According to Nicolas Narcisse, "influence means creating a movement of collective commitment". Which is to say, it only makes sense if it's associated with a community, sharing more or less the same values or convictions.
Influence is an inherent and structuring element of relationships in human societies. We all remember Socrates' historic influence on his disciple Plato, when Plato took over the work of developing his master's philosophical thought. In those days, an elite class was responsible for disseminating knowledge to people considered uneducated.
With the advent of ICTs, this method of transmitting information through influence was to undergo a huge upheaval. From now on, the democratized word is given to whoever wants to take it. What's more, the recipient is both the target and the disseminator, giving rise to the emergence of the "networked individual", an opinion leader surrounded by followers.
Becoming an opinion leader these days is quite simple - no need for lengthy studies! All it takes, it seems, is to create a strong community around you. In this sphere, amateurism and professionalism intertwine to form one, because it's only by forging that you ultimately become a blacksmith.
At the end of the day, these leaders build a notoriety that brands use to gain popularity and hope to increase their sales. It's clear that the migration of influence to the digital sphere has brought about an enormous amount of change. What is the origin of influence and influencers? How are they created? How are these leaders evolving in the digital age, with the expansion of AI and ecological issues?
The origins of influence and influencers
Influence is a rather complex notion, more so than one might imagine, but there are some constants that emerge from the definitions we've gone through, notably the desire or urge to transmit ideas to large numbers who engage with and adopt them. In reality, it's an abstract, invisible fact involving two stakeholders, one exercising the power of persuasion, the other endorsing it. According to Robert Cialdini, it is based on seven pillars:
- reciprocity,
- commitment,
- social proof with a mimetic effect,
- authority or a social posture that inspires trust,
- appreciation,
- affection and
- exclusivity.
As the ability to anchor others to one's way of thinking, influence is an essential element in the dissemination of opinion. Lazarsfeld had already experienced this during the 1940 presidential election in the United States, when he demonstrated that people were less influenced by the media than by the opinions circulating within their social circle. But those exposed to the media are opinion leaders. How does one establish leadership?
Several factors contribute to leadership. All it takes, according to Lazarsfeld and Katz, is enough interest in a field. However, there are other factors at play: age, economic status and degree of sociability.
Elements of influence according to background
In marketing, the decision-making process seems to be driven by "word of mouth" (WOM). This marketing method, which brands adopt, acts as a snowball effect, giving the brand and product either good or bad press, encouraging a dynamic production process to appeal to the masses.
On the web, influence is built on attractive content created by users with a large audience. This content helps build a social bond based on the trust the audience has in the source sender.
This is how e.WOM enters the zone of digital influence, strongly supported by the action of bloggers, who today have mutated from an obsolete term to become influencers, a more encompassing notion. Embodying representations, practices and an imaginary world, these influencers offer symbolic content of a social nature, staging ordinary behaviors to arouse a feeling of identification on the part of the audience. How is a web influencer created?
The making of the web influencer
Influencer? Anyone can be one: all they need is to be active on the networks, producing attractive content, and to be surrounded by a loyal, trusting community that they can impact. This makes them the new Trojan Horse for brands, with whom influencers receive remuneration in return, turning them into marketing professionals of an unprecedented kind.
Given the multiplicity of influencers on the Internet, the choice of a muse is based on a scrupulous analysis of their editorial line, their level of influence and, above all, their know-how. The latter they acquire thanks to the opportunities for increasing their knowledge and skills offered by ICT, so that they can compete with communications professionals, without replacing them. Their only motivation is a passion for their chosen field. So they have nothing to do with training in the strict sense of the term.
On the other hand, their status navigates between professionalism and amateurism, giving rise to a mixed name "proam" or playbour, to emphasize the fact that these leaders earn their living by having fun - every employee's dream!
There are several types of influencers, depending on the number of followers: if the bar is set at 10,000 subscribers, these are influencers specialized in a particular field, while less than 10,000 subscribers are micro-influencers... In reality, this is not the only thing that attracts brands. One of the most important factors is the shared vision of both parties.
Influencers, brands and influencer marketing in the digital age
Influencer marketing is becoming an essential channel for brands seeking new markets. This sphere of public relations seems more convincing than the traditional advertising route, as the brand benefits from the closeness and climate of trust that reigns between the influencer and his or her followers, due to the opinion leader's sharing of his or her style.
Using e-influencers to attract new customers considerably reduces advertising costs. While for some brands the choice of an influencer is based on the number of subscribers, for others skills, creativity and e-reputation are highly significant qualitative factors.
On the other hand, the leader must clearly announce his partnership to his subscribers and partners for greater transparency and compliance with advertising laws, thus avoiding alienating the advertising regulatory body, ARPP (Autorité de Régulation de la Publicité).
A number of indicators can be grouped together to estimate the degree of subscriber engagement with a given piece of content. This can be any reaction left by subscribers to a publication. But in truth, success will only be measurable when the potential consumer actually makes a purchase.
The future of influencer marketing
New perspectives are emerging on the horizon regarding the emergence of influencer marketing. On the one hand, AI is being integrated into the practice - there are virtual influencers who seem to be just as relevant as real people, as in the case of Miquela, a work by Brud that was all the rage in the USA at one point, but brands are still struggling to engage with these entities, as there is a major lack of transparency, a principle they hold dear.
On the other hand, environmental issues seem to be changing the relationship between brands and influencers, with a view to better personalizing them and adopting a more eco-friendly attitude, as far as the flood of products from brands to influencers is concerned.
Illustration: Alexandra_Koch on Pixabay
Reference
Ilhem Fettous. Amateurs and/or professionals? The evolution of digital influencers towards a better organization of practices. Information and communication sciences. 2019
https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-02520590v1
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