The word “influencer” came in second place in the dictionary Sanseido’s list of new words for 2017.
In recent years, marketing methods using “influencers” are becoming mainstream.
New forms of marketing that were unthinkable just 20 years ago are now rapidly accelerating.
This time, we will take a closer look at
influencer marketing
, touching on the basic knowledge of “What is an influencer?” and explaining the background behind its establishment as a marketing method.
What is an “influencer”?
Speaking of “influencer”, some people may think of the representative song of the idol group Nogizaka46.
The content of the song was “The person you like has an influence on you.” The word influencer comes from the English word “influence,” which is combined with “-er” (a person who… It means “someone who gives.”
According to Sanseido’s dictionary, “A person who has a strong influence on many people regarding the economy, trends, values, etc.A person who has a great influence on purchasing activities, especially through media such as the Internet.”
“Influencer marketing” is a method of disseminating information about various products and services widely to the world through “influencers” to increase awareness and generate interest in the market.
Typical examples of “influencers” include celebrities, entertainers, YouTubers, bloggers, and other people with a large number of followers on SNS. What is worth noting here is that not only celebrities, but even consumers can become influencers by disseminating information on their own blogs, Twitter, Instagram, etc. and gaining a certain number of followers. is.
The customer journey has changed with the development of SNS!
So why has this influencer marketing method accelerated?
・Sweet progress on SNS that started from a blog
One of the reasons is the development of SNS.
The various blogging services that started in Japan around 2002 have made the Internet more familiar to our lives.
SNS services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have evolved one after another, and everyone now has the dual nature of being both an information sender and an information receiver. .
Along with this, a revolutionary change will occur in the way information is collected.
There has been a shift from the “passive” attitude of watching commercials and advertisements, which has been the mainstream up until now, to an “active” attitude of searching online, especially using the rich search functions of SNS. Masu.
These changes in the way information is collected will also impact the traditional path to purchase, the so-called customer journey.
Traditional points of contact with companies, such as television and physical stores, will shift to online channels such as the Internet, and the path from interest to purchase will become more diverse and complex.
In response to this, companies have revised their marketing strategies, and “influencer marketing” has become mainstream because it delivers information more quickly and effectively to the target audience.
Characteristics of BtoB “influencers”
In influencer marketing, companies provide influencers with information about products and services they want to promote, and pay them compensation.
However, the image of an influencer is different between BtoB and BtoC.
This is because the purchasing process for products and services is different between BtoB and BtoC.
In BtoC, individuals can make purchasing decisions, so it is desirable to have an influencer who is highly liked by consumers and who has a large number of comments on posts that resonate with them.
On the other hand, in BtoB, purchases cannot generally be made based on individual judgment alone, and the decision-maker is often someone higher up in the organization.
Therefore, it can be said that a person who can influence the decision maker is effective.
For example, if someone has expertise and is influential in the industry, such as a leading figure in the industry, it can be said that they are highly reliable.
How to succeed with influencer marketing
Collaborative relationships with influencers are important for success in influencer marketing.
Each influencer has their own personality. It is a marketing method that attracts followers because of their uniqueness and hopes for its effectiveness.
You need to be careful about posts that ignore individuality, or stealth marketing that introduces people without explicitly stating that money or products are being exchanged, as they can actually lose credibility and put the cart before the horse.