MKT101 IB1203 TungNTSE04804 influencermarketingresearch

PRINCIPLE OF MARKETING INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT INFLUENCER MARKETING RESEARCH Full name Roll Number Subject Class : : : : Nguyen Tuan Tung SE04084 MKT101 IB1203 Contents INTRODUCTION DEFINITION AND LITERATURE BACKGROUND 2.1 Influencer Marketing 2.2 Influencer 2.2.1 Definition 2.2.2 Types of Influencers 2.3 The Future Impact of Influencer Marketing 2.4 Influencer Marketing Strategy MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS TO SOME PRACTICAL SITUATIONS 13 3.1 Sony’s Xperia Z5 on Instagram 13 3.2 The Pepsi Emoji Product-line at Walgreens Stores 14 References 16 INTRODUCTION Over the last decade we have seen social media grow rapidly in importance According to the August 2017 Global Digital Statshot from We Are Social and Hootsuite, 3.028 Billion people actively use social media - that’s 40% of the world’s population Inevitably these people look up to influencers in social media to guide them with their decision making DEFINITION AND LITERATURE BACKGROUND 2.1 Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on using key leaders to drive your brand’s message to the larger market Rather than marketing directly to a large group of consumers, you instead inspire / hire / pay influencers to get out the word for you Influencer marketing often goes hand-in-hand with two other forms of marketing: social-media marketing and content marketing Most influencer campaigns have some sort of social-media component, whereby influencers are expected to spread the word through their personal social channels Many influencer campaigns also carry a content element in which either you create content for the influencers, or they create the content themselves Though social-media and content marketing often fit inside influencer campaigns, they are not synonymous with influencer marketing 2.2 Influencer 2.2.1 Definition  An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience  An individual who has a following in a particular niche, which they actively engage with The size of the following depends on the size of the niche It is important to note that these individuals are not simply marketing tools, but rather social relationship assets with which brands can collaborate to achieve their marketing objectives Influencers in social media are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a particular topic They make regular posts about that topic on their preferred social media channels and generate large followings of enthusiastic engaged people who pay close attention to their views Brands love social media influencers because they can create trends and encourage their followers to buy products they promote 2.2.2 Types of Influencers The majority of influencers fit into the following categories, with the last category rapidly becoming the most important:  Celebrities  Industry experts and thought leaders  Bloggers and content creators  Micro Influencers The bulk of social influencer marketing today occurs in social media, predominantly with micro influencers, and blogging Industry experts and thought leaders such as journalists can also be considered influencers and hold an important position for brands Then there are celebrities These were the original influencers, and they still have a role to play, although their importance as influencers is waning Bloggers and influencers in social media (predominantly micro-bloggers) have the most authentic and active relationships with their fans Brands are now recognizing and encouraging this 2.3 The Future Impact of Influencer Marketing Influencer marketing is here to stay, and we will see many changes in the way we marketing This Instagram post is a perfect example of influencer marketing where Kylie Jenner is posing with her new jeans from Fashion Nova There are many such examples where celebrities are taking photos pertaining to a certain brand they are associated with Then they share these photos on their social channels Instagram makes a good fit for beauty and fashion related businesses, and hence you will find a lot of influencers in this site You can find many of these influencers making connections and exchanging ideas with each other through Facebook, as well The future impact of influencer marketing is going to be big: We will see a tremendous increase in the growth of social media channels Many influencers will try to build their own agencies rather than being an individual freelancer The power of tier two influencers will grow since it is easy to connect with them Many mainstream marketing experts will try to become influencers There will be more platforms to find real and authentic influencers Influencer marketing is the perfect strategy for brands to reap many advantages of being influential through a well-known persona and reach the customers that matter most in a more efficient way An article on Forbes explains why influencer marketing will explode in 2017 Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, etc are the primary sources 2.4 Influencer Marketing Strategy Define Your Target Audience For any influencer campaign to be successful you first need to know who you are trying to influence It helps to be specific The tighter you can define your target audience, the easier it is to find influencers who are relevant You will hopefully have already found this for your business when you wrote your business plan Even if you haven’t formally defined your target audience you will know the types of people who typically buy your product The worst kind of answer is to try and target everybody Even producers of everyday commodity products, such as bread and toilet paper, try to differentiate their marketing That is why they create ranges, focusing on different niches, e.g a range targeting people who favor quality, versus a range for the budget conscious Set Objectives Before you can create an influencer marketing strategy you first need to determine what you are trying to achieve Your aim may be something small like gaining a set number of extra visitors to your website, with them signing up for a newsletter Alternatively, you might choose to engage in influencer marketing with the aim of increasing sales of a particular product by a certain percentage It is impossible for you to measure whether a campaign is successful or not if you haven’t set any objectives The measurement of your ROI at the end of the campaign depends on how you have performed in relation to your initial objective Discover the Most Appropriate Influencers The whole reason that businesses undertake influencer marketing is to widen the reach of content relating to their product or service For years businesses created advertisements promoting their products But the problem is that people can now see right through ads Ads are self-serving By definition, an ad simply tells the consumer why a business thinks they should buy a product An advertisement for a dysfunctional product is likely to still promote it as being good for the consumer Consumers instead rely on influencers for their recommendations We have covered this extensively on the Influencer Marketing Hub, for example in Why Influencer Marketing is the New Content King The influencers provide the trust and authenticity that are necessary for consumers to believe in a product enough to take a risk on buying it But remember, influence is not simply about popularity People don’t automatically become influencers because they have large followings on social media If that was the case, the biggest influencers would be those with the deepest pockets for buying followers An influencer is somebody who many people consider to be a thought leader on a topic or niche Thus if you wish to undertake a successful influencer marketing campaign, you need to find the people who your target audience look up to as thought leaders You have already determined who the target audience is for your influencer campaign Thus you need to map out the influencer landscape to determine who is truly provides influence to your target audience To help you this you should answer the following questions about your niche:  Where the online conversations about your niche take place? How social are the key participants in the niche?  What motivates people in your niche to promote relevant content  Is activity concentrated in a particular place, e.g on Facebook or on a respected blog, or is the niche more fragmented?  Who are the people that most often write or create other content about your topic?  What is the background of these people? The more you know about your niche and target audience, the easier the task you will have finding the best possible influencers Choose Your Method For Approaching Influencers There are three main ways that you can find your influencers, depending on how much time and money you are willing to put into the process The three methods you can follow are: Go through the process of influencer identification manually, gradually building up relationships We have covered this in detail in our Ultimate Step by Step Guide to Reach Out to Influencers Sign up to one of the platforms, which have databases of potential influencers to help you out with a campaign There are now quite a few platforms and these range from fully automated systems to those that only work with personallyselected influencers We have given an overview of some of the platforms in 25 Top Influencer Marketing Platforms to Boost your Campaigns Work with a specialist influencer agency to assist you with the various stages of setting up your campaign We have previously written about 25 Leading Influencer Marketing Agencies Also, if you are British we have recently covered Influencer Marketing Agencies in the UK You Should Know In simple terms, the more money you have for influencer identification, the less time you need to spend on it and vice versa Work with Influencers to find Opportunities Your influencers can help you shape your content strategy by showing you what most engages your target audience By allowing your influencers to share your content you can better spot trends and opportunities They can also help to guide you about what your target audience wants By actively listening to your influencers you can understand the types of conversations your target audience are having The influencers know these people very well They understand the types of content that work – and the types that your audience don’t care about They can also guide you to areas where there are gaps, waiting for you to create content where there is a demand The influencers know your audience's worries and concerns, and they know the types of questions your audience often ask Carry Out a Content and Opportunity Audit It makes sense that you carry out a Content and Opportunity Audit at the start of your process to better understand the needs of your target audience It is important that you include your influencers in the conversations What you are looking for in this phase of your influencer marketing strategy are:  The general feeling of your target audience to the types of content you are aiming to produce  What are your competitors doing with their content marketing?  What motivation your influencers have to help in distributing your content  How your target audience perceive you?  What can your brand to make it relevant to your target audience’s conversations? Prepare a Content Plan Once you have decided the general topic areas that might interest your audience you will want to create a content plan You are going to want to prepare a coordinated series of content that will meet your audience’s needs It is a great idea to set up a content calendar when you decide what content you need to create by what dates You want to think through the specific topics that you want to cover This is also a good time to determine which influencers will be best for sharing particular types of content In some cases, you may opt to contract particular influencers to create specific items of content which they can share at set points in your campaign A content calendar helps you plan and coordinate the content you share with your target audience It also helps you work in with the schedules of your influencers, and anybody you may work with to help with content creation and editing You should try and ensure that you are always planning at least a month ahead If you are using busy influencers, you may even want to create greater lead time, especially around busy times of the year Keep Up-To-Date With Relevant Issues in Your Niche You have presumably selected your influencers based on their knowledge of the niche Thus you should follow the other content your influencers share They are likely to be cutting edge in your niche If they are going to share your content it is useful to see what else they share with their followers How does your content fit in with the bigger picture? By studying what your influencers say to their followers you may find more opportunities It is one way that you can keep up with the trends and remain relevant to your target audience Don’t be afraid to go back and revise your content calendar so that it reflects the topics that truly interest your audience You can use your influencers to guide you with up-todate areas of focus and interest In turn, you can create content that people see as ground-breaking, rather than simply “me-too” material Once your campaign is underway, keep a close eye on how it progresses Take a good look at comments made in relation to your shared content Take particular note of questions asked and problems referred to 10 Collaborate With Your influencers to Produce Quality Content For an influencer marketing campaign to be successful, you need quality content for your influencers to share The influencers may have followers who trust them, but nobody is going to spend money simply because an influencer told them to When influencers communicate with their followers it is to inform, entertain, educate or inspire them, usually in relation to their specialist niche Thus for influencer marketing to work, any content that the influencer shares about your product must also be informative, entertaining, educational or inspiring There is a lot of rubbish content on the internet No matter how good an influencer is, he or she cannot remain relevant if they share rubbish content If you haven’t yet built up relationships with your influencers you may kickstart this process, by curating high-quality pieces of your influencers’ content, sharing it with your followers Receive exclusive content that you won’t find anywhere else other than our monthly subscriber mails Not only that, but you’ll be the first to access our new content, tools and offers If you this and add further value to it yourself, you might even gain the notice of the influencers, who may, in turn, share your curated content with their larger audiences This is a good way to build up an influencer relationship, particularly if you have chosen the manual influencer identification process, without involving platforms or agencies Your influencers need to constantly be on the lookout for compelling content You can help them in this process Provide them with resources they can use for their content If it would help them, give them an insider’s view of your business Provide your expertise to assist them – this could be data, expertise or inside knowledge of the industry 11 You could negotiate with an influencer to co-create an item of content While this could something as simple as a blog post, you might consider something larger, such as a white paper or research report, a webinar, or an online presentation 10 Set Up Campaigns with Your Influencers to Distribute Your Content The level of formality to your campaign will depend to some extent on the nature of your relationship with your influencers If you have signed up to a platform or agency and found influencers there, you will clearly set up specific campaigns with your influencers In these cases, you will probably come to an agreement on the content that the influencers will deliver – whether it is created by you or the influencers – and how they will deliver the content You will probably make an arrangement for them to make a set number of posts, about certain topics, on set days You will have agreed on a payment schedule – either via an agency or platform or directly in negotiations with the influencers themselves If you have built up your influencer arrangements more informally, you might not operate dedicated campaigns It may be more of a case of you creating content, and trying to encourage influencers to share it Often this will be for free – they choose to share your content because of its quality, not for financial reward If you build up a good enough organic relationship with an influencer you may be able to approach them about participating in a more formal campaign, for an agreed payment This may be in money terms, or it may be for free product In this case, you and the influencer can negotiate about who provides the content he or she will share 11 Measure the Results of Your Influencer Campaigns Ultimately the success or otherwise of your influencer campaign comes back to the objective you set at the start of the process We have written an eBook on How To 12 Measure Influencer Marketing ROI that can give you more details about how you can determine the best ROI measurement for you When your campaign is over, you should compare your actual ROI to your objective If you have met your objective, it is time to re-evaluate things and possibly a new campaign with a higher objective If you have failed to meet your objective, take a close look to try and determine what the problem was Take stock and change your next campaign to see if you can improve on your results MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS TO SOME PRACTICAL SITUATIONS 3.1 Sony’s Xperia Z5 on Instagram Sony Mobile France created a new Instagram account @sonyxperiafr - which they wanted promote The to Sony Xperia Z5 has the most powerful cell phone camera, with a five times zoom, Instagram course, site and is, the to of perfect promote photography Sony created the first zoom on Instagram (#InstazoomZ5) to 13 help Instagramers appreciate the power of the phone’s camera They took a highly detailed zoom photo taken with the Z5 and cut it into hundreds of smaller shots organized into five layers They created more than 100 Instagram accounts, tied together by tags, that effectively let you zoom into any part of the original photo and find more than 50 hidden surprises Sony then used 30 influencers to help spread the photos as part of a competition where people could zoom in five times on parts of the original photo (i.e look at five of the detailed pictures) to find a secret code It was a highly successful campaign, with 17 million potential contacts 3.2 The Pepsi Emoji Product-line at Walgreens Stores Pepsi aimed to increase its sales at Walgreens, so they created limited edition packaging and the #SayItWithPepsi hashtag They chose to target millennials, so decided social media engagement be the best promotion - even for in-store purchases The purpose of the campaign was to 14 demonstrate that incorporating the specially-packaged Pepsi emoji bottles - found exclusively at Walgreens - into your summer activities made everything more fun Pepsi used influential creators to develop original organic-style content about the 200 Pepsi emojis who then distributed the content to their Millennial-age followers The shared content included original blog posts, photography, and branded video content It drove the teenagers to Walgreens and Duane Reade stores to buy Pepsi Emoji bottles to help them have an exciting summer adventure 15 References 12 Influencer Marketing Examples That Prove Influencer Marketing is Digital Marketing’s Next Big Thing (n.d.) Retrieved from https://influencermarketinghub.com/12-influencermarketing-examples/ Influencer Marketing Strategy – 11 Factors to Consider when planning your Next Influencer Campaign (n.d.) Retrieved from https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencermarketing-strategy/ The Importance and Impact of Influencer Marketing (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.influencive.com/the-importance-and-impact-of-influencer-marketing/ What is an Influencer? (n.d.) Retrieved from https://influencermarketinghub.com/what-is-aninfluencer/ 16