Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Marija Mijatović, Account Manager, Represent Communications
Collaboration with so-called influencers, bloggers, Instagramers, YouTubers and other digital content creators who can attract the attention of the online audience is almost an integral part of the integrated marketing campaigns of most brands today.
However, as the influence of influencer marketing grows, so does the number of divisions of influencers. Already we have the division into macro-influencers, followed by tens of thousands, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of people on social media, and micro-influencers whose following is measured with far less tens and zeros. And while initially everyone was rushing to work with the most popular and most followed influencers, trends show that brands and companies are now turning more and more to those who will create content with more value for a certain target group, and with more visible effects, which is usually reflected in what we call “engagement rate”.
One of the main questions is how to choose the right influencer in the first place, and are there certain criteria that affect this decision. This primarily depends on the very purpose of the campaign. In case your campaign needs to be seen, to raise awareness of something and to inform the public about some novelty, then macro-influencers are a good choice because they can reach more people. On the other hand, if the campaign has a specific call to action, micro-influencers are what you need. The next step in determining the appropriate influencer is the type of content they make, the quality of the content, the way the followers react to that content, and the communication that influencer has with their followers. In addition, it is necessary for the influencer to adapt their content to the needs of the client or campaign, and to create content that will not be too commercial, but will contain a certain value for their followers. After all, we hire influencers for their creativity, and therefore they should be allowed to suggest what their audience will best accept. And no, it’s not necessary that your product or logo is always seen in their posts, blogs or videos, because you’re not hiring them for product placement but for quality content.
Although the number of influencers grows daily, our market is relatively small and many begin to find engagement in regional collaborations. Coca-Cola Bloggers Network Adria is one of the first projects that has succeeded in connecting bloggers from five countries of the region and shows the direction in which this communication tool should be developed with the target public. The project lasted for three years, including 27 bloggers from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The experience gained through the Coca-Cola Bloggers Network Adria confirmed the importance of digital communications in the domain of modern business and has continued through continuous collaboration with bloggers and vloggers from all spheres on the most important projects and campaigns of the Coca-Cola system. It was precisely the involvement of members of the online community that enabled this model of communicating with consumers to become a standard in the Coca-Cola system, and is successfully applied in many other projects. Through this cooperation, benefits were felt by both bloggers and the company that has once again shown a lot of understanding for the needs of consumers and the market.
Asked to state some of the advantages of cooperation on a project of this type, Nada Piliskić, the author of the fitness blog www.fitt.rs, noted: “Higher visibility. Unlimited support from experts in the field of blogging and marketing, creative incentives, wind in your sails – the feeling that someone keeps on looking after me, telling me ‘Come on, come on, you can do it’, meeting other selected bloggers with whom you create the community and therefore have a more intimate relationship, as well as the good reference for further business cooperation with companies… these are just some of the benefits.”
“If I knew anything even before the CCBNA, it was that work, consistency and dedication are important links in the process of creation, and that there is no talent that can replace your diligence, curiosity, and everyday personal engagement, both in the offline and in the online world. And the activity of the CCBNA has confirmed to me that the enthusiasm of an individual, combined with a recognizable style of writing and an unquestionable emotion, is highly appreciated in today’s world, even though we are washed by the waves of objective and very average storytelling, and even though we are being told that you should be real and see the world around you with a grounded, often settled view of the world. Well, I have no eyes for grounded view. I don’t have the tongue for objectivity. And I don’t have the heart for mediocrity. Probably that’s why I found myself among these wonderful people, and that’s why we proved and showed that we can and must be better and different,” said Ingrid Divković, a Croatian writer who was part of the latest generation of Coca-Cola bloggers.
Influencers face an equal challenge as companies and brands that hire them – the audience is more and more demanding and constantly demands novelties that will keep their attention for longer than those infamous eight seconds.
