Influencer marketing as a psychological impact strategy



The article considers influencer marketing as a psychological impact.

Keywords: marketing analysis, marketing, psychology, psychological impact, informational social impact.

В статье рассматривается маркетинг влияния как стратегия психологического воздействия.

Ключевые слова: маркетинг влияния, маркетинг, психология, психологическое воздействие, информационное социальное влияние.

Introduction

How to acquire a person or service? How to take on users and provide for its outcome on a particular advertising move? No matter what the consequences of marketers around the world. According to Arizona State University psychology professor Robert Cialdini, persuasion is no longer an art. This is real science today: “Expenditure researchers make a big difference as to why people agree to buy and what comes with their choice.”

It should be noted that fierce competition requires a constant search for new ways to influence users in order to promote products. One of those magazines.

Marketing analysis can rightfully be called a «hot trend» of recent years and a new philosophy in promotion. Many companies are convinced that due to the ability to influence the user, marketing is one of the most effective methods of trusting a high level of the brand and its recognition. This opinion is not empty, it is undeniably spread by statistics — thanks to recommendations from experts, leaders and celebrities, Business is growing faster, sales are growing faster. Thus, all the above factors determine the relevance of the proposed topic.

The purpose of this article is marketing analysis as a strategic psychological analysis on users.

Main definitions

Perhaps the most recognizable figure in the history of influencer marketing is Santa Claus. As you know, he began to appear on the posters of Coca-Cola since 1920, which indicates a rather long existence of influencer marketing. Of course, a lot has changed since then thanks to the spread of the Internet. However, the basics of influencer marketing have remained the same: you need to find a well-known figure to demonstrate to your customers that you can be trusted.

So, influencer marketing is a modern tool, the essence of which is to appeal to the target audience of the brand of a famous person, whom consumers trust and whose opinion they listen to. Such individuals are called opinion leaders [2, p. fourteen].

It is worth noting that currently the main focus of influencer marketing is on social media campaigns, although earlier the campaign used more traditional channels: television, banners, product packaging.

Speaking about influencer marketing, they often mean promotion through bloggers on Facebook, Instagram, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Youtube video platform, Livejournal blogging platform. However, it is important to note that any person whose opinion is trusted and ready to be listened to can act as an influencer. In particular, Forbes proposes to classify influencers into 6 types: celebrities, journalists, industry experts, outstanding personal brands, analysts, intermediaries.

No less popular is the classification of influencers by the number of subscribers: [5, p. 745]

1) Micro-influencers — from 5 to 100 thousand subscribers;

2) Middle (medium) — from 100 thousand to a million;

3) Macro-influencers — over a million followers.

In addition, even a frequenter of the forum can be an opinion leader if he is known and respected for his competence and advice. Such influencers do not have to be well-known bloggers or experts, but their actions and comments should influence the opinions of other people.

In general, a wide range of modern influencers allows you to find a suitable partner for almost any brand.

The basic principle of influencer marketing is native and unobtrusive advertising served in the form of a friendly recommendation from a well-known person. The important point is that influencer marketing is aimed at promoting a particular product or service to specific people, and not to the market as a whole. This is different from traditional marketing, where a company simply advertises and hopes that this is enough to get people to contact it. Influencer marketing involves exploiting the relationship between the agent and the person they are trying to influence. In other words, in this case we are talking about the phenomenon of social proof.

When done right, influencer marketing becomes a powerful tool that helps brands better understand their customers by observing and analyzing their interactions with influencers. In addition, there are other advantages: [4, p. 55]

1) accessibility: previously, as you know, only large companies with huge budgets could influence the target audience. As an example, long-term advertising with Clint Eastwood, who formed the image of a real man who smokes. Now, even a small regional company can afford to cooperate with bloggers who have 10 or more thousand subscribers;

2) the degree of trust in the materials of agents of influence is 63–65 % higher than in classical advertising. At the same time, more than 92 % of network users listen to the opinions, reviews or recommendations of other people, making a choice before buying;

3) higher efficiency: when analyzing the use of this tool, it was found that almost 40 % more customers decide to make a purchase of a product or service based on the recommendations of bloggers. At the same time, every 1 dollar of investment brings up to 6.5 dollars of profit.

4) a constant increase in the influence of the Internet, the number of bloggers: it has been established that the number of those who watch TV is declining by 9.5 % annually. This audience goes to social networks, even learning the news from there.

Summarizing all of the above, it should be noted that working with an influencer not only helps increase sales, but also increases brand awareness among a wider audience. Accordingly, users who are not currently interested in a particular product will remember about it in the future. And associating with an influencer they trust will increase the likelihood of a purchase.

At the same time that influencer marketing is a really effective tool with a huge number of possibilities and manifestations, it also has certain negative aspects that must be taken into account when planning events and developing strategies. So, the most significant among them are: [7]

— Search for opinion leaders, communication with them. Among the many different bloggers, it is quite difficult to choose those who are best suited to promote goods or services. In addition, there are no statistics that would help in the right choice.

— The number of subscribers, the popularity of a person have a direct impact on the cost of cooperation. Show business stars can demand several thousand dollars for just one post on their own social network account, which is unacceptable for most medium and small companies.

— Unpredictability of results. Unlike traditional advertising channels, there is practically no data for analysis and forecasting. It is also impossible to predict what exactly the impact on the target audience will be, since any negative attitude towards a person is instantly transferred to everything that he does or says.

And yet, despite all these negative points, the use of influencer marketing has a positive upward trend. Thus, the largest world-famous companies increase their budgets precisely by attracting opinion leaders, while reducing the costs of other promotion channels.

Thus, influencer marketing is far from a fleeting trend. According to the Association for the Development of Interactive Advertising, in 2020 advertisers' spending on this channel increased by 63 % and amounted to 11.1 billion rubles. However, according to marketing software developer HubSpot, 71 % of users are more likely to buy a product recommended on social media. [6]

In addition, the promotion of brands through bloggers is a trend that is gaining more and more popularity in our country every year, as evidenced by undeniable statistics: 58 % of readers in Russia trust the recommendations of bloggers, and the volume of the advertising market among opinion leaders has approached 5 billion rubles in year. [7]

Influencer marketing can be used effectively for any type of business. It suits both local small companies and large international brands with an extensive product line. However, it is important to keep in mind that as one of the most effective ways to influence consumers, influencer marketing requires careful planning.

Table 1 shows the process of step-by-step implementation of influencer marketing. [3, p. 18]

Table 1

Stages of implementation of influencer marketing

Stages	Essence of the stage
1. Determination of goals	First of all, it is necessary to determine the desired result from cooperation — lead generation and sales, creation of unique content, increase in traffic, increase in social media presence. Next, it is important to highlight 2–3 KPI indicators, according to which we will monitor performance.
2. Definition of the target audience	It is necessary to draw up a portrait of the ideal client: gender, age, hobbies, places of work and residence. This will create a clear idea of what audience to look for.
3. Selection and verification of influencers	In influencer marketing, one of the most important steps is to find the right blogger and check for cheats. The trendHERO service can help here, where an extensive database of influencers is collected, and detailed account statistics are provided, including metrics that allow you to identify cheats.
4. Establishing contact with an influencer	It is recommended to write a letter with a clearly articulated proposal, as well as to prepare materials that will help the influencer to get acquainted with the brand and its products. It is best to make a full-fledged brief, where you write down all the details of cooperation — the number of posts and their format, publication time, remuneration, etc.
5. Content Creation	Influencer marketing works best with authored content, so a sponsored post must be created in collaboration with an influencer. He knows better than anyone the preferences of his audience of followers and has long learned to do what they like.
6. Tracking and evaluation of results	At this stage, it is necessary to use the KPIs defined at the beginning to track the effectiveness of cooperation. If necessary, it is important to work on the errors and make adjustments.

Conclusion

Influence marketing has existed for a very long time, but it began to develop actively only after the level of information noise in the world reached critical levels and people simply stopped paying attention to billboards, banners on the Internet and advertising on TV.

Influencer marketing is promotion through influencers. This is a powerful image tool that works for reach and engagement and is included in the advertising strategies of many global brands. Gathering a large audience around them, influencers are able to influence the views, actions and decisions of subscribers. By creating a stable positive image of a company or product in the mind of the consumer, they help increase sales.

It is important to note that the popularity of influencer marketing has been growing non-stop in recent years. This all confirms that influencer marketing is not just a trend, it is an effective strategy to influence the consumer, thanks to which it is possible to sell any product. There are no standard schemes, which allows you to experiment. There is no need to invent, it is enough just to attract the right person, whose recommendations will be listened to by millions of people. Accordingly, with the right approach, influencer marketing can bring hundreds or even thousands of new customers and, of course, sales.

References:

1. Akulich M. V. Internet marketing: Textbook for bachelors / M. V. Akulich. — M.: Publishing and Trade Corporation «Dashkov and Co», 2020. — 352 p.
2. Budozhapova V. Z., Danilova S. R. Specifics of product promotion through influencer marketing // Business strategies. — 2019. — No. 5 (61). — S. 14–16.
3. Karpykbaeva A. B. Influencer marketing as a brand strategy // VEPS. — 2019. — No. 4. — S. 16–19.
4. Kislitsyna A. A. Influence marketing in modern political campaigns // Society: politics, economics, law. — 2019. — No. 8 (73). — S. 54–58.
5. Ryabokon E. M., Kuznetsova O. A., Shulzhenko K. S. Bloggers-influencers in the fashion industry // Structural and technological transformation of Russia: problems and prospects. From the GOELRO plan to the present day. — 2021. — No. 1. — S. 745–751.
6. Influencer marketing: features, recommendations, examples. — URL: https://sales-generator.ru/blog/ marketing-vliyaniya/ (date of access: 07/08/2022).
7. What is influence marketing and how to use it. — URL: https://blog-calltouch-ru.turbopages.org/blog.calltouch.ru/s/chto-takoe-influence-marketing-i-kak-ego-ispolzovat/ (Date of access: 07/08/2022).