Influencer Marketing in Social Networks as a Strategic Tool in Social Media Marketing

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1,7, Private University of Applied Sciences Goettingen, language: English, abstract: What makes marketing with influencers so promising and how can influencer marketing in social networks be implemented as a strategic instrument in social media marketing? First, the development and growth in importance of corporate marketing activities is presented against the historical background of the past 60 years and how marketing and its focus have changed significantly over this time. In this context, the emergence of online marketing, social media marketing and, above all, influencer marketing will be elaborated and it will be explained what makes influencer marketing so interesting for companies and their marketing objectives and how this differs from classic forms of marketing. Subsequently, it is explained how influencer marketing can be used as a strategic tool in social media marketing. To this end, three social media platforms that are particularly relevant for influencers will first be presented: Weblogs, YouTube and Instagram. Then it will be worked out how companies can find and win over the influencers relevant to their marketing goals and which areas of application come into question for influencer marketing. In addition, possible risks that influencer marketing can entail are highlighted.