The term ‘influencer marketing‘ is gaining popularity in India. Organisations both big & small are pursuing it with gusto. Every entrepreneur wants to practice it and every marketer has his/her take on the subject.
Let us look at the term Influence – dictionary.com defines it as ’ the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behaviour, opinions, etc., of others’. Taking this concept further, we can deduce ‘influencer marketing’ to be the power of a person to influence the buying decision of others…
Assuming that an organisation wants to practice influencer marketing, they need to have access to these influencers.
So how can an organisation find these ‘influential’ people?
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- She can be an influential customer with a social media following and recommends your product or service when asked for one.
- He can be a blogger, analyst or a media person who writes about your industry. Introducing your product to such a person can lead to them write about your product or services.
- He can be an academician who educates, speaks with authority to your target audience. Will you be able to get his buy in? Will you be able to show the value of your product and induce the passion into him?
- She can be a social reformer, a TV anchor who talks about your product or service on national television.
- He can even be the jury of an award committee!
- It could even be an erstwhile competitor who has failed to replicate the success and has grudgingly turned into an admirer of your product!
- A loyal employee who refers his friends to the company as prospective employees.
- She could be a dynamic channel partner who eats, sleeps and dreams about her business
Yes, these are brand advocates and promoters of your brand. Can they drive action? Sure, some of them can, and do.
Someone who has a loyal base of followers and is an authority due to their expertise or social standing can spread a good word about your business.
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Why will these influencers talk about the organisation?
“Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is and the tree is the real thing.” ― Abraham Lincoln
Without the tree, how can there be a shadow? So it is essential to establish character and the shadow, in this case ― reputation will follow suit. So whether it is a product or a service, the organisation needs to strive at perfecting it and keep delivering on the promise. Once the customer is satisfied with the product, he or she will invariably refer it to friends and family. The reputation will naturally start building.
Continuously providing the right kind of information to the influencers will keep them updated about the progress or advancement the product or service is doing. It will also help them to share it with their followers. Once the influencer is convinced and also has sufficient information, the next natural step is to speak, write, tweet about the organisation.
And voila! The network effect kicks in!