Digitalization has not only changed our society, but entire industries and markets. Online marketing has also created new opportunities for companies to promote their products and services in recent years. One of them is Influencer Marketing. Here, well-known social media personalities act as influencers for companies. By letting others participate in their lives via social media, they can inspire millions of followers. This broad reach offers companies new marketing opportunities. But how exactly does Influencer Marketing work?

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Influencers and their marketing opportunities

Influencers shape opinions in social media. Marketers use this awareness and the resulting reach to get more attention for a product or brand. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Facebook are particularly important for reaching younger target groups, as the media world has changed noticeably in recent years. Since influencers have usually gained their follower numbers by their own efforts, they are so close to the followers and appear authentic – for this reason, it is also important to identify the right influencers and to win them for a collaboration. As a result, they enjoy a very high level of authenticity and can influence purchase decisions.

In theory, anyone can act as an influencer: Journalists, bloggers, YouTubers, celebrities in general, politicians, company spokespersons or private individuals. The number of influencers is growing and so is the range of topic segments. In addition to the large areas such as fashion, beauty and lifestyle, niche industries can also be interesting, as the danger of inactive followers is lower there.

Industry influencers with profound expertise in their field who carry their knowledge to the outside world are also becoming increasingly important. In modern terms: corporate influencers or social executives.

Successful Influencer campaigns

With its “break-the-bubble” campaign, Opel launched a far-reaching influencer campaign for a younger audience at the opening of the trade show IFA in 2019. This campaign was created including testimonials from Jürgen Klopp, a German professional soccer manager and former player. He has been a German brand ambassador for Opel for a long time and has been active for the brand in numerous video spots. With the hashtag #breakthebubble, influencers were sent to several European cities with an orange balloon, which Opel claims symbolizes the artificially inflated communication around the topic of e-mobility.

Image 1: Instagram Xlaeta

Especially for the younger target group, TikTok has emerged as a marketing instrument. With the use of brand hashtags, you can announce specific challenges, promote them through influencers and in the best case, let them imitate it by their community. This results in user-generated content, which represents a large part of TikTok. In doing so, the connection between the young user group of TikTok and the brand is established. It is difficult to measure whether these results increase sales figures though.

Image 2: With this infographic, TikTok entices advertisers for Hashtag Challenges as an advertising product; Source: AdAge

Conclusion

Influencer marketing offers companies numerous possibilities to draw attention to their own brand. In the run-up to the collaboration, it is crucial that companies develop a detailed concept. One should consider which influencer fits the own company, who can best market the product and has the necessary reach. There is no guarantee that the campaign will be a success, but with a few simple tricks, it is easier to attract the attention of users. It is important to build up an emotional relationship with them, as this is the only way to arouse their interest. The user should subconsciously have the impression that he or she is having just as much fun with the product as the influencer is having when they buy it. Emotional stimuli also make it easier to share the campaign with friends and family, which in turn can lead to a sales promotion.

About the Author

Alexander Hencel
Marketing Assistant at HBI Helga Bailey GmbH – International PR & MarCom

Alexander Hencel has been part of HBI’s marketing team since 2018. He is responsible for content management such as the creation of specialist articles, managing social media channels, and supporting online marketing campaigns for customers and HBI.

Sources: Cover picture from: https://de.freepik.com/vectorjuice