"People don't buy products and services, but relationships, stories and magic"
This quote, extrapolated from "The Purple Cow" of Seth Godin's, it’s the introduction of that we will talk about: Influencer Marketing. Why and how it works, the weaknesses developed over time and the possibilities for brands that approach to exploit this marketing lever.
The activity of online intercepting important personalities to promote products and services to a specific audience, identified as Influencer Marketing, is based on the ability of these individuals to influence a specific target.
The main differences, that represent the winning weapon of Digital PR from television testimonials are:
- Concept expressed by the person and not by the Character
- Delivery of content in line with the influencer’s attitudes and lifestyle
- Creativity, use of its own formats and languages
- Spontaneity and transparency in communication
The role of the influencer is to integrate into his daily storytelling advice on products or services that are complementary to his habits to influence the purchasing behavior of his followers. The synergy between the two parties must be voluntary and not artificial, until it is almost camouflaged.
But what happens when all this task are replaced with sponsored content of doubtful authenticity? Communication loses its effectiveness. By now, more and more users have the ability to capt the presence of branded content (also thanks to the obligatory in uses hashtags such as #adv or #suppliedby) and automatically the context becomes artificial and forced.
The loss of authenticity of the influencer often depends on their lack of experience and professionalism, and they are driven to sell their image and integrity in order to obtain an economic return. This is the case of teetotal people who sponsor alcoholic beverages, boys who recommend slimming and detox drinks by pretending (badly) to drink them during the stories, multipotential girls that talk about food, fashion, automotive, beauty, travel like an all-in-one specialist or people invited in in-store events to selec their favorite outfit which after a few days they sell through second-hand e-commerce channels (such as Depop or Subito.it).
This type of collaboration can have very dangerous effects for the brands that undertake them. So how do you select the right influencer for your business?
The increasingly popular solution in recent times for companies operating in niches market are micro-influencers: users with an average of 10K followers and very specific and sectoral arguments. In fact, statistics tell us that influencers with a greater number of followers have lower engagement rate.
This metric is identified as the keystone in choosing the right influencer because precludes a deeper relationship with the public that interacts, comments and shares the contents because feels the equal and non-hierarchical relationship with the influencer.
To cultivate this relationship of trust, the micro-influencer interacts with its community and focuses on quality content. His know-how is very vertical and this allows him to be recognizable and to position himself also geographically.
If you are not convinced to come across this activity without supports or you want to test it but with the right tools, contact us for a free quotation.
