Do influencers
play an important role in digital marketing?
Yes Influencers do play a role in digital marketing; in fact
influencers are one of the integral parts of digital marketing in this time and
age where social media and technology have been an integral part of our life. A
decade ago when you heard the word caveman you’d think an old man with long
hair living in caves but today’s age a caveman is someone who has no idea about
Facebook or Instagram, Jokes aside social media has become a part and parcel of
our everyday life. We use social media for everything, right from socializing
to obtaining information and knowledge about a particular topic or person.
Social media coverage has increased over the years and is going to keep on
growing for years to come.
So why are influencers an integral
part of Digital Marketing:
Influencers
are drivers of social media who post content every day to create Influencers
are drivers of social media who post content regularly to create a following
and an audience who are prompted to use social media to consume the content
that they like. Influencers are the ones who engage people through content
which they like and are trendy. Influencers create content in different genre
to target different groups of people who all have different understandings,
lifestyle and beliefs. A fitness influencer will create content that people
into fitness would like to watch to gain knowledge and entertainment; this
brings them to the influencer’s page to check out content. The following that
these influencers generate are of people who have a liking for the genre or the
persona of the influencer.
The people
who follow the influencers hold them at a high regard sometimes as an example
or a role model. The followers see them as an example of what to become as they
consider them in high regards and as a role model to them. They start to
imitate like them, start using their mannerisms and change their taught and
belief because they have been influenced by the influencer. The followers want
to become like the influencers so they start to do thing that their favourite
influencer does as they feel that they are the flag bearers of what they want
to become or achieve in life. This creates a sense of cult following where the
followers are willing to do whatever the influencer does to become as close
like them as possible.
The
followers start using the specific brands of products and services that the
influencers use because they put their trust in them and in their opinions.
They start using the products that the influencers use, they aspire to use
everything and do everything that the influencer does as they want to build a
persona like the influencers. This allows the influencers to show their followers
products that they want them to use, this makes the influencers a medium that
the brands can use to advertise their product through influencers that operate
or create content in their genre. This helps the brands in using an already
built loyalty and fan following to initiate sale and trail of their product or
service. The brands can use the influencers as a medium to market their
products which will give better result than general advertising as the
influencers have a loyal fan following with a particular target group that the
brand is planning to target. The return on investment is higher in influencer
marketing due to the loyalty factor. Marketing over the years has shown us that
the consumers purchase products from people who they trust. This has been done
over the years where celebrities and sports persons are used to advertise the
product which transcends the celebrity’s loyal fan following to the product as
well.
For Example:
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the biggest if not the biggest sports person in the
world with the highest following on Instagram. Cristiano Ronaldo has a cult
following and a very loyal fan base who hold Chris on very high regards and as
their idol. This can already be interpreted from the following the man has, the
fans are so loyal towards Ronaldo that they have even switched teams that the
like just because Ronaldo has left the team which is a very rare phenomenon in
sports. This shows the amount of trust and loyalty they put in Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is
also a very big social media influencer and uses his social media following to
showcase and advertise a lot of products and services. Ronaldo and Herbalife
have a deal in which the influencers uses his social media following to
advertise the product and influence the followers in purchasing the product.
Ronaldo is a sportsperson and fitness is an integral part of his life and
Herbalife is also a nutrition brand which operates in the fitness genre. This
allows the brand to focus on their target group through Ronaldo who has a
similar fan following in the demographics and lifestyle which the brand
resonates with. Hence we can conclude that influencers are a major driver and
play an important role in Social Media marketing which is a part of Digital
Marketing.
