Influence marketing, the key to online success among young people?
Nowadays, all companies aspire to succeed online. Whether to boost a campaign or to increase their long-term visibility, the use of social networks has become indispensable for the evolution and prosperity of your business. These exchange platforms are important to optimize your image with your customers. As with your presence on search engines, you must be vigilant with regard to the content you are going to distribute. Although all companies are aware of the importance of integrating a social network strategy into their communication, very few know how to implement it properly.
In a previous article, we had the opportunity to share with you the keys and tools to get you off to a good start on these platforms. Here, we would like to draw your attention to the profile of users and their behaviour. Social networks can become your best leverage to achieve online success, but to do so, you first need to understand your audience.
Social network figures show that social network users are 90.4% of Millennials, 77.5% of Generation X and 48.2% of Baby-Boomers. (source: oberlo.fr)
Young people are therefore using this type of media in massive numbers. This would mean that to ensure good online performance, a company would first have to appeal to this target group. But is it really accessible? Young people are probably the most complex and evolving target group, and this is all truer on social networks. But in our opinion, if there is one technique that can help you, it’s influence marketing, which works particularly well on a young target. With this strategy, you are sure to get reactions from this audience as long as you do it properly! Let’s see how influence marketing can help you achieve your goals and why not, experience a real online triumph.
Table of contents
1. Generation Z, the new trendsetter?
And if you were told that a particular type of user could guarantee you an online boom, would you believe it? Today, almost all generations are present on social networks, but one of them has a dominant position: generation Z. For those under 25, these media are a real hobby and provide a haven particularly during extended periods of confinement… If your activities are aimed at this audience, then make young people the key to your online success!
“We’ve noticed that the young audience is always the largest and the more active” (source: oberlo.fr)
They are the new trendsetters; it is thanks to digital natives that your brand will go viral. On the different social networks, they’ve unconsciously developed techniques that improve the content visibility and the notoriety of a company. For example, on Instagram, the visibility of a post can increase thanks to the reaction it will generate among young people. This reaction may be negative or not, but this mini buzz will create a discussion, a digital word-of-mouth that will manifest itself through comments, “likes”, sharing, etc.
More and more companies that are present on social networks are trying to create this buzz. The objective of this viral operation is to make people talk about them, to increase their visibility and to acquire new prospects. The challenge of a campaign such as this one is to develop a creative communication that will appeal and create an infatuation, but be careful, this light on you can be detrimental and lead you to a bad buzz if your strategy does not respect the values of certain internet users. Maybe you have to tell yourself that this is ordinary behaviour on these platforms? Well, no, digital natives are very judgmental and always looking for more social engagement. Consuming a publication is no longer enough for them, they want to be part of a community where they can exchange. For your SME, the challenge here is therefore to provide these users with an original and engaging influence strategy.
However, this opportunity is only possible if you have understood their expectations: young people are a complex target and it’s very difficult to seduce them. Even within this group, there are different user profiles. So, for your strategy, do not propose content that is too specific to one type of personality. Millennials and Generation Z tend to camouflage themselves and identify with several trends. So, develop a concept in line with the trends on social networks. This is how you will be able to seduce this moving target, without forgetting to appropriate their codes: talk and act like them!
The purchasing behaviour of these users is also surprising. On social networks, their purchasing decision is influenced by what inspires them: influencers. They are generally the same age as their target, or even a little older, and have a real impact on their behaviour. Through their words and staging, influencers are able to push their followers to buy. For your campaign, the choice of this person is therefore crucial. Make sure you choose the right one, the one who’s close to the target and who engages them. If you want to attract potential consumers, you need to find an influencer who has created a real relationship of trust with his or her community.
2. Influence marketing the new asset of online strategies
Unlike traditional strategies, influence marketing relies on the relationship between a brand and an influencer to promote a product. The aim of this technique is to obtain maximum visibility in order to sell. In recent years many companies have invested in this strategy to extend their visibility and notoriety. Knowing that social networks can change everything thanks to a publication, influence marketing offers your company a multitude of advantages.
“82% of professionals consider the prospects produced by an influence marketing campaign to be of better quality and 58% see an increase in their visibility thanks to this strategy.” (source : blog.hubspot.fr)
Although this vision of marketing has existed for several years, this leverage has become essential in the implementation of digital strategies. Whatever your sector of activity, influence marketing can be a good tool to improve your communication. For your company, the effectiveness of an online influence marketing campaign will not only improve your visibility but also your engagement rate, your conversion rate and the traffic to your website. By adopting this strategy, your message will be delivered in a more authentic and personalised way. Interesting, isn’t it?
Influence marketing is above all a strategy based on relationships. As mentioned in our article: 5 tips for a better visibility on social networks, the right use of social networks is not instinctive! In order to develop an influence marketing strategy, first of all it’s necessary to find the idea that will allow you to stand out from your competitors. What else will you bring to the table? Once you have found it, all you have to do is identify your target and an influencer who matches the image of your brand, and finally get the information relayed.
Among the various influencers present on social networks, we advise you to work with nano- and micro-influencers. Working with these influencers, who have between 1,000 and 100,000 subscribers, will ensure a positive result in your campaign. Because unlike others, micro-influencers have better targeted, more engaged and more active communities. So, you need to be aware of this issue and the impact these people have on your target. They are very close to their community and, as with word-of-mouth, a recommendation from a nano- or micro-influencer will carry more weight than a classic campaign carried out on social networks. This type of collaboration can offer you various opportunities when your strategy is innovative.
3. Young people, a target looking for authenticity and interaction
Young people are not fooling, they are aware of the negative aspects of social networks. Identifying an influencer is not enough, you need to evaluate their commitment and popularity to select the person who will be the most suitable to promote your products. The influencer who will make you successful with young people is the one who looks like them and who knows how to surf the trends while making them their own. As we have already mentioned, digital natives are first and foremost looking for authenticity and self-identification. When they are on their social networks, they are looking for something that not only represents them, but also inspires them or makes them dream. So, you have to be very careful about how your information will be perceived and relayed.
In addition to the need for identification, there is also the need for commitment, the partnership between the brand and the influencer is not enough! You need to work together to create content that will make this generation react so that it also participates in this collaboration. Give them an experience! They need to feel involved and this can be achieved through various tools such as live events and ‘FAQs’ where they can directly interact with the influencer or via interactive content. For example, let’s assume that you want to promote a new clothing brand. The influencer you have chosen decides to publish a story where he or she presents your new products. He or she can engage his or her community with interactive content by asking for their preferences, their opinions on the ideal outfit to wear in this or that context, etc. In this sense, this content engages the target audience and makes them feel useful.
You can also challenge them! Such tools are usually made between friends and shared on social networks and have become a real way to go viral. Some platforms such as TikTok or Instagram are known for this type of content. With the help of an influencer and in the form of a short video or with photos, it is possible to propose content that can be echoed by your target. The famous yogurt brand Danette used this strategy to promote its new signature ” #AlwaysUpForDanette “. They first ran a web and TV campaign with commercials and then, on TikTok, they launched a challenge with the help of 7 influencers. The aim was to draw inspiration from the videos of the campaign and to make their own advertising video with a humoristic tone. This challenge generated more than 3.8 million views. Social networks, once again, offer a real opportunity. The challenges will not only improve your visibility and notoriety but also attract prospects and entertain your customers, not to mention the potential press coverage if your campaign makes the buzz.
These requirements therefore demonstrate the importance of choosing the right influencer to achieve online success. They may be digital natives, but they are in search of real content. It is clear that young people are the key to online success for companies. Being aware of the risks of social networks such as misleading advertising or collaborations where the motivation is purely financial, they will only trust you if you adopt a policy of transparency and play the honesty card. Indeed, these users may blame influencers for not being honest about the nature of their collaboration with a brand. Some campaigns are seen as a collaboration that is only intended to impact the company and the influencer. In this sense, you will need to be clear about your approach and its influence. You should not highlight the commercial side of your strategy but rather its contribution to the company’s success.
So, you will have understood that with the help of young people it is possible to achieve success online and the influencers are there to support you. Using influence marketing will allow you to gain visibility and notoriety on social networks. It will also bring a touch of authenticity to your campaign and strengthen the link with your customers. We hope that with this article we have convinced you of the potential to include this chameleon audience in your strategies. Although they are not the target of every company, including them will bring you a lot of opportunities in the long run. Young people’s behaviour on social networks has revealed a new way of reaching consumers. This strategy, which is based on influence marketing, shows us that if we want to acquire greater visibility on these new media, we must first of all take an interest in our audience, no matter which strategy we choose.
The growth of partnerships between companies and influencers has revealed the mistake made by some companies: the lack of listening and taking into account consumer expectations. You must therefore create an atmosphere of trust and listen to your potential customers. And once you understand them, setting up an influencing strategy to satisfy them will be child’s play. Remember that a satisfied customer is a loyal one. Tell us if young people can be the key to online success for you too and if their behaviour on social networks has changed the way you communicate? If so, feel free to share with us what has worked well for your company. We look forward to hearing from you!
Pingback: The 10 trends in digital marketing in 2022 - Bees Boost