What is influencer marketing?

In a nutshell: What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is a form of social marketing in which products or services are presented and thus marketed by influencers on their channels. Influencers are considered experts in their respective niche and have a wide reach thanks to their followers.

Influencer marketing is part of online marketing and is a special form of social media marketing. Here, certain people or groups in public life (influencers) advertise a product or service on social networks.

Influencers are considered experts in their industry, have a large number of followers and enjoy a high reputation among them. These followers are influenced by the influencers to buy the product or service themselves in the end.

Example: A company wants to market a new cosmetics product. In addition to the classic marketing channels, such as advertising on television, via Facebook advertising or Google Ads etc., the product can be marketed via influencers, such as a beauty YouTuber. This YouTuber creates a video about the cosmetic product, talks about the benefits and tests it live. Consumers watch the video, are at best convinced and buy the company's product.

Companies select suitable influencers as brand ambassadors on influencer portals or through direct contact. If there is mutual interest, they enter into one-off or longer-term collaborations and advertising contracts in which the scope and often also the exact form of the advertising and its remuneration are set out.

The aim is to generate more attention and relevance for the company or product. Increasing traffic, sales and reach is also an important marketing goal, alongside tapping into new target groups and retaining followers.

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What is an influencer?

The term "influencer" is generally associated with a person. However, influencers can also be associations, companies, organizations or groups.

However, the main characteristic is that these influencers are considered experts in their industry due to their extensive specialist knowledge. Influencers also have an influence on the opinions, habits and tastes of their followers due to their reach.

You have a social media channel, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitch, as well as a large number of followers through which they can exert their influence as experts. Influencers share pictures and videos from their everyday lives and present products, brands or services on these channels.

Influencers can be, among others:

Bloggers, website operators,
YouTuber, Instagrammer, TikToker,
Celebrities and politicians,
Journalists and technical experts,
Forum operator.

There are also three types of influencer:

The macro-influencer

Macro influencers are among the biggest and most experienced in the industry. They have usually been active for a long time, have an average of several million followers and are the most expensive - but have the greatest reach.

Macro influencers mainly have many customers and decide for themselves which products they promote, which is why it is often difficult to win them over for newer or smaller projects. They are particularly interesting for large companies that want to reach a wide range of people.

The micro-influencer

Micro influencers also have numerous followers, but are not as well-known as macro influencers. They are perfect for companies and campaigns of all sizes, as their reach is equal to that of large influencers, but is sufficient for most products and companies.

Small and medium-sized companies in particular often opt for this form of influencer marketing. This is because micro influencers are more affordable and cheaper than macro influencers.

The nano-influencer

The nano influencer is the smallest influencer and has comparatively few followers. However, these influencers are predominantly cheaper and are generally also open to smaller projects and products.

Nano influencers are ideal for smaller companies and advertising where a small reach is sufficient. They can also position themselves very precisely on a niche topic and therefore relate to a specific target group.

Subject areas in influencer marketing

In addition to the different types and sizes of influencers, there are also different subject areas. This means that influencers specialize in a certain industry or niche and are therefore experts in their field.

Common categories in the field of influencer marketing are

Beauty influencer for cosmetics and/or care products,
Travel Influencer for travel and/or vacation,
Sports influencer for sports and/or fitness,
Food influencer for nutrition, food, cooking & co.

This list could go on and on, as the topics that people are interested in are diverse. For example, there are also influencers for:

Games and software,
Finances,
Art and culture,
Fashion,
and much more.

Social media platforms in influencer marketing

Various formats and forms of cooperation are possible in influencer marketing to accommodate advertising. There are no limits to creativity and combinations. However, common formats are:

Post, Video & Reel;
Story & IGTV;
Unboxing, competition, discount code, tutorial;
Live event, account take-over, brand ambassador program;
and much more.

Influencer marketing is usually associated directly with influencers on channels such as Instagram or YouTube. However, influencer marketing can also take place on other platforms, such as:

Instagram

... is probably the most popular social media platform for influencer marketing campaigns. With its numerous functions such as posts, videos and stories, the platform, which belongs to the Meta Group, offers an ideal playground for advertisers and content creators.

YouTube

... is Google's social media platform and ideal for influencer marketing in video format. Content, influencers and therefore advertising and recommendations can be actively searched for here.

Twitch

... is particularly important for influencers and influencer marketing in the gaming sector. In recent years, the platform has developed into a true wonder weapon in this niche.

TikTok

... focuses mainly on short videos and offers a number of functions for advertisers, particularly in influencer marketing. The audience of this platform is quite young, but more and more older people are coming to this platform every day.

... is a kind of visual search engine and aims to promote exchanges between users about their interests and hobbies. (More about Pinterest.)

... is no longer a business platform, but a social network. Users exchange information on current industry topics, specialist literature, scientific texts and products.

Advantages of influencer marketing

People like to buy products that have been recommended to them - especially by family or friends, by people they trust. It is precisely this system that is exploited in influencer marketing:

By commissioning a person to advertise a product who is considered an expert in their industry and enjoys the trust of their followers, these people are in turn encouraged to buy the product.

This enables companies to expand their target group, tap into new ones and increase their reach and sales.

Conclusion: What is influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing is therefore a form of social media marketing in which experts are commissioned to influence their followers to buy a certain product. Influencers are paid by the respective companies to market the product or service.

Influencer marketing is flexible and can even be cheaper than traditional advertising - especially in terms of results. It is personal, because the relationship between influencer and followers is the main means of influence. After all, personal recommendations and word of mouth still work best in today's marketing.