By: Alan Bahorić, senior adviser, Millennium Promotions and Teneo Public Relations
Although influencers are associated with the boom of social networks, the concept known in the Croatian language as influential individuals is not new, nor was the concept invented in the laboratory of some marketing agency or institute of social sciences. However, they became a big deal only recently. The strengthening of social networks has enabled people of different profiles and professions to communicate with numerous followers without restrictions and intermediaries. At a time of total communication, but also the congestion of communication channels, influencers become a desirable extension for already tired ancient rivals of advertising, PR and traditional media. In this prestigious society, for some time now there’s a crisis of identity and despite predictions of imminent death of television, and the already held funeral for print, many still dwell on whether it’s worth investing in a fairly uncontrollable communication channel.
Influencers can be divided into two categories: those with whom you can collaborate, and those who “don’t sell easily” – the influencers who are the dark object of desire for most marketing strategists and managers of corporate communications. Their authority is often unquestioned, and their impact greater than that of the best advertising or PR campaign. Almost everything has been said about the methods of collaboration with influencers who base their actions on market principles (pay to promote). I do not intend to moralize and discuss how legitimate this is, because if you’re willing to pay for a center spread ad or a 30-seconds pre-roll before the daily News program, I see no reason not to do the same with an influencer. The classical theory would say that this is hidden advertising, but the consumer evolution has done its thing – Millenials will be faster and more accurate in defining what is hidden advertising or a subliminal message than, for example, the baby boomers. And once the subconscious says, “this is advertising,” there’s no going back. Our influencer becomes the same as the blase face from advertisements for the sale of life insurance.
Here we come to a rare, somewhat elusive and stubborn minded caste of really influential individuals, experts and geeks – people of strong moral integrity and financially independent. But they are the ones who are leading, or better yet creating the trends and public opinion. That’s great and all, but how do you approach them, and what do you offer them?
As in general there are no universal solutions (other than self-help books and books on how to succeed in life), there is no universal key to influencers, but be sure to leave room for the out of the box thinking and try to turn key influencers into stakeholders of your organization. Instead of sale, offer them to be part of the process of creating new products and trends. Offer them to be innovators instead of multipliers, consultants instead of intermediaries. Finally, offer them a bit of Eros, because if they don’t recognize the connection and identification with your brand – no deal.
Sounds complicated? Not really. Imagine including a board of influencers into an otherwise rigid structure of the organization (no matter what you do), as a small and selected group of external collaborators who not only serve as a focus group, but through their competence mean more than a classic consumer sample on which to test campaigns and products. Of course, every influencer will not agree to a commitment nor will recognize the attachment with the brand, but if you win over even 10% of real influencers, you did a good job. Why?
Because you’ve included the consumer zero into the creation process – that archetypal user that we see when we imagine a campaign, a trend, a fashion or a political action. It’s often said that we can’t see the forest from the tree, so we use outside consultants or agencies, but we forget to include a representative end user, and many influencers are just that. Ultimately, their result is not measured by the amount of likes (for this we have those first influencers, those whom we pay per campaign), but by the degree of target achievement. On the other hand, we give influencers a strong motivation. We don’t recognize their status by number of followers, but by what they actually are – leaders of opinions and trends – and when their tastes coincide with your brand – you have a perfect match! You should honor the time of influencers, who over time may transform into brand ambassadors, with specific awards such as opportunities for personal growth and development. In principle, offer options that go beyond the mere financial rewards (although that is not excluded).
It’s not realistic to expect that every company in Croatia can and wants to test this approach, but I personally know of at least a few. If any of you decide to such an approach, please feel free to reach out, maybe together we can find an even better tactic of cooperation with influential people, widely known as influencers.
Cheers!
