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The Business of Influencers
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If there’s one thing we can be certain of in 2021, it’s the burgeoning role of the digital influencer. As brands and businesses continue to adapt to the ‘new normal’ in the continuing wave of COVID-19; the digital space has never been a more important arena to play in.
While digital influencers are by no means a new concept and have the power of reaching huge audiences on a global scale; in the world of snap lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing, their digital presence and ability to create curated content to targeted audiences makes them even more desirable.
It goes without saying that 2020 brought with it a wave of behavioural change, including a 70% increase in social media usage, even further elevating the value of the once humble social media influencer.
Gone are the days when A-list celebrities and supermodels are the highest in demand to lend their names and profiles to big global brand campaigns and product launches - particularly in the luxury beauty market, as digital influencers are fast becoming brands ambassador of choice. Not only is this shift due to their largescale and global digital reach but also their authentic relationship with their highly engaged and loyal audiences, which can see high conversion rates and huge ROI on the right partnerships.
One such brand who has adapted to this shift is ghd. As global leaders in hair-styling tools, the premium brand has long relied on celebrity names including the likes of Katy Perry and Olivia Culpo to represent the brand as International Brand Ambassadors, supporting new product launches, brand news and limitededition collections.
In a brand first, ghd recently announced Italian Fashion Icon and Digital Entrepreneur Chiara Ferregni as their International Brand Ambassador – coinciding with the brands 20year anniversary. ghd CEO Jeroen Temmerman is excited about the partnership, particularly on how it will help connect with ghd’s evergrowing digital savvy audience. and our highly digital savvy consumers. With Chiara’s unparalleled global digital appeal and ghd leading technology, we are confident this new partnership will help ghd to deliver more good hair days around the world.”
Just a hop, skip and a month after Chiara announced her ghd ambassador role to her following of 24 million, ghd announced the launch of its game changing new innovation - ghd unplugged. Unplugged is, the brand’s first ever compact and cordless, on-the-go styler, with none other than Chiara as the face of the new campaign.
As a CEO, digital entrepreneur, president of two global businesses and busy mum of two, this huge new product launch has a natural synergy with her on-the-go lifestyle, and who better or more authentic to help launch a product that’s designed to touch-up your hair while on-the-go? One look at her jet-setting life on Instagram will leave you wondering how she survived without it.
However contrary to popular opinion; the size and following of the influencer isn’t the be all and end all of their suitability to align with your business. A hot topic at the moment is the macro vs micro influencer debate and which is a better investment. While macro influencers sit at the top of the funnel and can boast upwards of a million followers, their role lies in creating mass awareness thanks to their large and often international reach. They also generate a high earned media value and can help create greater brand visibility. On the other hand, while their followings may be much smaller, with some coming it at just 1000, micro influencers have an intimate and trusted audience, whose opinions and recommendations are highly trusted among their followers. While they may lack the reach of the macro influencer, for the most part micro influencers have been known to result in higher conversion rates.
Whether it’s enlisting the help of an influencer with a local following to draw new leads for your salon or being strategic about aligning your brand with an influencer with a highly targeted audience to tap into a particular demographic, a social media influencer or digital ambassador could be the missing piece of the puzzle, that will help you connect with the right audience and in turn take your business to the next level.
