The Phenomenon Of Influencing In Social Networks
Globalization led to the phenomenon of influencers in social networks, and it even affects the way people understand marketing. The saturation of ads as social networks experienced changed the paradigm, and companies had to reconsider new actions to reach consumers. This is where influencers come into play.
An influencer is a person with a social media account with a community of followers they can influence. People see them as new players in the marketing strategy of a company that seeks to deliver a more credible message.
Influencers can be traditional celebrities, but there are also bloggers, YouTubers and Instagrammers who can provide greater segmentation of the brand’s message. They also help companies reach their niche market directly. Thus, they are now relevant.
The advent of social networks created a panorama where opinions from any user can generate an ideological current and give rise to a new language. The aim of this article is to investigate this phenomenon that moves more than 1,000 million euros. A phenomenon in which more than 20 million people worldwide work.
What are influencers in social networks?
Although we all have the capacity to influence to a greater or lesser degree, an influencer is able to transmit a certain amount of information and influence. These people reach more online environments, media, other influencers and, most importantly, the end consumer.
The ability to communicate and maintain contact with their followers is among their most important skills. The influencer in social networks must know their audience and the language they use. This is because they need to know how to adapt the message. Remember that the influencer’s communication model is two-way and generates a space for dialogue.
Thus, they also have the capacity to build trust and reciprocity. It provides the opportunity to transfer proximity and establish lasting relationships. Showing empathy and equality with followers is the key to influencing them.
Of course, it is also about showing important knowledge about a specific topic and at the same time keeping messages consistent. Thus, a point in the job they make is that they know how to anticipate the questions that potential buyers may ask about the products they market.
The ability to create a trend is the most important characteristic of an influencer. This person must be able to convince a potential customer to buy, consume and recommend a product. And for all this, the influencer must have a good ability to tell stories and create content (videos, photos, articles and opinions). All in order to maintain a certain level of quality and generate interest from the audience they want to reach.
The phenomenon of influencing social media – between scams and numbers
Let us also highlight the dangers of this phenomenon, where it is quite easy to take advantage of people’s ignorance. Here are two cases that show the dangers of it all:
A paradigmatic story is instagrammer Arii. She is a girl with more than 2.6 million followers who decided to launch a clothing collection, but failed to sell more than 36 shirts.
- This is a real demonstration where the number of followers of a person does not always mean a loyal audience or potential customers. For example, there are tools that allow you to buy followers to become a fake influencer.
- Another notable case was the Fyre Festival, an event mediated by several influencers. It includes a beach, supermodels and an island that belonged to Pablo Escobar in the Bahamas. The tickets were sold for 4,000 euros. All tickets were sold out in 48 hours. But it was a farce.
Despite these dangers, 49% of consumers seek buying advice from influencers on social networks, according to a study conducted by Twitter in 2016. In addition, 20% said they bought after seeing tweets from certain influencers.
This study also shows that the areas most affected by this type of marketing are politics, society and fashion. The most used social networks are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Conclusion
Thus, you could say that the phenomenon of influencing marketing is a viral event for consumers and businesses. Consumers prefer to trust a person who gives a good argument for buying a product, even if they do not know them personally. Thus, companies make the decision to invest time and money in a new marketing strategy that includes influencers in marketing and communication strategy.
However, it is important to choose the most appropriate influencer for a brand. Otherwise, the resources would be uselessly invested. Companies will also lose confidence in the brand.
