Influencer marketing – what is it?

Influencer marketing involves people with a large reach, also known as opinion leaders, in the advertising of a brand, product, or service in order to increase its value and credibility. The goal is to produce content that has a positive effect on both parties. The company increases its visibility and the influencer gets products to test and can satisfy their audience with high-quality content. Since buyers value the opinions of people who are independent of companies, many companies use influencer marketing to spread their brand message.

Influencers are, for example,social media userswith a large number of followers, bloggers, journalists, politicians, celebrities, experts, etc. 

There are three different types ofinfluencers:

1. Brand enthusiasts: They are familiar with the brand and have had positive experiences, resulting in strong brand loyalty.
2. Brand critics: They are familiar with the brand, but have had negative experiences and are critical of the company. Their opinions negatively influence third parties in their purchasing decisions.
3. Brand experts: They act as advisors to third parties. They have the necessary expertise to evaluate the brand impartially.

An important metric for choosing an influencer is theengagement rate. This is usually relatively high for people with a comparatively small number of followers (approx. 10,000-50,000 followers), as their opinion is perceived as more authentic and credible.

Influencers often assign themselves to specific topics, such as food, travel, or fitness.

Influencer marketing offers companies several advantages over traditional branded content. 

The influencer usually takescare of producing the contentthemselves, so all that is required is to provide the product or service so that the influencer can then evaluate it and share their experiences. This is also one reason why influencers are considered highlyauthentic, as the content is not produced by the company and therefore often appears more credible and honest. In addition, brands can reach very specifictarget groupsthrough influencer marketing. Young people in particular are spending more and more time on social media, making it increasingly difficult to reach them with traditional advertising methods.