voice, a brand’s story becomes original and exciting.
Through this article, you will gain a deeper insight into the topic of influencer marketing, through a clearer explanation of its concept, examining its benefits and analysing a business case. Enter with us into the world of influencers, the last frontier of digital marketing!
What is influencer marketing?
Social Media Influencer Marketing is a form of digital marketing that allows companies to establish partnerships with influencers who have many followers in order to increase brand popularity. Companies then decide to collaborate with these influencers who create and publish content on social media, with the aim of promoting the company’s best products or services. This happens because people often follow individuals they trust on social media. Therefore, if someone advertises your business, it will be easier to establish an intrinsic trust relationship that you can leverage to increase your conversion rate.
What benefits does influencer marketing bring?
-Increased brand awareness: With this strategy, the influencer is able to produce a large following on the Internet, allowing the brand to take off from its competitors.
–World Of Mouth (WOM): the company, through word of mouth within its target audience, increases its awareness and sponsorship on official channels.
-Product experience for customers: the influencer is an added value for the company especially because in this way the customer can easily identify with what they see as if they were experiencing it first hand.
-More leads: The presence of an influencer ensures that the relationship can continue with the customer, leading to effective conversions more easily.
Adidas: Millennials at the centre of marketing strategy
In 2015, the international company Adidas, in trying to beat the competition, wanted to get the following and attention from millennials. To achieve this, the German company created a social campaign driven by the biggest influencers of the moment. Through content produced by Instagram users, many of them asked their followers to submit photos to become models in this campaign that Adidas would launch that spring.
This strategy of Adidas, also called in some celebrities such as Selena Gomez, making this campaign a real success with a huge boost on social media. Want to know the results? Adidas received more than 12,000 interactions in its #myneoshoot campaign. This hashtag managed to get over 71,000 mentions, while adidas’ followers increased by 40,000 within minutes.
The strength of this strategy was combining the youthful content that users generated, helping to increase their sales by 25% in just one year, making it one of the most successful stories in influencer marketing.
What can we expect from the Future?
In conclusion, the value, truthfulness and credibility of influencer content remains fundamental to the success of any communication strategy. If brands are able to express their authentic essence, they will be able to cope well with the challenges of influencer marketing, managing to get into the minds and hearts of customers.
However, it is important to emphasise that the influencer marketing strategy follows well-defined rules, like all forms of communication and marketing. Before entering into this setting, a clear strategy needs to be worked out. One has to consider whether social content should strengthen brand positioning or whether one wants to focus on community involvement and engagement. Thus, for companies, investing in the right influencer is not just a commercial move, but a first step towards building a loyal customer base. With the right approach, influencer marketing can not only boost a brand’s following, but also disrupt the way people communicate and interact in the digital world.