What is influencer marketing?
Influence marketing is a type of marketing where influencers are used to increase the visibility of the company or to promote products
the value of the influence marketing industry was estimated at $ 1.07 billion in 2017
the theory of this type of marketing stems from Paul Lazarsfeld ‘s 1940 studies on political communication which states that most people are influenced by opinion leaders
Influence marketing has therefore existed for a long time but only in recent years has it been used in a general way thanks to the advent of the internet, web 2.0 and social networks
a real category of recognizable subjects was born with the task of influencing people’s purchasing choices: Influencers
the influencer is an internet celebrity who creates content on the web to influence users’ purchasing choice with their recommendations
there are different types of influencers: travel influencers, virtual influencers, fashion influencers, bloggers.
Even bloggers can consider themselves influencers if they have a website or blog that is known in the market and where people seek advice before making purchases.
Why do companies invest in influencer marketing ?
Businesses use influence marketing to gain greater exposure in the market
data from recent years has shown that influencers are increasingly sought by companies to do influence marketing
one of the main reasons for this phenomenon is the change we are experiencing in the communication channels and in the purchasing behavior of users
customers _ are increasingly relying on social media and the web and influencers to make purchasing
influencers are tasked with earning the trust of their subscribers through a daily job of creating content and maintaining the relationship with their subscribers
the relationship is built thanks to the publication of content in line with the tastes of the public
the contents do not have to be for marketing purposes but rather more personal contents or contents objectives have a stronger effect on subscribers who feel more connected to the influencer
this type of content and relationship is the point on which companies aim when they are looking for an influencer
because the more a subscriber is linked to an influencer, the more susceptible he is to the advice of the latter
companies use this link to position their products
How Does Influence Marketing Work?
Companies have found that using influencers facilitates marketing campaigns
because promotions made by influencers are more honest and more genuine than promotions made by companies
to this we must add another fact, that traditional communication channels have lost their effectiveness
new generations spend less time on the internet and social media
companies to adapt to this change have begun to recruit influencers to increase their online visibility
but for an influencer marketing campaign to be successful it is not enough to find an influencer, it is necessary to refine the search for influencers in order to find those who have the greatest impact on their followers
here are the key parameters of choice of influencers:
- The size of the community
- the engagement rate
- the frequency of publications
- the impression rate
community size refers to the number of subscribers the influencer has
an influencer with many subscribers naturally touches a wider audience and is therefore naturally worth more than one with fewer subscribers
instead the engagement rate is the number of interactions that subscribers have with influencers
the higher the rate, the greater the relationship between the influencer and the audience
which translates into a greater influence on the purchasing behavior of subscribers
posting frequency is the number of times the influencer posts per day
publishing content is the way in which the relationship between influencers and the public is created and consolidated
instead the impression rate is the ratio between the total number of subscribers and the number of subscribers who actively watch the publications of the influencers
