Transforming Influencer Marketing in Digital Age
It is a fact that influencers are indispensable from today’s marketing strategy, especially, in the wake of digital transformation.
In the face of rapid change led by innovative technology, many think after registering on several accounts at different online platforms, they have digitally transformed their businesses. Indeed, unfortunately, amidst the loud arrival of the 4th industrial revolution, it is clear that many entrepreneurs still confuse, often scrutinize, the meaning of digital transformation and how to successfully integrate it in their businesses, in particular marketing.
The definition of Digital Transformation
The most common mistake that marketers usually made is thinking “digitalization” is equivalent to “digital transformation”. Digitalization, in fact, refers to the motion where services or products that businesses offer become accessible online, for example, setting up a Facebook business page to enable direct contact from customers to make online reservations or having a business website where customers can browse products and shop online.
Contrary to that, the concept of digital transformation means a change in how business operates by embracing digital world, for example, by employing big data, AI technology, and social media to track potential customers, improve customer service, or even launch marketing campaign via sponsored posts on social media instead of going door-to-door to look for prospective clients or delivering free samples to magazine editors or celebrities to hopefully ‘court’ them to promote certain products and services.
Influencer Marketing and Digital Transformation
There is no denial that influencer marketing is extremely popular nowadays. So in the wake of digital revolution, what would it mean for influencers and business? How do marketers blend the two strategies together in their business portfolios?
Despite the questions and the doubts, the rising of influencer marketing is actually a clear wake up call for businesses to step up their game to gain market advantage in the competitive digital world. The concept of influencers, pre-internet, exists exclusively to celebrities and famous socialites, but today, with internet enabling people to connect easily with each other virtually, everyone is potentially an influencer.
At such, businesses can take advantage of technology advancement to employ better influencer marketing strategy.
Traffic Analysis
With influencers popping out almost everywhere around the globe and consumer’s demands varying due to various variables from interests, hobbies, group of friends, and so on, it’s only natural that brands are overwhelmed by the amount of statistics to analyze.
How do brands know which customers to target? How do brands know which influencers are the perfect match for their products? And how do brands find these audiences and influencers? Indeed, the beauty of today’s technology is to give answers to these questions. Today, businesses can utilize various analytic tools to provide them with the relevant data. Then, they can employ a group of people specifically to focus on interpreting the data to give tangible results for marketers to formulate proper marketing strategies.
Content Management
Influencers are highly valued because of their beautiful aesthetic and authentic content. So how does digital transformation work here?
Well, thanks to digital revolution, content has been upgraded from a mere text-based content to various digital-content, from image, podcast, video, even virtual reality. What triggers the shift is actually the change in customers’ behavior. Along with digital reformation, customers today have become more perceptive towards visual content and they demand more. Various technology and software exist today to assist business in creating the most beautiful visual content to deliver the best customer experience. Following this reformation, influencers and brands somehow are forced to evolve their contents to keep up with customers’ preferences and demands. Graphic designs, photography, or video editing among others, have somehow become the most wanted skills that could give potential employees or influencers an edge from their competitors.
Dynamic Interaction
Another valuable asset of influencers is their accessibility. People listen to them because they can engage with them on personal level, constantly. Influencers achieve that not only through their personable content, but also through regular interaction.
Folke Engholm, Viral Access’ CEO, often says that influencers are more than just another billboard for brands. Digital transformation for influencers means exactly just that. Thanks to technology today, influencers and businesses alike can close the gap with their audiences easily. Various social media channels are there to help connect influencers with their community, either via comments, messages, podcast, or live-streaming shows. Likewise, businesses can leverage influencers in this matter to create a more interactive engagement in their marketing campaigns, either by creating polls, contests, even live-games to drive traffic to their websites.
Bottom Line
Marketers need to understand the difference between ‘digitalization’ and ‘digital transformation’ to fully utilize the benefits. Whereas digitalization gives business various technology advancement that helps tremendously in their products and services, embracing digital transformation requires business to change the way it operates, both internally and externally.
Influencer marketing is one of the aspects where businesses can leverage technology whilst gradually transforming their business operations fit for digital world. As customers become more technologically susceptible, influencers, inevitably, will play a more decisive role in driving marketing in the future.
