Influencer marketing...

As a “millennial” (a term I have only just learnt is an actual thing), the first thing people I think of when I hear the word ‘influencer’ are Youtubers.
But there is so much more to influencer marketing that Youtubers are just at the surface - or are they?

The logic behind influencer marketing is to get role models of the audience, selling to them. If you trust and/or respect the salesman they’ll earn your sale. So, in fact, influencers are everywhere and aren’t just people in the public eye- you’re one yourself!
Disregarding ‘famous’ people, who would persuade you to buy something (be it a product or service) if they simply asked you to? Your mum, dad, best mate? They are all influencers to you and in the same way you could be an influencer to them.

There are so many ways brands use influencers, in more recent years brands have used social media influencers on their own accounts or on the influencers YouTube channel. But there are so many, more traditional ways influencers are used. What about in television ads?
What I find interesting about influencer marketing here is that millennials are really not the target. Just by looking at the influencer a brand is using, it’s easy to tell who their target audience are; a good example would be David Beckham. Beckham’s a footballer who actually stopped playing football in 2013! I mean, I was 13 and I don’t even remember him even playing football - I only know from what my parents have told me.
So that’s who the brands who use David Beckham are targeting, 30-50 year olds who actually watched Beckham play and know him for being an attractive young man. As well as the celebrity themselves, another factor you’ve got to look at when working out who is being targeted by these ads is what the actual product is that’s being sold.

The most recent advert that Beckham is in is an ad for Biotherm Homme - a men skincare brand. So already we can see that they’ve used David Beckham as he is a role model for so many men who want to look good - like David Beckham. The subliminal message for this ad is ‘if you want to look like David Beckham, buy our product’.
That’s the brutal truth of it and as much as they try to glorify the fact that they are shaping people’s attitudes and opinions, that’s exactly what adverts do. That’s their purpose.

An interesting statistic I was told the other week was that 60% of 18-24 year olds use their smartphones during TV advertisement. That’s why it’s no surprise to me that influencers that are in TV advertising are often not ones I am familiar with. Instead they are more ‘traditional celebrities/actors’, people like Robin Williams who starred in old films like ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ or ‘Good Will Hunting’ and featured in an advert for Zelda; which did surprise me a bit but maybe it’s to bring older people to the game. The point I’m making is that Robin Williams was in productions my parents most probably watched and who also don’t fit into the 18-24 age bracket that sit on their phone during the ad breaks.

Speaking of influencer marketing, a new tool has just been launched (October 2018) that aims to help brands combat fake influencers.
In case you aren’t aware, social media influencers often buy their followers and likes to appear more popular than they are. This then earns them work as brands think that they are a lot more successful than they are.
The new tool from Social Chain works by helping brands spot fake followers; therefore assisting them in spending their ad budget with the confidence of knowing that the followers an influencer has are organic.
This is a tool that 10 years ago would cease to exist as the demand for social influencers just wasn’t what it is today.
That’s a brand new tool that now exists thanks to digital marketing and the increasing demand for it.

Influencer marketing is something that has always been around, but is also happening in different ways now thanks to new platforms like social media. But is continuing to happen in more traditional ways as well and makes up a big part of the marketing sector.