Influencer marketing is a relatively new tool in the marketer’s toolkit. It has been used with varying success in FMCG and travel, and has become subject to increasing criticism and even legislation lately, but it is still not used a lot outside those sectors. In this blog series we will look at what influencer marketing is and how it can be ethically and successfully used in sectors like the space industry.
Before going into the nitty gritty of how influencer marketing works, let’s look into some definitions. There are lots of definitions available in academic writing, largely coming down to the same ideas. A simple definition of an influencer would be “someone who has:
- The power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his or her audience.
- A following in a distinct niche, with whom he or she actively engages. The size of the following depends on the size of his/her topic of the niche.” (source)
The same source then continues to add the social media context to influencers: “Influencers in social media are people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic. They make regular posts about that topic on their preferred social media channels and generate large followings of enthusiastic, engaged people who pay close attention to their views.”
These definitions are helpful in finding people with social media influence in a certain sector, as we should be looking for people with:
- A reputation for their industry knowledge;
- Expertise on a specific topic;
- Making regular posts about that topic;
- Generate large followings of engaged people