Influencer Marketing as a Marketing Tool : The process of creating an Influencer Marketing Campaign on Instagram

Abstract

Due to the digitalization consumers are becoming more educated as media users and more critical of commercial messages. It is getting nearly impossible for brands to stand out among the crowd of advertisers, why many turn into Influencer marketing. It is the most important new approach to marketing in a decade for those professionals at the lead-ing edge of purchasing decision-making, because the built in level of trust between influ-encer and reader is essentially impossible for a brand to build alone with the customer.

The purpose of this study is to understand why companies should use influencer market-ing as a marketing tool and to know the process of creating an influencer marketing campaign on Instagram. The qualitative study is based on a semi-structured interview with the Co-founder and CEO of the Finnish influencer marketing agency Monochrome to get a deeper understanding in the subject. The discussed themes were influencer marketing in general and the process of influencer marketing campaigns.

The results indicate that influencer marketing on Instagram can be described as a logical process, and that the built in level of trust between influencer and reader is essentially impossible for a brand to build alone with the consumer, which is a very strong argument for answering why a company should use influencer marketing as a marketing tool. Parts of the result are demonstrated with a diagram, to show the steps of the campaign process. This completed thesis, along with the theoretical framework, can be used as a practical guide for companies that want to implement influencer marketing into their marketing strategy.