Influencer Marketing: Personalities Over Billboards

Abstract

The main objective of the thesis is to provide HuHu People Oy, a social media marketing company, a thorough overview of influencer marketing and aid in exploring the potential of the said form of marketing from a service design point of view. The final outcome of the thesis project is a campaign management model that not only serves as a guideline for the commissioning company but also as inspiration for other companies interested in implementing influencer marketing into their marketing strategies.

Social media is, in many ways, overshadowing traditional media outlets in terms of marketing opportunities. While the masses continue to flock to social media, these consumers are also becoming less engaged with the one-way authoritarian means of advertising where companies are the sole information source on products and services. Instead, the increasingly savvy consumer base turns to each other for mutual sharing of knowledge and experiences. This shift in power, from symbolic billboards to personal endorsers, has resulted in social media influencers becoming a formidable option for marketers attempting to reach their preferred audiences.

The theoretical research is approached with three main factors in mind; technology, business, and people. This triad of technological aspects, commercial elements, and human behaviour forms the structure on which social media, and therefore, by extension, influencer marketing, is based on. Approaching the subject from three different, yet equally relevant perspectives allows for a greater understanding of the concept of influencer marketing. The reviewed theory is complemented by a qualitative research conducted in a form of a paired depth interview, in which the opinions of two professionals in the field of influencer marketing were observed. The data collected from the respondents represents a vital part of the thesis research, granting an insight into the Finnish markets from both an influencer and an agency standpoint.

The results highlight the importance of long-term planning and the trend of influencer marketing becoming a part of the marketing strategy as a whole. Transparency is also seen as a key element in this type of marketing, which not only refers to transparency in terms of the influencer-consumer relationship, but the company- influencer relationship as well. Adequate information flow between the parties ensures better planning and more precise measuring.

The campaign model presented in the thesis serves as a starting point for further development in cooperation with the case company and will be implemented in practice for the purposes of testing its potential and viability from the project management point of view. Additional research should be conducted in the foreseeable future as social media platforms begin to better cater to influencer marketing and the concept itself matures both at the global level and here in Finland.