Huge fees, millions of followers on social networks, brand ambassadors, virality, never-ending negotiations with the representatives… everything that happens around influencers is overwhelming
Companies invest a lot of money in influencers to create content and visibility. So much so that they’re upstaging other more traditional channels. This is a new phenomenon, a profession that we’re not sure if it’s another bubble or something that will last forever.
Is it a new way of marketing or just a trend that will end up opening the way to another fad?
This and other questions were all answered in a round-table discussion organised by IMF Business School. The discussion was moderated by the school’s managing director, Belén Arcones and included the participation of Mauro Fuentes, El Corte Inglés’ social media director; Tony Donald, social media influencer; Almudena Sancho, director of the SocialPubli.com team, and Mario Rigote, executive director of Vizz.
“It seems to be a more or less recent trend, but this is not the case. Before this, we had bloggers, for example. But social networks broke this model and created this new way of doing PR”, explained Mauro Fuentes. Mario Rigote shared this statement by saying “there have always been opinion leaders”.
While Tony Donald defined it as “a character born out of an advertising need”. For Almudena Sancho, it goes even further, because “we can all be influencers”. The social media director for El Corte Inglés spoke about how important it is that brands choose their influencers wisely. “Sometimes I have the feeling that they’re treated as one more display. And they’re not. You have to take care of them, get to know them and know what lies behind them. In the end, people trust those with whom we identify,” he said. Mario Rigote added “They show their way of being, but they spent many hours creating content. They need to have a medium-long term business plan. It’s a whole lot more than just editing a video or photo.
All of them agreed that there can be different types of influencers. For example, for IMF Business School, they pointed to former students. In this respect, Tony Donald added. “Your alumni can work, but it’s also important to have teachers who are already opinion leaders on social networks”. Many brands are now opting for their own employees or even customers instead of choosing a celebrity. Even so, according to the Influencer Marketing website, 92% of consumers trust brand ambassadors from outside a company, and 75% of professionals who turned to them registered an increase in their sales.
Mauro Fuentes added to this by saying “the most important thing is that for someone to be influential, they have to be credible. Numbers alone don’t ensure that your business objectives will be met, or that there will be conversion”.
Therefore, they all unanimously agreed that credibility is essential, and it’s vital to make good choices. “You have to convince your community, so we recommend choosing someone who believes in your product. Every brand’s goal is to sell, they’re also searching for visibility and to be in people’s minds”, explained Almudena Sancho.
Another subject of debate was the difference between opinion leaders vs influencers. The concept might seem the same, but two of the speakers don’t see it that way. Mario Rigote said, “An opinion leader is passionate and an expert, while this is not always true for influencers”. And Mauro Fuentes added, “The influencer has to be more of a celebrity, while the opinion leader generates conversions”.
In this business model, where people are not often aware if the content is sponsored or not, the speakers highlighted the importance of transparency to achieve authenticity. Returning to the #ad, which warns about the advertisement that some influencers are already using, Vizz’s executive director said that some type of regulation could be good for the sector. “It’s important to be honest, and the ideal thing would be to make it clear that it’s paid content. “It’s good for brands and consumers”, said Mauro Fuentes.
