Influencer Marketing is at the heart of every marketer’ discussion as it is one of the most profitable marketing tools. Abidin (2018) describes the term Influencer as “a model of marketing and advertising that targets key individuals who exert influence over a large pool of potential customers” (p.71).
The phenomenon has evolved rapidly during the last five years. Indeed, we first saw the appearance of macro-influencers who can be distinguished as already known celebrities who are famous for their career in cinema, sports, music, etc (Hatton, 2018). These macro-influencers live an exceptional life which are far from the ordinary every day lives we all lead. It is therefore harder to relate to their lives and their behaviours. People are now looking for more authenticity and likeability when they follow influencers (Moore et al, 2018). Abidin actually argues that internet celebrities are given attention for four reasons: Exceptionalism, Exclusivity, Everydayness and Exotism. Exclusivity relates to macro-influencers and the fact that people follow them for their wealth and fame.
Everydayness more interesting than Exceptionalism?
However, the trend has shifted towards micro-influencers because people are now more interested in what Abidin (2018) defines as Everydayness. Consumers are attracted by the banality of everyday life because it allows to build relationships with the influencers and create social connections and communities with other social media users (Abidin, 2018). Influencer marketing is becoming more community based. Indeed, micro-influencers do not have as many followers as celebrities but they interact more with them therefore consumers do not see them as big famous people but more like virtual friends. They can relate to them more easily and therefore are more likely to listen to their advice.
Within this context, many brands started to collaborate with micro-influencers. “Micro influencers are operating with a smaller follower base and often within niche groups of people” (Olsen & Sandholmen, 2019,p.14). Indeed, they are more credible to their followers since they have the authority to speak about their domain (Ponomarev et al 2016). Sports influencers advertising protein shakes for example will be more credible than Kim Kardashian and therefore more likely to be trusted by their followers to buy the product.
With micro-influencers, brands can reach a higher level of interaction and generate discussions around their product. They are assured that influencers will be able to answer to their community (Asselin & Faganello, 2018). Let’s keep the example of sports because fitness is the new hype on social media. Many fitness brands like Lululemon or Fabletics are collaborating with micro-influencers and making them brand ambassadors to reach out to consumers.
Lululemon, a yoga-focused brand partners with athletes and fitness models who have a specific audience. Although they do not have millions of followers, they have the credibility to partner with a yoga brand and their audience is more likely to be interested by the products than the audience of a beauty influencer.
The Influencer Industry has evolved rapidly. From celebrities to micro-influencers there has been substantial changes. Although macro-influencers have more followers and seem to be more successful, micro- influencers are actually as successful, if not more. They cost less to companies and represents a better investment than macro-influencers because they reach the targeted audience.
References
Abidin, C. (2018). Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online. Bingley: Emerald.
Asselin, C. & Faganello, T. (2018). Comment exploiter le potentiel des Micro-Influencers?. Digimind.
Hatton, G. (2018) Micro Influencers vs Macro influencers. Retrieved from: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/micro-influencers-vs-macroinfluencers/516896/fbclid=IwAR1htToEihAFcDy4tNA63gMVD27QkAl xxTqnpmHKsC0QeEeB1YkTgRBd9Dg
Olsen, C. Ø., & Sandholmen, G. M. (2019). The dark side of influencer marketing (Master’s thesis, Handelshøyskolen BI).
Moore, A., Yang, K., & Kim, H. M. (2018). Influencer Marketing: Influentials’ Authenticity, Likeability and Authority in Social Media.
Ponomarev, V. G., Moiseeva, O. A., & Saunina, A. I. (2016). Using «opinion leaders’» blogs as advertising and marketing innovation (on the example of the beauty industry). Recent trend in Science and Technology management #2 2016 87–105
