6-2 Blog: Marketing Perspective

 I always find myself on social media throughout the day, and I follow quite a few influencers that I find amusing in various ways. An influencer that I follow is called The Pasta Queen because I love pasta dishes and she always has such good looking recipes that I want to try.

This type of marketing allows celebrities to influence their followers to purchase merchandise or services from companies that contract with them. For example, Dunkin' has a contract with Charli D'Amelio, who is a well known social media influencer. Dunkin' will give Charli free products to wear or consume and she is required to post on her social media platforms about the products to "convince" her followers that it is the best out there and that they should buy it too because she uses it. They made a huge increase in iced coffee sales when Charli began posting about drinking iced coffee from Dunkin'.

The content that influencers post is typically short and sweet and doesn't require much effort. Influencers are likely chosen because they already have quite a large following, so the business knows that a large audience will be able to see the posts. They also try to choose an influencer than aligns with their target audience. For example, a company selling toddler clothing likely wouldn't use someone like Tom Hanks as their influencer since he is much older. 

Influencers already know the audience that follows them on social media, and often form a closer bond with their audience than a business might. Influencers often provide insights into their personal lives which helps them become closer to their audience, and can provide a sense of understanding for them. People can feel a connection to influencers since they know a lot about their personal lives and will be much more trusting towards an influencer than a company itself. Using influencers is a unique and effective way to market to your audience because the influencers can be themselves and have a broader range of what they are able to say and do for campaigns.