Literature Review Influencer Marketing Essay

INTRODUCTIONInfluencer merchandise has emerged as unrivalled of the fastest-growing social market practices as brand venders look to connect with consumers and customers in meaningful and veritable(a) ways often through the collective voice of active bloggers that ar passionate and vocal nearly the brands they love. It represents a form of Word of sass marketing, which we define as an unpaid form of promotion oral or written- in which satisfied consumers tell a nonher(prenominal) people how much they deal a mathematical product, service, business or event. Marsden (2005) says that look into shows that word of backtalk (WoM) is at least twice as fibrous as traditional marketing communications in influencing sales, and given the rise of electronic word of lecture (mobile and internet), word of let the cat out of the bag is immediately some 50% more influential than it was 30 years ago.This is supported by a Nielsen survey screening the nigh effronteryed form of a dvertising was, recommendations from other consumers, being cited by 78% of respondents. Furthermore, the third most trusted form of advertising (behind adverts in newspapers at 63%) was consumer opinions posted online which was trusted by 61%. bring out Association Maps (BAM) that plot language, attributes and issues around a topic show that, for advertising, attributes wish false, deceptive and misleading argon highly associated. The fact is that customers atomic number 18 seeking out opinions because they dont trust marketing as much and thus independent biasrs become more influential than incessantly before. But WoM is non just about referrals to achieve sales, it in any case adds credibleness to a message. A friend or family member talking about a brand or product, or an independent commentator report about it, tend to be believed more readily than commercial advertisers talking up their own brands. TerminologyOnline word of babble out is called viral marketing and was coined as long ago as 1996 by Rayport at Harvard. viral marketing describes any system that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the messages exposure and influence. It is also defined as an alternative marketing strategy supported by investigate and technology that encourages consumers to dialogue about products and operate. The first viral marketing campaign was theHotmail launch in 1996 and it grew double-quick than any other company in history. Within 18 months it had everywhere 12 million subscribers Offline is where the majority of WoM actually occurs and has the strongest wedge and there atomic number 18 a number of terms that atomic number 18 used Word of mouth (the emphasis here is on privateised, relationship related and spontaneous communication) protagonism marketing (most often relates to social and voluntary sectors) Public personal matters (a threadbare phrase associated with political influence) Referral marketing (a classic business-to-business method) Mutual marketing (the co-creation of products and operate by producers and users, but also used in public affairs to describe joint activities between two or more organisations with a common cause) Influencer marketing (influencing the mass of prospects or other groups through the influence of a few and/or identifying those with influence and engaging, or when a marketer identifies, seeks out, and engages with influencers in support of a business objective.Influencer marketing can be traced back to 1950s when Lazarsfeld and Katz introduced the concept of the two-step communication process and personal Influence. They stressed that some people have a disproportionate pointedness of influence on others and can be effective communications channels. INDFLUENCER merchandisingAccording the annual marketing management survey run by the magazine PR Week, 69% of marketing managers in the US now include the targ eting of influencers as part of their strategy. Despite the hype surrounding online viral marketing, it is claimed by WOMMA (the UK trade association) that 85% of WOM activity takes place offline and that offline WoM is more powerful because here communicator is usually known to the recipient and thus the communication has added trust power. A similar figure is reported from the US where according to the Keller Fay free radical 73% of marketing-related conversations take place in person, and only 10% take a chance online. So, the focus of your WoM or influencer marketing strategy should be face-to-face (mouth not mouse), rather than mouse-to-mouse communication Central to most strategies designed to amplify WoM is the design of influencers, which put simply means targeting those who have the greatest viral impact rather than engaging the masses.However, the theory that there are influencers that have disproportionate impact is not universally accepted, as we shalldiscuss later. T he Word of oral cavity Marketing Association defines an influencer as a person who has a greater than average reach or impact through word of mouth in a relevant marketplace. Malcolm Gladwell, a New York Times diary keeper and the author of The Tipping Point, first stressed the importance of the so-called influentials. He categorizes influentials into three different categories 1.Connectors are the people who link us to the simpleness of the world 2.Mavens are the information specialists who accumulate and share knowledge 3.Salesmen are the persuaders who possess the powerful negotiation skills Keller and Berry in their book The Influentials categorise influencers by reference to the nature of their influence 1.Social influencers (meta trends)2.Category influencers (in a sector or product area)3.Brand influencers (which brands are in and which are not) A good recommend or influencer is typically someone who has had a genuine experience of the product or service (or has been told about it by someone they know or trust) and whose opinion is trusted by at least one other person. To make a difference on a large case a strategy needs to plan to 1.Bring these advocates together in one place.2.Trigger their advocacy through active involvement.3.Create more opportunities for them to influence the more comfortably influenced INFLUENCER STRATEGYInfluencer programs are, by definition, long-term, multi-year commitments designed to build a relationship they are not marketing campaigns. The first steps are to identify amongst your expose stakeholder groups both the easily influenced (after Watts) and the influentials (after Gladwell). Both approaches have merit and are not mutually exclusive. How to identify the easily influencedMany colleges and universities ask new students or business clients who they spoke with or what they read or browsed before enrolling or contracting, but fewer ask specific questions about what or who influenced them and why. It is key to ide ntify who influenced whom rather than merely who communicated with whom. Such questions on your induction or joiner surveyscan help to reveal the connected and trusted sources (the influencers) but also this can reveal who was influenced by word of mouth or personal recommendation and the analysis of this cohort may help to locate the most likely to be influenced in the future.However, the evidence is that all demographic groups are likely to recommend and be recommended to and influenced, so simple analysis ground on demographics is unlikely to be very revealing. Any preparatory research also needs to map out a timeline of influence, as preparation markets are cyclical and seasonal. It is critical to know when influence will be most impactful as that is when you should stimulate chatter. Keller and Berry 2003 have distilled published research into a simple screening profile for identifying connectors (influencers), recently estimated by NOP to make up 10% of a target audience bas ed on their ACTIVE profile Ahead in adoptionConnected (socially and electronically)Travellers info HungryVocalExposed to mediaCONCLUSIONExactly what is included in Influencer Marketing depends on the context (B2C or B2B) and the medium of influence transmission system (online or offline, or both). But it is increasingly accepted that companies are discriminating to identify and engage with influencers. As Keller and Berry note, Business is working harder and paying(a) more to pursue people who are trying to watch and bear in mind less to its messages. Targeting influencers is seen as a means of amplifying marketing messages, in orderliness to counteract the growing tendency of prospective customers to ignore marketing. References1. Keller, Ed and Berry, Jon. The Influentials, relinquish Press, 2003 2.Scott Pearson and Duncan Brown, The influence of Word of Mouth, Influencer50, March, 2008 3.Justin Kirby and Paul Mardsen, Connected Marketing, the viral, buzz and Word of mouth re volution, Butterworth-Heinemann , 2005 4.The Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, 20095.Rayport Prof J, The Virus of Marketing, Harvard Business School, 1996 6.Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, 2000