What is Influencer Marketing anyway?
Each Thursday we will feature a different Digital Marketing topic in our 'what is it anyway?' series for you to learn the basics of and then later some more advanced strategies for the more experienced. Today we kick off with one of the most relevant for 2017 - Influencer Marketing.
So what is Influencer Marketing? This is where marketers/brands focus on one person rather than a group of people - someone influential to their customers. You might automatically think of celebrities, but this isn't necessarily the case as that sort of marketing would generally fall under sponsorship instead. With the phenomenon of social media and social 'celebrities' these days, you don't need a David Beckham or Kim Kardashian to reach thousands of your customers (apart from the cost!)
Often brands use bloggers with large followings or fashion influencers, people like Zoella who they believe are aligned with their goals and buyers and link up with them for mutual benefit to create social media campaigns, featured blogs/vlogs and other content.
Another good example of this is Lidl UK's 'Lidl Surprises' campaign which took several 'regular' people who had questioned the brand on social media, and took them on a trip to show them how the reality was actually very different - like Sharna in the video below who wondered where exactly their meat came from.
Lidl responded by taking her all the way to one of their Scotch beef farms to see exactly how their meat was sourced, how the animals were treated and the quality of it by showing Sharna eating one of their steaks, completely turning round her opinion and helping address any stigma about Lidl being 'cheap'.
This was a very clever way of using someone that all their customers could identify with as being 'one of them', and using their experience to validate their brand and give them added authority, influencing perceptions of Lidl in a positive way. I know it makes me hungry just watching it!
So there's a brief introduction to Influencer Marketing - check out our Facebook and Twitter today for some more detailed strategies and points to implement.
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Questions? Don't hesitate to email Gil@run-dmg.com or find him on LinkedIn
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