In the age of digital social media, shoppers now do other things. Currently some groups pay more attention to what some call “fashion bosses”, these are the influencers.
These people have gained many followers with seemingly simple activities such as commenting, advertising, and often presenting a diverse range of products. His notoriety comes from the intelligent use of social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat or TikTok.
They do different things than brand ambassadors that we have seen a lot of in the past. Although his business seems frivolous, it is not at all.
For consumers, influencers they are both a walking advertisement and a pretended trusted friend, they are widely identified with. His job is to be an intermediary between the consumer and the brand he promotes.
For managers and owners of large and small brands, the influencer represents a clear way to establish relationships with specific market segments such as the so-called millennials or Generation Z, among others. These consumers are responsible for nearly three-quarters of global merchandise consumption.
These groups of consumers are becoming more visible, persistent as well as better prepared to buy.
The influencers They have their income in various forms. It is indisputable that various companies contact them to use and recommend their products, promoting their brands among their admirers. So it is possible to say that these companies give them some payment for promoting them.
The thing goes further, since it is common for influencers Receive rewards from your followers. That’s how they stay at the beginning of their identification as an influencer, and as their base of followers grows, that income increases.
There is almost no information that is known about the amounts that these influencers they receive from that consumer base. It is likely that these influencers They started their evolution years ago. Digital social networks in the last decade have shot them to levels never seen before.
In China and the United States they speak of several billion dollars, the value that together they represent in each country. In November 2021, Chic Magazine made a list of the influencers richest in Mexico. His income is in the order of thousands of dollars a month.
They are credited with millions of followers in the country alone. Most are under 30 years of age, so they identify with large segments of consumers. The products and brands they promote are very diverse, from fashion, perfumes, consumer products, vehicles, to experiences and more.
One of the values that influencers they reflect is authenticity, which allows them to be accepted by their fans since they see themselves in them and in many cases want to be like them.
The influencers they adapt very quickly to the circumstances allowed by the environments where they develop.
exist influencers that offer serious talks and presentations and many less serious ones. It all depends on what your audience demands. Their daily activity is difficult to develop because of other characters who advertise such as brand ambassadors.
We will live with influencers for many years and the advertising ecosystem has already adopted them as characters of value to get their products across, influencing the minds of consumers.
By: Dr. Jorge A. Wise, Professor of Marketing and International Business at CETYS University, member of the CETYS Graduate School of Business