Glamour vs. substance
published in Pharma Relations issue 03/2022
What do you think of when you hear the term influencer marketing? Fashion? Beauty? Glamour?No way! Clearly, there's no denying that a polished make-believe world is often shown on social media. However, it is often forgotten that on accounts and in communities you meet exactly what social networks are all about - people! Real and natural people who deal with the same issues and challenges as you and me.
When it comes to influencer marketing, image and reality are far apart. Often prejudiced from the outside, online users do not perceive influencer marketing as such when they are confronted with it in everyday life: They expect advertising, but experience communication between people.
As a result, influencer marketing is far more than superficiality, flat commercials and inappropriate product placements. Rather, social media and blogs have opened up new avenues that allow reports with depth, can impart knowledge, and are much more sustainable than traditional forms of product and brand communication. Extensive information can be cleverly packaged in blog posts and video content, and reels and posts can be used to reach the right interest groups. And best of all, the messages are backed by people and their faces, which builds trust. Influencer communication is therefore predestined for topics related to people and health, for in-depth knowledge transfer and the application of products in everyday life.
As an agency, we combine influencer marketing with credible communication at eye level and high-quality content in the right context. For our clients, it means a top target group approach and valuable insights. But how do influencers see it? We asked some of them for their opinion. Let's change perspective and let content creators explain influencer marketing to us and how they see their own role in it.
Influencer explain Influencer Marketing
Maya Leinenbach, 17, @fitgreenmind
Influencer marketing means a win-win situation for me. It's profitable for the brand, the influencer and the influencer's community can also benefit from it through a discount code or a sweepstakes.
I am an expert for vegan food for my community. They count not only on my recipe ideas, but also recommendations for products that fully convince me and can also offer them added value.
Lara Marie Coutinho, 22, @laramariecoutinho
For me, influencer marketing means planning an advertising campaign with influencers. A company can select a suitable target group and benefits from the proximity of the influencers to their followers.
I would describe myself as a content creator and produce public content that adds value to my community. For example, I inspire them to try vegan dishes. During a collaboration with a company, I help to raise awareness of the brand and offer a discount code, especially for long-term collaborations, so that my community can also benefit from it. Some of my subscribers have been following me for 4 years, have similar tastes and trust me.
Mona Arndt, 22, @healthyholylife
Influencer marketing to me means that companies work with influencers, people with expert status in a certain field and social media reach, to authentically promote their products to their target audience.
I share my passion for a healthy lifestyle with my community and try to be a kind of role model and inspiration to show my followers how they can also live more consciously. In addition to sharing insights into my daily life and healthy recipes, I also share recommendations for products that help me live healthier myself and this is where influencer marketing comes into play.
Yes, this is influencer marketing
The experience of influencers also shows: Behind influencer collaborations is usually not the intention of advertising. Instead, it's about personal recommendations, trusting communication with passion, and sharing interests and offering each other added value. Influencer marketing is therefore not advertising, influencer marketing is recommendation marketing. And that has substance - for companies, for creators and for their followers.
