The Digital Marketer's Journal

Written by Hong Ngan Tran (s3961720)

The impact of influencer marketing in consumer engagement
What is influencer marketing? Why is it a powerful tool for marketers? Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing that involves using or collaborating with people who have a significant influence on digital platforms in specific fields to promote products or services. Moreover, influencer marketing can also be considered as a digital form of Word-of-Mouth marketing in the virtual world as influencers share their stories about products or services to followers through social media platforms to help consumers in making purchase decisions.

By using influencer marketing, firms can utilise the large following from influencers to sell products and maximise management elasticity in advertising. Through investing in influencer marketing, the market size reached $148 million US dollars and is expected to rise more than 373 million US dollars by 2027. This statistic shows the increasing in reliance of social media platforms as powerful digital tools for brand and consumer engagement.

Image source: Influencer Impact

How influencers bring a positive impact for brands in collaboration?
Take a closer look at a recent collaboration between Sophia Begg, an Australian influencer who is lifestyle inspired and matcha enthusiast that Tropeaka (nutrition brand) chose to become the representative for their recent launch of White Chocolate Beauty Matcha Powder. Tropeaka is discerning in choosing Sophia for this collaboration.

As Sophia Begg is known for her genuine love with matcha products which makes her a perfect choice to represent this new product. Furthermore, Sophia Begg social media has a massive following with 665K+ on Instagram and 1.4M+ on TikTok that can bring a huge attention for Tropeaka in advertising this product. By using influencer marketing, Tropeaka can boost their brand awareness but also create more online communities, sparking more conversation for consumers to engage on social media platforms about the collaboration to encourage recommendations for the product. 

Therefore, having the engagement between influencers and followers can increase the trust for the sponsor brands and drive sales with specific audiences. By partnering with the right influencer, Tropeaka is able to reach a wider audience that aligns with ideal customers to purchase the product and fit the brand’s value.

Image source: Instagram

Additional Video

The negative side of Influencer Marketing that impact communities
Recently, Anna Paul, a macro-influencer promoted a cash giveaway on her OnlyFans account which people have to pay for subscription in order to participate in the giveaway. Anna promoted this giveaway through Instagram stories, appealing to subscribe to the account for a chance to win the prize. This sparked a huge controversy around the online communities as Anna Paul’s followers are mostly teenagers who are in their 14-15 years. Raising the concern about running an illegal gambling scheme for profit and luring minor audiences into the giveaway. 

After the controversy, Anna Paul had publicly spoken but did not address the situation about the giveaway directly. Although the situation has been addressed, Anna Paul takes advantage of her online community to do something potentially illegal that can damage her reputation and her relationships with brands and followers. With her scandals, Anna Paul is facing a huge loss in followers (unfollow more than 1 million) and also bring the erosion in the credibility of a macro-influencer like Anna Paul.

Influencers with negative reputation may impact directly with consumers in building trust and credibility when choosing to purchase products or services that these influencers promoted. Through this incident, brands should conduct in-depth research about the partnership or collaboration with influencers to prevent damage for their reputation and ethical considerations. 

Image source: Gold Coast Bulletin

Conclusion
Choosing suitable influencers for brands are crucial to building long-term relationships that both parties can be beneficial. In a digital era, where consumers value honesty and ethics in collaboration with influencers. Brands can choose the right representatives or ambassadors wisely to promote their products or services on social media platforms. Not just reach but also ethical consideration in elevated trust for consumers in engagement. 

Questions

1. Why do consumers trust influencers more than brands when purchasing products or services?
2. What is the role of social media influencers in consumer purchase decisions?