Before you waste that money on a social media influencer, ask yourself one question: is my product transactional in nature? In this context, a transactional product is one where users can visit a website/app, and transact businesses, and every aspect is concluded right there. An example is using an app to pay for a digital product; when paid and product downloaded, everyone is happy.
A non-transactional product is one where concluding the “influencing process” activates a long term contract. An example is purchasing an insurance policy. As a business owner, if you use an influencer for a non-transactional product, and you have not invested too deeply in your brand, you are wasting your money.
Indeed, in Nigeria, influencers have no capacity to transfer their powers to get people to buy that insurance policy when the users do not trust the policy provider. In other words, many influencers will struggle to sell an insurance policy on social media if users do not have confidence in the insurance company. But for a transactional product, users will not mind as the risk is bounded on time, and recovery is faster in hours, or worst days.
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As you allocate your marketing budget in 2023, put your thinking cap on the effervescence of most influencer marketing. Yes, we do not want you to waste money. Of course, as you allocate your resources, make sure your products are aligned with the community that person is influencing. Spending money to reach a community which is being influenced on clean shaves when your product helps to grow mustaches may not be financially prudent.
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Comment 1: Prof., thank you for sharing this. When considering whether to employ social media influencers for marketing, businesses must consider the nature of their product. Transactional products, such as digital downloads or e-commerce transactions, may be more suitable for influencer marketing because the transaction is quick and the risk is low. Non-transactional services, such as insurance policies, may require longer-term engagement and trust-building with potential clients, which may be more difficult to achieve through influencer marketing alone. As a result, it is critical for businesses to carefully consider their marketing strategies and make the best use of their resources.
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Anything outside creating awareness for the product or service, don’t count on any influencer to deliver much anyway. Something not so complicated as downloading an app signing up, how many influencers can influence on that? If some manage to download the app, they will forget to sign signup, only to uninstall later…
So if it’s not purely transactional, do not bother about paying influencers, except you want to waste some money.
Thank you for sharing prof. During the final months in my university days in Uniben, a classmate of mine focused her final dissertation on “celebrity advertising and it’s impact on buying decisions” I took particular interest in her topic because it was a new concept then.
After a review of her work and other materials I perused, with real life examples and case studies, I came to realize two things amongst others.
That people will not buy a product if they do not have the necessary ability (Money) to do so, no matter the level of influence or information available at their disposal.
That celebrity advertising is another form of brand alliance. The person in question ( celebrity) is a brand, the product is a brand. Product marketer must be careful in aligning themselves with celebrities due to brand reputation. Reason? When a celebrity goes into crisis, the brand it is aligned with automatically goes into crisis.
” The person in question ( celebrity) is a brand, the product is a brand. ” – great line there