Digital Consumer
Digital
Strategy
Marketing
September 21, 2022
Influence marketing and digital influencers
DOI: 10.22167/2675-6528-20220028
E&S 2022,3: e20220028
Silmara Regina de Souza
The advent of the internet, the evolution of technological tools, and the consolidation of digital channels have drastically modified the way companies do business and, consequently, the performance of marketing, a strategic area that has gained new challenges, among them, access to a much more connected and informed audience, which has become a consumer and at the same time a content producer. The context of transformations has led to the transition to a more strategic era, focused on the social network user and content relevance.
Digital technologies have brought significant changes in how businesses innovate, face competition and, mainly, how they understand and create customer value[1]. In addition to this, social networks, as channels of digital communication, have impacted the way consumers buy products and services and how companies relate to customers.
All of this brought greater complexity to companies’ marketing, which needed to adapt quickly and adopt new paths in building relationships and communicating with customers. Social networks, technology, and digital communication began to act together in a more integrated manner, forcing companies to adopt new perspectives on the market.
In this context, it is not enough for brands to be present on social media; delivering content that goes beyond traditional advertising has become essential to reach the audience. The communication model that goes from the brand to the customer has evolved, and an intermediary has been incorporated into it, someone who talks about the product, company, or service in a way that demonstrates something differentiated and unbiased, since people increasingly do not want to hear companies talking about themselves[2].
Traditional media is no longer the main channel of influence and has given way to the figure of the digital influencer, causing influencer marketing to become one of the most used strategies by current companies, in order to get even closer to their customers. Thus, it assumes a prominent place, being one of the priorities for many brands, as it responds positively to investments in this area[3].
Although not recent, influencer marketing has gained more popularity and a different model due to social media, which enabled the rise of digital influencers, being a concept already practiced when celebrities associated their images with products and services. Social influence has always existed and shaped our behavior, having a great impact on it[4].
With social media, this scenario of target audience influence has reached a new dimension. There has been a reconfiguration of the influence model, where people initially considered anonymous, but with a large audience, began to be sought after by companies to promote them.
Barreiro, Diniz and Breda[5] highlighted that influencer marketing is an adaptation of marketing in the face of the new scenario of market evolution and new technologies. For the authors, influencer marketing corresponds to the planning and management of social networks by opinion leaders and social media multipliers, through recommendations.
Addressing influencer marketing implies understanding the role of the digital influencer. De Veirman, Cauberghe, and Hudders[6] stated that influencers are defined as people who have built a large audience of followers, being seen as reliable opinion leaders. According to Haenlein et al.[7], influencers are individuals who have achieved fame within or outside the social network, standing out for the content they produce. Authors reinforced that, in addition to increasing brand reach and exposure, these professionals become essential resources, so as to bring in their speech a language appropriate to the audience, being references and becoming independent evaluators who shape users’ attitudes and behavior[5].
In addition to impacting a considerable portion of a given audience, many digital influencers have gained visibility by producing authentic content tailored to their followers. This is content developed from the outside in, that is, focusing on the followers’ needs.
The initial influence model, famous for the jargon “received items”, in which these professionals showed the products they received from a brand on their channels, has lost relevance due to the evolution of the model and the more emphatic demand from the public for more spontaneous and authentic messages. Thus, today’s influencers combine content production and presentation, understanding of how social networks work, and entrepreneurship.
By understanding this scenario, it was possible to visualize several business possibilities. However, for this modality to fulfill its strategic character, it is not enough to choose only the influencer with the largest number of followers. This decision will depend on the company’s objective[7] and can encompass everything from the growth of the brand’s profile on the platform to an increase in sales[8].
An influencer with a high level of popularity – with millions of followers – can contribute to the promotion of a certain product or service by lending their image to it. However, if the brand wants more public involvement, an influencer who has greater engagement with their community may be the most suitable. There is also the possibility of the brand working on its authority on a subject by choosing a niche influencer, that is, one who is an expert in a topic. Thus, the importance of companies using this market segmentation strategy is reinforced, which allows communication actions to be directed to specific audiences, facilitating the process of defining expert influencers.
Influencers are not just those who build a network, but they awaken a feeling of trust with followers, who want to know more about their positions, behaviors, opinions, and recommendations about a certain brand, product, service, or even other topics[2]. This constitutes a great attraction for businesses, as the experiences and messages shared by these influencers carry two fundamental components: message legitimation and authenticity.
Therefore, brands seek to leverage what influencers have most valuable: their community, their knowledge about the best content format, what moves their follower base, the ideal tone and language[9]. Henceforth, digital will continue to evolve on all its fronts: communication, tools, commercial transactions, and technologies. Likewise, influencer marketing is moving towards consolidating itself as an efficient strategy within this universe, connecting businesses, influencers, and the user community.
References
[1] Rogers D.L. Transformação digital: repensando o seu negócio para a era digital. 2018. Autêntica Business, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
[2] Borges C.N.A comunicação e o advento dos digital influencers: pesquisa realizada sobre blogueiras de moda. Intercom, 2016; 1-13.
[3] Assis V.S.; Ferreira A. Marketing de influência: a era do Digital Influencer. 2019; 1-11.
[4] Berger J. O poder da Influência: as forças invisíveis que moldam nosso comportamento. 2017. HSM, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
[5] Barreiro T.; Dinis G.; Breda Z. Marketing de influência e influenciadores digitais: aplicação do conceito pelas DMO em Portugal. Marketing & Tourism Review. 2019; 4(1).
[6] De Veirman M.; Cauberghe V.; Hudders L. “Marketing through Instagram influencers: impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude”, Inter. Journ. Advert. 2016; 36(5):798-828.
[7] Haenlein M.; Anadol E.; Farnsworth T.; Hugo H.; Hunichen J.; Welte D. Navigating the New Era of Influencer Marketing: How to be Successful on Instagram, TikTok, & Co. California management review. 2020; 63(1): 5-25.
[8] Pereira Jr. S.; Porto A.P.S. Entre posts e parcerias: Práticas de marketing de influência em agência de viagem receptiva. Ateliê Do Turismo. 2021; 5(1): 42-65. Disponível em: <https://desafioonline.ufms.br/index.php/adturismo/article/view/12109>.
[9] Santos F. Economia da Influência: transforme a narrativa da sai marca em seu maior ativo e adapte seu negócio para ter resultados escaláveis. 2022. Editora Gente, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Como citar
Souza, S.R. Marketing de influência e os influenciadores digitais. Revista E&S. 2022; 3: e20220028.
Sobre os autores
Silmara Regina de Souza, Mestre em Administração e Consultora de Marketing, Piracicaba, SP, Brasil
Editorado por: Edson Pereira da Mota
Link para download: https://cms.revistaes.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/30.pdf